Which Oil?
 

Ok its crunch time and I got to purchase oil for the birds
peanut oil@ $39.00 or cottonseed oil @ $20.00 this is the
first time Ive seen cottonseed oil for fryers and they advertise
it as more reusable than peanut oil.Opinions please

Peanut is going for $25/3 Gallon here have seen cottonseed but have not tried it. 3 Gallons should do it.

I misread the add it was $29.00 for peanut oil ...4.5 gallon

Cottonseed oil is not a good choice, if you don't want to pay for peanut oil the best next choice is canola oil.

I posted this then decided I needed to know more about cottonseed oil so I went and looked it up, it seens cottonseed oil may be a good choice.

The burn point on peanut oil is 450º, cottonseed oil is 420º with canola oil at 400º.
Cottonseed oil has almost no flavor of it's own.
Cottonseed oil sounds like a good choice no matter what I said above.

I use canola a lot - and for a 12-13 bird with my pot I use about 4.5 gallons. I usually buy Wesson Canola at Sam's - if I don't screw up and overheat it I can get at least 3 or 4 cookings from it before it gets too dark.

They key to reusing the oil is to NOT overheat it, strain it back into the bottles when it's cool, and store it in a cool dark place (or cover the bottles to keep the light away it.

Others may do things differently but for fried turkey I limit the size to 12-13 pounds (the right size for my King Kooker pot), heat the oil to 350, cook the bird and don't let the heat get above 350. It takes about 3 to 3.25 minutes per pound for a cold but fully thawed bird. Let it rest a few minutes before starting to carve.

I use peanut oil. I have never heard of cottonseed oil being used in cooking, so i have no comment on how it might work.

I have always used Paenut oil, but would not be afraid to try cottonseed or canola after what I have read.

Actually, you can use any decent cooking oil. Some are better from a flavor stand-point (like Peanut). Canola is very neutral and like peanut oil has a nice high flash point!

Peanut oil has a lot going for it: high flash point, great taste, remains stable for several cooks, etc. but it is high $$ compared to the others.

As I mentioned before: The thing to watch is temperature. Do not overheat the oil before putting the bird in and don't exceed 350 or maybe 360 while cooking - that's what the control knob is for!! Use your thermometer. Or heck, buy one of the electric turkey fryer from Sam's - plub it in and set the thermostat!! :D

I put a document in the file section a while ago that gives you the smoke points of useable cooking oils. Go to the link, scroll down to "Oil smoke points" document.

http://www.bandera-brethren.com/modu...download&cid=3

I usually bring my peanut oil up to 400 because it will drop to 350 when the bird is put in. Then i do my best to keep it around 350. Maybe i should keep it at a lower temp...

what is the suggested temp/time ratio?

350 is right on.

I do the same thing, bring near 400 then drop (slowly) in.

350 for 3.5 min per #

I gots a 15#er so thats 53minutes.

I'm gonna tie in the legs this time, cuz last time it was all splayed out.

Okay, here is a debate.

You fry legs up or legs down at the bottom (kinda sitting up)

At 400 you are just below the flashpoint - and you tend to break the oil down more quickly - not important if you don't reuse the oil.

When frying it is normal to drop below target and come back up to the target temp. Actually, that's one way to know when your food is about done - drop the meat in at target and when it come back up to target you are just about done.

However, do as you please.

I fry legs up since I, too, use a turkey lifter and it is more secure this way.

well...my fryer has a basket instead of the pole/hanger thingy. So i tend to drop mine in with the legs up because it makes it easier to take the bird out of the basket.

Ive decided on the refined avacado oil with a smoke point of 520
I fiqure I can fry at 450 with this stuff.What do you think a minute a pound. Unfortunately I can find this stuff is about any cheaper than about
$2.00 a ounce so I will need donations from the brethren.I will need @ 4 gallons and I fiqure it to be $1024.00 or I could go with peanut oil :lol:

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