Anybody have a great receipe for breading stuff?

[Minnymouth]

In all my years of cooking I've never known of a probe for cooking oil...... new invention here folks????

When the oil gets too hot it will smoke..... that's the signal that it could ignite...

[JeepMom]

There are oil temp takers.

[wenderful]

You know, I must be a pretty lucky person -- in all of my years, I've never had a kitchen fire!

I have, however, flooded my kitchen many times by making stupid mistakes -- like turning on the water to fill the sink, walking away to answer the phone and forgetting about it, only to come back to a kitchen that has two inches of standing water on it. ROFL!

I never used to be an airhead -- but since 2004 when all you know what broke lose, I have become one!

[Bobby'sGirl]

Deep fat fry thermometers

Bought one for my daughter at Walmart, $5.49. Most of us use temp control deep fry cookers, but she wasn't sure her "FryBaby" cooker was controlling temps correctly. This let her check, and decide to throw her cooker away since it didn't shut off just kept geting hotter and hotter and...it was a garage sale find and not a bargain at $5 after all. So now she is happily using a heavy pan and the thermometer for the couple of recipes she needs a fryer for. I know of a commercial probe for almost $100 to test oil in deepfryers in restaurants, but a bit much for home use!

Minny: I learned to fry from my grandma and she just could tell temp by looking at the grease and smelling! A close watch on how fast things browned and always up and down on the flames is an art, I think. I was always glad for the built in thermostats on deep fryers. Except for the annual fall ritual of cider donuts, I don't fry anymore. Wrong thing to keep down inflammation in my aging body...and I couldn't afford to buy new clothes with the weight I'd gain!

[brokemommy]

So what is the best oil?

Crisco tyastes the best but whats the best?

olive and canola?

I have five gallons of Peanut oil from a unused Christmas gift, a Turkey Fryer. Oil isn't that great to deep fry in, funny taste, peanut flavor.

[Minnymouth]

Brokemommy...... any frying oil that has been used or even new that has sit for a long time (months) will get a "rancid taste" as it ages..... often will have a funny smell also..... Your foods will pick up this odor and taste... I would trash the oil if it was old...

Peanut oil is used a lot for cooking...... only thing restraunts were being put in a position where they had to notify the public if they were using peanut oil because of the people allergic to peanuts.....

Whats the best oil? Well, I'm not a nutritionist...... and I'm from the old school that still uses lard.... (I know - hello arteries - but women in my family have used lard for years and lived to be in their 90's)....

I use lard, yet I also use Crisco and Wesson oil...... both. Favorite - Wesson!

Didn't know about the grease thermometer.... I usually just cook by flame control and how hot the grease gets....

Learn something new everyday......

PS If the peanut oil has been stored inside in the same temp all the time it is probably still good.... you can use it for everyday cooking...

McD's and lots of restraunts used peanut oil for years for their fryers..

[Bobby'sGirl]

During WWII butter and lard greased the big guns!

Those animal fats made the best lubricants for the hot temps the guns ran at, and so when our parents and grandparents had "ration" coupons for butter, it wasn't because the butter was going to feed the troops! What to use here at home? Hardened vegetable oils = shortening aka Crisco. Used for margarine also, to make butter replacement. Because there was no cholesterol in vegetable fats, it was thought to be healthier as well. Nope! Now we know the transfats made from adding H atoms to solidify the oil (saturated fat) makes a fat not shaped like the ones our bodies can easily handle. That is why food companies now have had to put transfats on the label. Actually are worse for the heart than the saturated fats and cholesterol from animals it appears. And if someone has any disease with inflammation or has heart disease, canola oil for cooking has the best types of fats for this type of high temp frying.

So the new margarines in tubs are made without transfats; you can even buy some with olive oil or canola oil in them. But it seems even lard would be better for you in the long run than that Crisco replacement, but canola would be best of the bunch if you deep fry (from a nutritional standpoint. My grandma's cider donuts just don't taste the same, sighhhh!)