Reuse Oil

[sankum]

In most of the Indian snacks preperation, it involves deep frying. I was wondering how many times we can reuse oil which is used for deep frying? I generally throw away after using for 2 times.

 

[Barb L.]

Gosh I use mine a lot more than that, it will start looking bad, then I pitch. Still kickin"

 

[TATTRAT]

once it is dark...like can't see anything under an inch of the surface, toss it. But for sure, you can use it more then twice.

 

[Yakuta]

Hi Sankum, hello from a fellow Indian. I normally let the oil cool and then strain it through a fine strainer into a container. Let the oil sit for atleast a day and all the particles will settle to the bottom and you will have clear oil on the top that you can reuse several times over.

 

[welise86]

I don't know anything about Indian food but I save my oil until it starts to look too "dirty" or dark...when you can't see past the surface anymore it's time to toss it!

 

[Adillo303]

When you save the oil, do you refrigerate it.

How do you dispose of it?

 

[Andy M.]

No need to refrigerate. Keep it in a cool dark spot.

 

[attie]

I use a fabric called Bilene to filter the oil in my commercial cookers and buy it from our local Haberdashery or Arts and Craft stores, it's very cheap and does an excellent job. There are several grades but the heavy one is to fine and also the hotter the oil the easier it flows through the filter.

Tailors use it as a lining to stiffen up clothing

 

[Saphellae]

When I fry shrimp in oil, can I reuse that oil a couple of weeks later to make more shrimp?

 

[welise86]

When I fry shrimp in oil, can I reuse that oil a couple of weeks later to make more shrimp?

I've done it before...just keep it in a covered container...I wouldn't reccommend cooking anything else in there though unless you want everything to taste like shrimp

 

[Caine]

I usually use my deep frying oil 4 or 5 times, unless I've fried fish, then it goes out. Once the oil cools, I pour it back into the 1 gallon plastic jug it came out of, through a gold coffee filter that fits inside a big funnel. When it's time to go, I just pour it into the plastic jug, screw on the cap, and put it into the dumpster.

 

[attie]

I usually use my deep frying oil 4 or 5 times, unless I've fried fish, then it goes out. Once the oil cools, I pour it back into the 1 gallon plastic jug it came out of, through a gold coffee filter that fits inside a big funnel. When it's time to go, I just pour it into the plastic jug, screw on the cap, and put it into the dumpster.

<<<and put it into the dumpster>>>

You devil Caine, a very heavy fine for us if we get caught doing that, mine gets turned in to diesel.

 

[milkdemcows]

Yeah, I recently found straining the oil through something fine like a paper towel, coffee filter, or cloth helps quite a bit (that's what we ideally did at the Olive Garden when I worked there, except the machine was busted for all except 2 weeks of the year I worked there...). But it takes forever to get it all through. I think what I'll do henceforth is strain it warm into a big glass jar I have (a pot or bowl would work too) so it's less viscous, rather than waiting til its cool to strain right into the plastic jug, since its so thick by that time.

And I also found a greenhouse that uses oil to heat their greenhouses, so that's were mine is now going. I also had the number for a biodiesel place. I hated throwing away such good but nonobvious "fuel". But now that I moved into a place that I will a) have to pay for my own heat and b) uses (expensive) heating oil, I'm thinking of trying to make my own...

 

[jabbur]

Last night on the Travel Channel they did a bit on fried food heavens. One place deep fries hamburgers and has been using the same oil since they opened in 1912! They say the oil gets filtered everyday and then reused. They even lock up the oil in a special room to prevent tampering! I was astounded!

 

[MexicoKaren]

Caine, I dispose of my oil the same way. There is just no alternative where I live. My DH and a friend started a pretty successful nonprofit recycling program here about two years ago, and we have found a market for our plastics and aluminum, but so far, no place to get rid of used oil. But we do have far fewer plastic bottles on the beach now!

 

[attie]

Last night on the Travel Channel they did a bit on fried food heavens. One place deep fries hamburgers and has been using the same oil since they opened in 1912! They say the oil gets filtered everyday and then reused. They even lock up the oil in a special room to prevent tampering! I was astounded!

Crikey, I would like to know what sort of oil they use. I go through 80 to 100 liters a week to cook around 180kg of fish fillets and 500kg of potato chips plus the other odds and sodds. Waste management and recycling is paramount for us, recyclable materials must go in the recycle bin and the remainder in the land fill bin. Our grease traps are tested on a regular basis and we pay $x to have that water treated, if we don't comply and put to much rubbish through the trap the inspectors could well put a bung in the line and close us down, no mucking around.
Here's a pic. of my kitchen, I must say that those Frymaster cookers made in the US are great machines.

 

[milkdemcows]

Last night on the Travel Channel they did a bit on fried food heavens. One place deep fries hamburgers and has been using the same oil since they opened in 1912! They say the oil gets filtered everyday and then reused. They even lock up the oil in a special room to prevent tampering! I was astounded!

That is just...wow.

 

[suziquzie]

I used to re-use my oil a few times, but we really don't deep fry enough to bother keeping it anymore, and things tend to taste better when I use fresh oil each time.
We really only deep fry maybe 4 times a year.

 

[milkdemcows]

What happens with me, is once I get the fry machine and oil out, well, since its out, why not use it? So I end up doing a week or 2 of many fried meals, lol.

 

[kitana89]

I usually reuse oil after 3 tries. After that it just gets a bit nasty looking