Thread: Is oil oil?

Peanut Oil! IMHO the only way to go…

I use plain vegetable oil and it is just fine. No matter what type of oil, fresh, clean oil is best.

One of the reasons Peanut oil is a good way to go is you can use it for a very long time before replacing it. The oil gets "Seasoned" by all the seasoning applied to the fish & coatings. Bass Pro sells a special funnel for filtering as well as the filters. I buy the oil filters webstaurantstore.com. You can store your oil in empty gallon bottle water jugs in a refrigerator. I replace mine once a year. Everyone wonders why my fried fish taste so good, it's the seasoned oil. I will tell you this, it you fry fish in fish fry and chicken in flour keep the oils separate as I have found my chicken oil only lasts about 1/2 as long due to the flour finally starting to make a off flavor in the oil.

Originally Posted by Rojo

One of the reasons Peanut oil is a good way to go is you can use it for a very long time before replacing it. The oil gets "Seasoned" by all the seasoning applied to the fish & coatings. Bass Pro sells a special funnel for filtering as well as the filters. I buy the oil filters webstaurantstore.com. You can store your oil in empty gallon bottle water jugs in a refrigerator. I replace mine once a year. Everyone wonders why my fried fish taste so good, it's the seasoned oil. I will tell you this, it you fry fish in fish fry and chicken in flour keep the oils separate as I have found my chicken oil only lasts about 1/2 as long due to the flour finally starting to make a off flavor in the oil.

This would certainly be a reason why I'd switch to peanut oil. I currently use vegetable oil twice and then toss it out. You seriously reuse the same oil for a year's time? Do you filter it after each use or only before the next use? I am wondering if storing the oil "dirty" in the refrigerator with the seasonings and gunk on the bottom ruins the oil compared to storing it as filtered oil.

Originally Posted by cglarsen

This would certainly be a reason why I'd switch to peanut oil. I currently use vegetable oil twice and then toss it out. You seriously reuse the same oil for a year's time? Do you filter it after each use or only before the next use? I am wondering if storing the oil "dirty" in the refrigerator with the seasonings and gunk on the bottom ruins the oil compared to storing it as filtered oil.

I'm working on the Chiller in the kitchen right now. Picked up my phone to take a picture of the wiring of the original controller and looked at emails after. Yes, is the short answer to your question. I buy oil about once every other year, I buy at Sam's when I do. Peanut oil has such a high smoke point that frying 375 degrees or less & keeping the oil clean really works. Fish Fry mixtures that are corn flour based don't scorch like wheat flour based coatings. I wouldn't mix chicken oil with fish oil even if it didn't scorch due to it's chicken, blood & stuff that fish doesn't have. When filtering I filter into gallon water jugs. Clean each time, I use distilled water to make coffee so I never need to clean the coffee maker and get a great tasting cup of Joe. The jugs pile up. I will be filtering soon as I bought a pack of chicken wings at Walmart yesterday. I think I posted pictures in the past here of how I filter but I will post again in this thread. I change the fish oil when it gets real dark, as long as it has a lightly toasted color and no rancid taste or odor developing I keep using it. If I'm frying better than once a week I leave the oil in the fryer till it needs cleaning. My fryer is a commercial Waring 15lb unit that has a "Cold Zone" where the debris collects on the bottom. Since this cold zone prevents the old coating from scorching no damage is done to the oil. The debris builds up a layer on the bottom that I clean out while filtering the oil. I also clean up the heating element, oil pan, control head all at the same time. We run the baskets in the dishwasher after each use we do not leave the baskets in the fryer. Looking at the cost of a good fryer and today's cost of Peanut oil I think the fryer has saved enough of the oil costs that it's paid for itself. I wired the Island in the kitchen when we did the remodel with 220VAC to power the fryer, it has a great recovery time for electric. Strictly guessing I would say I filter every 5-6 times I fry fish.

I never store "dirty" oil. It gets filtered then placed in the back of the Chiller. That said I have to pull the jugs out the day before to allow the oil to warm up and liquify or you can't pour it out of the jug.

Canola oil is what we use . Strain it and if not over heated can be used several times . I have tried Peanut and it suppose to take higher heat . I don't care for it and it cost a lot more .

I use vegetable oil or canola oil without a problem. I also use a fry pappy and it holds 48 ounces. I use my oil 3 times for fish. If I fry floured shrimp or chicken I only use it once. Runs about $3.59 on sale for a bottle.