Best oil for a deep fryer?

[DragonFaerie]

We just bought a deep fryer.  I know, I know...not healthy.  But what kind of oil would be best as in the best results while still being at least sort of healthy (healthier)?

[kbutton]

If you can obtain grassfed beef fat (called tallow), it has lots of good fats in it, and it makes the best french fries in the world. I think my fryer says not to use lard in it, but lard from pastured pigs also has good fat (not the stuff in the store that is partially hydrogenated). The lard should be kettle-rendered, which just means that they melted it down and strained out non-fatty bits. They didn't do anything else to it. I think fat from pastured lamb or goat would be comparable to beef tallow.

 

I know people also fry in coconut oil, but I don't know what you can use in your fryer--self-heating fryers are probably tested with specific kinds of fats.

[DragonFaerie]

Expensive and/or hard to find is bad. :(

[Carrie12345]

I've really tried to ban vegetable oil in my house, but it really is the only thing I'll use in the Fry Daddy.  We use it so infrequently I don't consider it a big deal.

 

I'd worry about the smoke point for some of the "better" oils.

[DragonFaerie]

Thanks, y'all.  I think we're probably going to try peanut oil if we can find it, vegetable if we can't.

[mathnerd]

Our costco has started carrying avocado oil and I have read that it is a great oil for deep frying. I am yet to try it because I almost never deep fry anything.

[Amy in NH]

I use canola oil.