Yes, you can have your fried chicken and eat it too!
It all has to do with the right choice of cooking oils. Ideally, you want to choose a cooking oil that's low in saturated fat and trans-fat, as well as, high in monounsaturated fat (MUFA's) and polyunsaturated fat (PUFA's). For more information about finding the right cooking oil with the right fats, check out this blog page.
Next, you want to find the smoke point of your cooking oils. Smoke point is defined as the temperature at which your cooking oil will break down into free fatty acids, visibly produce smoke, and eventually catch on fire.
Frying temperatures range from 350-450°F. So, ideally, you want to find a cooking oil that has a smoke point at least 400℉. There are different methods of frying--each has a different frying temperature that this web page discusses. There are many factors that affect the smoke point of a cooking oil. For more information on these factors and how the smoke point of a cooking oil may be increased, read this Serious Eats page.
As you research the different cooking oils, you'll realize the reason why cooking oils high in saturated fat are used to fry food--they have the higher smoke points. That's why many of the healthier cooking oils go through a refinement process to increase their smoke point.
Here are some cooking oils and their smoke points (℉):
Canola 400
Safflower 510
Sunflower 440
Corn 450
Extra Virgin Olive 375
Soybean 450
Margarine 410
Peanut 440
Vegetable Shortening 360
Palm 450
Palm Kernel 450
Coconut 350
Lard 370
Beef Tallow 400
Butter 350
For more cooking oils and their smoke points, please visit wikipedia and this site.
Happy Healthy Frying!!!!!
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