Deep Frying at home

[Rick Cloney]

So - I to quite a few high end meals a week - AND I recently got a sous vide, and love it. However, the one area I have purposely stayed away from over the years is deep frying at home. I used to work as a short order years ago, and I remember how bad the big fryers used to smell at the end of the day, and want no part of that in my home; PLUS what on earth do you do with the oil once you have cooked? It is a pain in the butt to get rid of it. Now - these are my perceptions, and I am willing to listen as you all can educate me on a better way to be able to do deep frying at home in a way that makes sense.... I am listening.
I love my asian dishes, and a lot of the meat dishes are prepped then deep fried, and I would like to do these at home.....

 

[brianshaw]

Outdoor kitchen. Many Asian and Indian households have one... a good model for frying or “odiferous “ cookery.

 

[mike9]

If you have souse vid try this one it's brilliant -

[media]

 

[butzy]

Outdoor kitchen indeed.
A wok works well.
Let the oil cool down after deep frying and strain.
It will keep several times.
Obviously, keep fish-oil seperate and use only for fish.
I have no experience with the modern deep fryers. At home we hardly ever used one (only for new year) and it stood in the garage

 

[french fries]

I use a deep fryer that has a lid, and place it outside on my balcony. I reuse the oil a few times before changing it. When I need to change it, I compost the old oil.

 

[butzy]

I actually started to use the old oil to light the charcoal grill
Works a dream!

 

[chefwriter]

My father used to have a small commercial electric fryer in the basement for Friday night fish and chips. He made a wooden cover for it to keep out air and dust. It never stunk up the house, just the basement for a couple of hours.
When it was on and hot he never walked away from it and us kids were not allowed any where near it. After cooking he filtered the oil and kept it in a tightly closed container and re used the oil several times.
When it is time to dispose of it he put the container in the regular trash. These days you could donate it to anyone making biodiesel. Or you could make soap with it.