Any tips on oil choices and how long before they go bad? Plan on cooking mushrooms, onion rings. fish fillets and chicken
I always used peanut oil. The thing that ruins oil quickest is to overheat it so it breaks down. I reused my oil several times over and removed the residual flavors from the oil in one of two ways: -If I were using it for Chinese foods, rough-chopping scallions and briefly frying them (don't burn them) after I was done cooking "fragranced" the oil. -For removing all other strong flavors (such as fish), frying a cut up potato after each frying session absorbs the off-flavors. Discard the scallions or potato after frying them. I always let the oil cool, strain it into a container through cheesecloth to remove residual bits of food, then store it in the fridge. But the most important thing is to not overheat the oil. It makes things taste bad, and the oil breaks down into unhealthy compounds and should be discarded. Letting foods burn will also ruin the oil, but that's most likely to happen in a stove-top pan or pot because the bits fall to the hot bottom and get scorched. Your deep fryer's heating coils should be wrapped around the sides, so scorched food particles are not likely to be an issue. As a side note, the things that are unlikely to leave burnable bits behind are "naked veggies," such as french fries. Anything with a bread or batter coating is gonna shed bits & pieces. Good luck with the mess I got tired of it and stopped using my Fry Daddy.
I don't fry much these days, but I never used the same oil more than twice for things like french fries. I never reuse oil that I fry fish in, but since I don't like fried fish that's seldom a problem. If I fry breaded meat (such as cube steak), I filter the brown bits out of the oil before storing to use again. ETA--I never liked using a dedicated deep fryer because they are messy and take up storage space. I deep fry things using a large pot on a stove burner.
What John and Beth said. I also use peanut oil, if I decide to fry anything, which I don't fry much anymore. I too,do not not like a deep fryer because of the mess and storage space. I use a large pot as well, if I decide I want to fry doughnuts or something else.