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-Hello. In 2016 we conducted a test of the high
oleic soybean oil in one of the residence halls here at Purdue
University, and we currently use the high oleic soybean oil in one of our
restaurants. I'm glad today to have joining me today Greg Minner,
the director of Purdue Catering and Dining, and Executive Chef Bruce Haumesser,
who is the chef at the restaurant where we're currently using the high oleic
soybean oil. So Greg, can you tell us how you used the oil in your kitchen?
-Yes, we actually used it in an Hillenbrand dining court in spring of 2016.
We introduced it to the students of Purdue dining and catering and with that
we used it in mostly the deep fryers and I was using a lot of the things that we
would normally deep-fry for students and that was most of the most of time during
the meals, and so we used that to actually test to see what the difference
was between the canola oil that we used and the high oleic soybean oil. So we
introduced it to the students as being Indiana grown so we really wanted to
emphasize that with them. And so the reception from the students was really
good.
-Great, great. So Bruce you want to share a little bit
about how you have or are currently using the oil?
-We're using in the Sagamore
restaurant. We're also using the deep fryer as they did in Hillenbrand
to fry all of our menu items from our breakfast potatoes, to our fried pickles
at lunch, fried shrimp at lunch, fried sweet
potatoes, and we also have a fried banana for dessert, which is very popular - so
do we use it quite often every day
-Great, great.
So um Greg I'm interested to hear a little bit from you since this product
is a transgenic or a GMO product. What's the perception that you get from people
because this product is a GMO?
-Well I think you know through throughout the
course of the system of looking at dining and catering in the restaurant
business and they were I think there's a perception out there
sometimes that GMO and being genetically modified and the growing of it sometimes
people don't don't look at that as being the best for them, and I think that
perception a lot of times it keeps people from trying it actually, and so I
think that was one of the things that we wanted the students to understand when
we went into this that, hey, this is an Indiana grown product not emphasizing so
much that it's GMO, but that it's an opportunity for them to eat
sustainability-wise and those types of things so we kind of introduced it to
them being the fact that it's Indiana grown is sustainable and trying to
encourage them to understand that, you know, there's a lot of great properties
in it already that that they can understand. So we showed them some of
that difference between the canola oil and then also regular soybean oil and
then the high oleic soybean oil.
-Great. So is health benefits something that you
consider when you're making these types of choices between the oils?
So of course
we have students that are looking at that. Many times, we have an app that
students actually use that's that they can see you know the nutritional
analysis of the product that they're eating and so with that they have the
ability to see, you know, what we're using in the products. And so the oil is there
in that so that they know that that's actually something that they they have
that information that they want to be able to see.
-Great, great. So Bruce, give us
a little bit of perspective in terms of what it was like to use the product. How
does it compare with canola oil if that's the oil that tha t you typically
would use if you weren't using the oil that you typically would use.
-Sure. We're using the canola oil. I believe the
biggest takeaway that we are finding in the restaurant right now is there's
there's no transfer of flavors when you're frying from one item to another,
so historically if you go into a restaurant many times you'd eat french
fries and they would taste like chicken or fish or something depending on how they
took care of the oil. We don't find that transfer of flavor at all with this oil
which I think is really unique. I've used it for some emulsification
to make some salad dressing, some vinaigrettes and it worked. It worked
just as the canola oil did, which was very nice. The one thing I did
take away from this particular oil is that it's very clear so when you're
making your vinaigrette, even though you add the acidity and the vinegar, is they
tend to get a little cloudy. This is a little less cloudy so if you're using
fresh herbs and things like that they tend to shine through a little bit more.
Also with your corn oils and things like that
they tend to have a little corn flavor. The canola was relatively neutral but
you know olive oil and peanut oil they all have their their own dominant flavor,
but this is very neutral and and it really didn't add any flavors that
you really didn't want to it. Also I've done some sautéing with it and it's very
similar to the the canola oils that we used previously, or even the clarified
butter, so you know for oil to oil it worked pretty much the same with the
with the difference you know the transfer the flavor wasn't there. Plus
from a responsibility standpoint it's nice to be able to use one oil in your
deep fryer, and the same oil for your emulsification, and your same oil for
your sautéing, as opposed to having all these different oils around which, you
know, many places generally have.
-Sure. So he talked a little bit about his
perspective from a chef what did the students have to say in terms of the
differences?
-I think what was really great is we did do sensory testing with
them. We actually had a lab students come in and do the sensory testing and find
out really, you know, what is the difference that they see between the
french fries - one in canola oil one in the high oleic soybean oil? And actually
the students told us, you know, we really think the taste is better in the high
oleic soybean oil. So I think that was one of the indications that we thought
well, this is good because you know you're always trying to make sure your
customer, you know, has the best taste that they can get from that, and I think
I would say from a chef's perspective on it that he mentions that you know you
couldn't tell that difference in it, or when you're deep frying different things,
and we deep fry a lot of different things in the dining courts, when you're
doing that you don't have that transfer of taste. The students really did not
notice that and they commented on that that they
knew that, you know, there wasn't something else being fried in it, or you
know when you mix things like that in products sometimes you have different
french fries that taste different in that
depending on the mix or whatever's going on in the deep-fryer at the time so that
was one of the things that was really conclusive to us to know that they're
getting a pure taste for the product that we're making so.
