Deep Fryers ---- Do You Save the Oil?

Uually wrote:
We have saved the oil , question how many refrigerate the oil or leave it at room temp? Thanks for any info

I leave it at room temp in a dark glass container when possible(sun degrades the oil or so my Nana told me) but live in a temperate zone. When it starts to darken it's toast in my life and gets thrown away.
Certainly nothing wrong with storing it in the fridge if you've the space. HTH!

We have saved the oil , question how many refrigerate the oil or leave it at room temp? Thanks for any info

Sounds like a lot of work and hassle to make something that really isn't good for you. Don't get me wrong, I like fried food myself. But we have had the deep fryers and fry daddy's. They are just too much trouble for us to try and keep up with. Never mind the mess they make and the work you go through to try to save the oil and cleanup. We try to keep it simple and just use less oil. I guess we "shallow fry". And don't even try to reuse the oil....

I have a fryer that you turn the lever and when the oil is cold, it automatically strains it into a sealed storage container under the fryer, so no muss, no fuss. I reuse it until the fryer beeps at me to change it.

SteveRuff I think in your case you aren't cooking anything that will add animal fat to the mix. I always consider how clean the oil is and whether it has any added fats. I don't know about 10 or 12, but I use mine for several, but I also use it for pan frying in between so I'm always adding some fresh.

Got a new Hamilton Beach 8 cup for Christmas. The instructions say to strain the used oil through cheesecloth or coffee filters. I found this very labor intensive and spent over an hour the first time. After that I used a fine wire strainer and it went much faster but still strained out all the pieces. It says you can use the oil 10 or 12 times. I have used mine 4 times and it is quite dark but seems to be okay. I have used it for wings, shrimp, fish, and chicken strips so far with some hush puppies and potatoes thrown in for good measure. Oil loss has been minimal which is a real surprise to me. I started with the level at the Max mark and it is still above the Min mark. I do let the food sit in the basket and drain back into the fryer a while before doing another batch. At this point I am not thinking I will get 10 or 12 uses but am hoping for at least 6. I store the used oil in the refrigerator.

A Lodge Chicken Fryer or a Combo Cooker makes a good alternate and they both hold enough oil to fry chicken properly.

Like some others I strain the used oil. Not a big eater of deep fried foods so I just use the strained oil for stir frying and sauteing UNLESS it was used initially for a strong tasting food like certain fish.

cyntdon2010 wrote:

someone said to start a fire with old grease or oil?

please explain how>>

Take a corrugated egg carton, soak it with oil, you can even puddle a little in the compartments, and it will burn like a candle. It's all I use in my chimney as a rule. I tear off an appropriate piece, pour oil in it and set the chimney on top of the lit cardboard.

5thwheeleroldman wrote:
Yeah, I fried my oysters and shrimp in a medium sized skillet with about an inch of oil and they turned out great. Guess I could even use a medium sized pot to get deeper oil with less oil.

My reason for not getting a deep fryer is safety though. My wife says she will kill me if I get one more gadget!

LOL...

I think you are on the right track with a deeper, but smaller pot. Especially if not cooking for a lot of people. Does it really matter if it's in 1" of oil or 6" of oil?