Someone recently told me that frying frozen vegetables in oil will result in hydrogenation, due to the interaction between the water and the oil. This seems to me like it’s probably off-base, and I can’t even find any references to such a phenomena on the internet. Also, the process of hydrogenation - as performed industrially - seems much more complex.
Could somebody explain why this wouldn’t happen? Also, does anybody know the origins of this?
Hydrogenation: Hydrogenated fat is created by bubbling hydrogen through 250 to 400 degree hot vegetable oil in the presence of a metal catalyst, usually nickel or platinum. The process can take several hours. Oleic acid (C18:1) and linoleic acid (C18:2) are both converted to stearic acid (C18:0) when fully saturated but fully saturated fats are too waxy and solid for use, hence the process is stopped at partial hydrogenation. You cannot accidentally make trans or saturated fatty acids at home on your range when heating olive oil or other oils.