-Great. What about
texture? did they notice any difference in the texture?
-No, they didn't. They didn't
really talk about much about texture. I think it was more,I mean, with the
students french fries or everything. They really make sure that you know if
it's a good french fry they're going to eat it, and we really try to make sure
that we deep fry them and keep them on spot for them so that when they're, you
know, they're in line they're coming into the dining court so they're getting a
french fry anyway, and so I think that's one of the things that, you know, it's
probably more about the taste at that particular time.
-So, Bruce what's your
perspective from from the restaurant side of things in terms of taste and
texture?
-Right so unlike the side by side comparison that Greg was just speaking
to, I'm not really gonna get a student or I guess come up to me and say, "Wow! You
know the oil that you fried my french fry in was really really good!" I think
it's ironic that we have so many students in this environment they're
looking for healthier options and they're pretty vocal about that. I don't
really don't know what that healthier option means to them individually but
you see the lines at the healthier options area, they're just as long at the
burger and french fry place, so we have a responsibility to these students to
feed them or give them a product that is healthier even though they're in that
burger/fry line. So we we look for a healthier bun. We use produce from the
student farm which is grown local and very, very fresh, and we make sure that we
use, you know, oil that is is healthier for them you know so when they do have
their fries at least we're contributing to some what of that healthier
perception that they may not think they're getting, but we're giving them
because we're responsible for providing that for them.
-Great, great. So Greg when you think about this oil are you currently using it in
the dining halls why or why not and if not, would you consider switching?
-Well we
currently don't use it in the courts. One of the things that we first
started out was the fact that it was soybean oil and that that perception of
soybean oil when it comes to people who are concerned about allergens is
something that is really there's a lot of vocal people out there about it. Even
our registered dieticians sometimes they refer to if the fact that you're saying
it's high oleic is great but when you add the soybean on that part it becomes
now an issue, and especially when it comes to parents that are really out
there, and we have a lot of parents that are really concerned about their
children's nutrition, and what happens in that and so we have parents that are
saying you know they're talking to us and saying, "Hey, my son has a soybean
allergy" or "My son or my daughter has an allergy for nuts or milk" or something
like that and so we're meeting with them and talking with them. And so when we
introduced it to Hillenbrand for that spring semester, one of the things that
we wanted to make sure that students knew was that we were having it there
because we had not before it was always canola oil and so when we introduced
that letting them know right up front that we have it here, but also if they
needed to talk to someone about that because I think the perception there a
lot of times is reality in folks' eyes even though we know from the research
and everything on it that it doesn't have those same properties as the high
oleic soybean oil it doesn't have that soybean property in it that would cause
an allergic reaction so I think that was one of the things that we had to make
sure that we got out there that people understood that and I think having it in
the dining courts today probably more so the reason of the cost to that and we
haven't talked much about the cost but associated with the soybean, the high
oleic soybean oil is the cost associated with it to bring it into the dining
courts. So that was the other factor that we we took into consideration looking at
it.
-Right so is cost, how does that play into as you think about the restaurant
setting?
-It's the same I mean with the responsibility I mean it does come with
a cost but sometimes the the significant cost does that way and I know from the
deep frying perspective the shelf life was a little bit less than what we are
accustomed to as well.
-So from your experience is this the type of oil that
you would recommend that there's other chef use or that
even a consumer might think about using in their own kitchen?
-Well so again with
the big non-transfer of food flavors so when you're cooking something in the
deep fryer you don't want my my dessert banana to taste like shrimp or a pickle,
you know, but so but that means that you're getting the actual true flavor at
its highest profile which should be appealing to a restaurant especially one
who wants to serve a quality product you know and it's it's peakest
flavor point and it coupled on with the fact that it's it's so multi useful in
all of your applications I would I would recommend it for a restaurant that, you
know, would consider you know a high-end quality product like that it one day the
cost will come down because the production will be will be better but
you know if you're on the front end of that you know you're already the better
for it.
-Yeah, great. What's your perspective?
-Well, I've used it a couple of times and I really enjoyed using it and I think one
of the biggest things with me is understanding and knowing that those
properties of using it for different things when you're cooking are not
transferred over. Like if you're if you're doing a stirfry or something
you're not getting that same taste of something else that you might made with
it or it's bringing into that and brings out the true value I
think of the vegetables in it that you're doing it in that time like I
think he had alluded to is that it's the taste of it you know and you're when
you're when you're trying that and you know that you're getting the full flavor
of whatever you're cooking in it I think that's one of the biggest things that
we've enjoyed with it
-Yeah, well, thank you both for sharing how you've used the
high oleic soybean oil here at Purdue and we appreciate you sharing your time
and expertise with us today
-Thank you -Thank you
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