An Olive Oil You Can Deep Fry With?
Graza, the Internet-famous squeeze-bottle olive oil brand, created an innovative olive oil that can withstand high heat without adding unwanted flavor. Here’s what we thought after putting it to the test.
Photo courtesy of Graza
If you’ve done your fair share of the cooking in your home, you’ve probably come to realize that most of the time olive oil is used for its flavor. If you’re looking to get things crispy, many recipes you come across will recommend a high-smoke-point, neutral oil like canola or vegetable oil for browning oven-roasted brussels sprouts, pan frying panko-coated pork chops or deep frying chicken drumsticks. But Graza, the brand behind the social media favorite olive oil in those satisfying squeezable bottles wants you to rethink that with its new olive oil that’s specifically for high heat situations.
In perfect rhyming succession, Graza’s new “Frizzle” oil joins its existing Drizzle and Sizzle extra virgin olive oils, all of which are naturally-refined, single-origin products. “At Graza, we’ve always been committed to getting the highest quality olive oil into the hands of home cooks in a fun, approachable way,” Graza co-founder and CEO Andrew Benin told Food Network. “We’ve been working on developing Frizzle for more than four years, understanding the need for an oil that can handle some serious heat, doesn’t overpower the flavor of certain foods or dishes, and isn’t made with any chemicals and additives — unlike many neutral cooking oils.”
Photo courtesy of Graza
Frizzle differs from Drizzle (a fruity, flavorful finishing oil) and Sizzle (a general cooking oil) in that it's made from a mix of both EVOO and the pomace leftover from extracting its more delicate counterparts. “Pomace is basically the pulp or mush that’s left behind after a fruit has been crushed to make juice,” Benin explained. “But not all olive pomace oils are created equal. Traditionally, the category has been dominated by heavily refined, chemically processed oils, which has given olive pomace oil a bad reputation. Unlike most pomace oils, which are extracted with solvents and undergo harsh refining, ours is 100% naturally extracted and refined using a bit of centrifugal heat and pressure — no chemicals, no additives, no deodorization. We also add in a bit (about 7%) of Graza Extra Virgin Olive Oil for an antioxidant and flavor boost.”
The result is a heartier oil that can withstand temperatures up to 490ºF (versus 410º for Sizzle). That means it’ll fare better under the broiler, on the barbecue grill or as a base for deep frying. To accommodate these varied uses, Graza has also introduced two new formats for its Frizzle oil. In addition to the (now) classic 750 ml bottle ($14.99), Frizzle also comes in a five-ounce spray can ($6.99) for sheet pans, grills and griddles, and a large two-liter jug ($29.99) for filling up your fryer.
We suspect you could use that large-format Frizzle to refill your squeeze bottle, too. That’s because Graza’s recently took a step toward sustainability by encouraging its customers to reuse their plastic bottles again and again. The brand made it easy to do so by offering its Sizzle and Drizzle olive oils in aluminum cans which are more easily recyclable than plastic.
So can Frizzle take the heat? I tried samples provided by Graza to pan fry pork chops, roast vegetables, and make both French fries and potato chips. The results were crispy, and clean tasting, though I found everything I fried took on a darker color than normal — not burnt, just browned. To that end, I also found that the olive oil got a little darker than I expected it to at higher temps, but, again, didn’t burn. And Frizzle didn’t impart any noticeable flavor (which is kind of the point), but any residual oiliness had a bit richer (and welcome) mouthfeel.
The new Frizzle oil squeeze bottle and spray are available at Whole Foods Markets nationwide or at graza.co, which is where you will exclusively find the two-liter bottles. And now you can grab The Trio pack, featuring Drizzle, Sizzle and Frizzle in squeeze bottles for $53, too.
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