Have you ever wondered why, when let’s fry something, our clothes become so impregnated with this smell, with the it smells like fried food that can stay on sweatshirts or t-shirts for several hours? It all has to do with the chemical processes that occur during the cookingwhen i fats contained in the oil undergo an oxidation process in which the molecules of unsaturated fats they breakgenerating other molecules that are smaller and often have a strong odor.
In particular, when we fry a food, a substance is released into the air aerosolthat is, many small droplets of oil dispersed in the air. It is precisely inside these “droplets” that the responsible odorous molecules of the annoying stink of fried. Once generated, these droplets then settle on all surfaces, sticking even to our clothes, penetrating the fibers of the fabrics, especially synthetic ones.
Obviously the odorous molecules are released into the air also starting directly from the oil surfacecontributing to the acrid smell in the kitchen. In case the oil exceeds its smoke point – that is, the temperature at which the molecules of the oil (triglycerides) begin to degrade – to the fried smell there is also another odor, acrid and pungent, caused by theacroleinone toxic substance from frying which is formed at a specific temperature for each oil and derives from the decomposition of glycerol.
But there is a way to easily eliminate the fried smell? Searching the internet, numerous “Grandma’s remedies“, such as boiling a saucepan with vinegar or placing citrus peels near the pan. In reality, the most effective method remains that of ventilate the area well during frying – so as to encourage the release of odorous molecules – and choose themore correct frying oilrespecting its smoke point.
