Strategies and solutions

There may not be a single solution to all pho replacement needs in frying, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t options to finding the right fit for an application.

“There are non-pho, non-trans, non-hydro palm-based fats that have solid fat content (SFC) profiles and melting points that support the frying process,” said Tisa Drew, senior customer innovation applications specialist, AAK USA, Inc. “These products are developed through precise blending and specific manufacturing processes.”

Finding the right fit requires testing and sometimes blending.

“We use our entire tool box of oils and processing capabilities to offer the best possible solution to each individual application by meeting the specific stability, SFC and melting point parameters,” Ms. Drew continued.

The main focus, she said, is to mimic the functionality of the pho offering while maintaining the same level of saturates. Formulators also have to consider SFC and melting point. A fat with a low SFC and a melting point below room temperature will create a greasy finished product, while a high SFC and melting point will yield the proper solid texture and waxy mouthfeel in a donut.

There are several solutions to meeting all these needs: animal fats, blending palm oil and its fractions, blends of liquid vegetable oils with fully hydrogenated oils, and interesterification. While partially hydrogenated oils lost their GRAS status, fully hydrogenated oils retained theirs.

“Interesterification of high-oleic soybean oil with fully hydrogenated soybean oil shows a lot of promise for a variety of shortening applications,” said Tom Tiffany, senior technical sales manager, ADM. “These new shortenings offer improved melt profile properties along with improved oxidative stability and, thus, are more comparable to the phos that they replace.”