The Type Of Cooking Oil Culver's Uses For Its Fried Food
In addition to unique Butterburgers, Culver's serves a comforting lineup of fried items, ranging from fries and cheese curds to fried pickles and even fried fish. To sustain such a range of offerings, the chain runs quite a deep-frying operation, with canola employed as its oil of choice.
Boasting a relatively high smoke point of 400 degrees Fahrenheit, canola is a common choice for deep-frying. Chick-Fil-A utilizes the foodstuff for its waffle fries, although the oil for other menu items depends on what you order. Jack in the Box also employs a canola blend for its offerings, with Wendy's fast food also prepared in deep fryers containing some canola.
Also popular in home applications, canola is lighter than vegetable oil, and prized for its neutral palate that lets flavors shine. Price-wise, though, canola oil isn't the cheapest — soybean oil is significantly cheaper, and vegetable oil slightly more affordable, too. Culver's switched to this oil base in 2007 to enhance the food, using the ingredient for deep-frying since.
Culver's employs a wide array of oils in its food
Per a 2007 press release published in QSR Magazine, nutritional motives influenced Culver's decision to use canola oil. Indeed, such a cooking base does come with some benefits. A 2013 study published in Nutrition Reviews notes the foodstuff's low saturated fat content aids cardiovascular health, alongside other benefits. Across its menu, Culver's is noted for a smaller usage of saturated fat than fast food competitors.
Nevertheless, other oils do appear in many of Culver's menu items. For instance, Culver's fish — which comes fried to order — contains a vegetable oil blend with modified palm oils and soybean in addition to canola. The chain's fries employ a variable fat blend, too; sunflower, palm, corn, and soybean may all make an appearance in the ingredient list. Even items that never touch the deep fryer, such as the kaiser buns, contain soybean oil. There isn't necessarily something wrong with consuming such compounds — just don't consider Culver's usage of canola oil in fryers as strict nutritional guidance.