Soap is Good Food
Reader Dorothy asks:
I get a lot of conflicting information about fry oil. Some recipes say you should only use fresh oil, others say old is better. Which is right?
Thanks for that question, Dorothy. The answer is that the perfect fry oil is fresh, but with a tablespoon or two of old oil added. The reason, because while fresh oil gives you a crispier product and less oil soak-in, you need a few old oil soaps to ensure decent browning. There’s plenty more on frying here. Scroll to the bottom and work your way up!
Love the Dead Kennedy’s reference, but what does soap have to do with fry oil, Joe?
Ah…click on ze link. You’ll find out all about it!
And isn’t it nice that Jello Biafra is still going after all these years? I saw the Kennedy’s at the old Club C.O.D. in Chicago around 1982. Jello wore a turban…great days for West Coast punk!
– J
Okay, so I made your doughnuts and they were perfect, but what should we do with the quarts of oil after using it once, huh? I’m sure it should be filtered, right? Is there a “best way” to do that? And how about storage? Refrigerate? Dark bottle? Dark, cool cupboard and how long? …and what about the “soap”? Keep a few tsp’s in a sandwich bag and keep it in the freezer or what? Because I’m not a frequent doughnut eater nor am I a frequent deep fried food eater, I tossed the oil…I hated (HATED!) doing that!
Hey Susan!
Ouch…tossed it? You didn’t need to do that. You can get 3-4 uses out of a jug of caola oil. Once you start to smell those fishy ketone notes, the oil is starting to outlive its usefulness. But I’d say yes, keep some worn out oil someplace, a jar in the cupboard or even frozen as you mention if it’ll be a year or more until you fry again. Regarding filering, just pouring the oil through a fine mesh seive as it goes back into its container is fine. You need not get every little burned crumb out of there. Oh and dark bottles are not required, nor really desiriable.
Thanks for the questions!
– Joe