Grease in the fryer

Adillo303

*****
Gold Site Supporter
A post in another thread got me thinking. A diner that I visit near me admits, unofficially, that the grease in the fryer is changed weekly.

Is there a regulation that anyone knows of?
 

Guts

New member
Vera or Allen may be best answering this. but not to my knowledge I think it's up to the head chef or owner. I've had canola oil in my fryer for months. It depends on what you been frying and how much protein is left in the oil, the more times the oil is heated, the more it breaks down so there is that factor also. But if it's only used every week or twice a week for a short period of time it will last a long time and even longer if you were to strain out the particles and reuse oil. My fryer is not a commercial unit but a 1800 W wearing pro fryer. I also recently bought a small wearing 1800 W fryer. I couldn't pass the price up for $29.00 I think I have to put a disclaimer in here that this is my opinion on fryers and oil in may not fit your opinion. this is just my experience with small counter top fryers.
 

VeraBlue

Head Mistress
Gold Site Supporter
A diner is frying all the time...fries, tenders, chicken, wings, mozzarella sticks, etc. All the time. More than likely, they have at least 3 fryers but probably don't have all of them fired at the same time. Off peak hours probably only one is lit. Changing them every week is often enough if you keep one for fish, one for potatoes and one for everything else.

Me...I fry approximately 10 orders of fries a day, 3 goat cheese rillettes, 4 chicken cutlets and 2 orders of eggplant. If not for the fact that my pilot is so high I could go three weeks between changes. As it is, I change out the oil every other week.

Once the oil changes from a clear to a dark brown it's past the point of okay to consume or safe to fire. At that point, even if it doesn't catch fire from the gunk at the bottom, anything you fry is going to taste awful.
 

ChowderMan

Pizza Chef
Super Site Supporter
>>Is there a regulation that anyone knows of?

lemme see.... 50 states, say 1500 health inspectors per state . . . that'd be something on the order of 75,000 regulations. give or take three or five opinions of the day . . . .
 

Deelady

New member
I saw a restaurant on food network that was KNOWN for using the same oil for decades! I think they only save some of it and add it to fresh oil for a signature flavor but still...
 

Guts

New member
Deelady I remember seeing that same show and I had to scratch my head thinking I don't know if I do that or not. I don't think oil is likely yeast culture. I could be wrong and probably am


Vera you have to pay to have your old oil picked up or do they pay you for the oil? I know you're busy and may not be able to answer this but I thought I'd ask
 

buckytom

Grill Master
i once asked the chef/owner of a fantastic chinese restaurant that always had the best fried foods how often he changed his oil. he remarked that they deep fry so many things that he changes it every 3 days, sometimes every 2. it showed in the product. best fried food anywhere!

you can definitely taste week old or longer oil. you stop tasting the freshness of the thing that's fried and start tasting the stale oil. i wonder if the frequency of his "oil changes" has anything to due with the fact that he uses soybean oil?can some oils hold up longer?

at least it is liquid oil. i remember being grossed out when changing the oil in the fryer when i worked at burger king as a kid. after draining and cleaning the fryer, i'd open a huge can of some kind of solid white, lard like fat using a key like you get on cans of ham.

once the giant can was peeled open, you shook and shook and shook until the giant white blob landed in the fryer - splat. then we'd fire it up and it melted into oil in a few minutes. yuk.

i probably still have some of it stuck to the inside of my arteries, lol.
 

ChowderMan

Pizza Chef
Super Site Supporter
given the deep fry temperature(s) the oil is likely to be "safe" in terms of bacterial contamination, but "taste" is another matter.

the "smoke point" of oils is the usual indicator of how well the oil will hold up when kept "at temperature" - then of course there's the "it develops free radicals that kill you!!" health crowd.
 

Adillo303

*****
Gold Site Supporter
Guts - Picking up in another matter entirely. I would absolutely LOVE to find a restaurant that had a decent volume of used oil that I could pick up. My truck is Diesel and with a little attention (not hard at all) the oil would power my truck and save on fuel. The guys that do it tell me that the truck exhaust smells like whatever was fried in it. Duncan Doughnuts seems to be the favorite. second is french fries. LOL
 

Cuisinette

Member
i remember being grossed out when changing the oil in the fryer when i worked at burger king as a kid. after draining and cleaning the fryer, i'd open a huge can of some kind of solid white, lard like fat using a key like you get on cans of ham.

once the giant can was peeled open, you shook and shook and shook until the giant white blob landed in the fryer - splat. then we'd fire it up and it melted into oil in a few minutes. yuk.

i probably still have some of it stuck to the inside of my arteries, lol.

That would probably be CRISCO... IMO is the most repulsive ever culinary product. I would eat lard any given day... but if anything is made with Crisco I would know it from the first bite. You would know it too, when the food gets colder it had a whitish coat to it and it looks as it was waxed.
The texture and the taste make my skin crawl. I don't even eat margarine for the same reason.

I cook with olive oil and I keep vegetable oil for deep frying only.
 

Guts

New member
Guts - Picking up in another matter entirely. I would absolutely LOVE to find a restaurant that had a decent volume of used oil that I could pick up. My truck is Diesel and with a little attention (not hard at all) the oil would power my truck and save on fuel. The guys that do it tell me that the truck exhaust smells like whatever was fried in it. Duncan Doughnuts seems to be the favorite. second is french fries. LOL
exactly what I was talking about. There's a guy here in San Diego actually Alpine East County who goes around restaurants and recycles their oil to make diesel fuel for his vehicle. I actually heard about this guy on a local talk show, Roger Hedgecock you seem to be having a hard time finding places that would give him the oil. I don't know what you have to do it to refine it but I guess it's a fairly easy process. But does require some time picking up the oil and preparing it for fuel. But it does work. That's why I was asking Vera if she had to pay to have her oil picked up or somebody paid her for it.

As far as disposing of cooking oil from the home cook. There is only one answer that is accepted. Recycle ! I've gotten this conversation before on other groups. It always seems to start a fight that's all I'm saying about disposing of home cooking oil... Restaurant oil and recycling oil for fuel is a whole different subject.
 

Cuisinette

Member
I remember my grandma collecting all the grease (oils, lard, pieces of bacon or any animal fats) in a metal barrel to make homemade soap.

What you see in the picture is the best soap in the world.

Sapun-de-casa-Foto-Agerpres.jpg


Sapun de casa / Foto: Agerpres
 

VeraBlue

Head Mistress
Gold Site Supporter
Guts, every couple of months I call the same guy who cleans my grease trap to pick up my old oil. He pays for the oil.
I have a very nice and expensive piece of equipment that filters all the fine particulates from the oil, extending the life of the oil by a couple of weeks, (depending on how much you fry). It literally sucks all the grease out, right down to the bottom of the fryer, then filters everything except oil, back into the fryer.
It looks like a huge kettle drum.
 

Adillo303

*****
Gold Site Supporter
I remember my grandma collecting all the grease (oils, lard, pieces of bacon or any animal fats) in a metal barrel to make homemade soap.

What you see in the picture is the best soap in the world.

Sapun-de-casa-Foto-Agerpres.jpg


Sapun de casa / Foto: Agerpres

DW is working at becoming a "soaper" we are now using that soap in the house. It makes a dramatic difference.
 

UncleRalph

Quo Fata Ferunt
Site Supporter
In our units, it is typically changed about every 3-4 days, some of course are busier than others, but as a rule, we don't "let it go". Many of the fryer units are outfitted with built in filtering systems that really help extend the oils life, but they still see some serious volume.

Peanut oil, or soybean oil for us.
 
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