The Type Of Oil That Makes Long John Silver's Food So Crispy

Fast food isn't all hamburgers, tacos, and fried chicken. Many Americans love to chow down on the fried seafood offerings from Long John Silver's. As with any fried food, one of the most critical yet underrated elements of the process is the oil used to cook it. Long John Silver's makes crispy entrees and sides with 100% pure canola oil.

The chain confirmed its use of canola amid concerns about whether the seafood served at various restaurants was fully suitable for Catholics. Many adherents of the faith avoid eating meat during part or all of Lent. The reassurance followed reports that other seafood chains were frying in beef tallow, a process that would make the resulting fish or shellfish unsuitable for observant Catholics.

Canola oil has a variety of properties that help make food ultra-crispy. For one, it has an extremely high smoke point that ranges between 400 and 468 degrees Fahrenheit, allowing fryers to get hotter and avoid soggy coatings. In addition, it's known for its neutral taste, an important factor when dealing with lightly flavored items such as fish, which can be easily overpowered by more assertive oils. On top of its culinary upsides, canola oil may also have promising health benefits. It's considered to be a relatively heart-healthy frying oil, containing essential omega-3 fatty acids and providing Vitamin E.

Long John Silver's certainly isn't alone in recognizing the benefits of canola oil in fast food frying. McDonald's also uses a "canola blend," although it once incorporated beef tallow (a change that some say is the reason McDonald's fries don't taste as good as they used to). Meanwhile, Burger King uses some combination of corn, canola, soy, and cottonseed oils. Of course, that doesn't mean all the major players rely on it – KFC switched its fryers to soybean oil in the early 2000s. 

If you appreciate the crispiness of Long John Silver's menu items, you can try using canola at home as well. Its ability to cook food at high temperatures could help you make your fried fish taste as if you ordered it from a pub. Still, when you need a seafood meal on the go or don't feel like going through the trouble to make one yourself, you can head to your local Long John Silver's for a bit of canola-quality crispiness.