Whenever I ask something in a post it seems invariably I learn something. Often it is something I hadn't even considered.

I usually fry fish in peanut oil. It seems to have a high heat tolerance and since I like to fry fish hot and fast it seems to work out. I am considering re-using left over oil on my next trip which is something I have never done. Probably a separate container and a small stainless steel screen to strain it of impurities. Good idea?

It would be nice to strain it while it was still hot but not crazy about the interaction of hot grease with a nalgene bottle. Suggestions?

It will be rancid after 12 hours.

Why would you consider doing this?  Just being frugal or . . . ?

Thanks PJ
I am intending a bit more lengthy trip than normal for next year and am evaluating every conceivable way to conserve weight and stretch supplies. I detest the thought of having to triple portage.

Scratch that one.

FWIW, we carry a mere 16 oz. of peanut oil for 7-10 days (7-10 fish meals).  Frying fish for 2 people takes very little oil.

How long are you holding it for?

15 years restaurant experience here.  Cooking oil is reasonably stable & safe for this.  No restaurant dumps it's fryer oil daily.  Weekly is more likely.  Fryers are on for maybe 16 hours a day, 8 hours at room temp.

In many places oil gets moved down the line.  Take a 3 fryer situation.
-Fryer 1 is for items that don't burn the oil fast & need a good appearance - french fries.  
-Fryer 2 is for items that are battered.  Being the next dirtiest item for the oil.
-Fryer 3 is for items that are breaded or marinated.  Breading is murder for oil.
New oil goes in Fryer 1, Fryer 1 oil goes in Fryer 2 and so on until Fryer 3 is dumped and turned into bio-deisel or whatever they do with old fryer oil.
Fryer oil is filtered daily.  Unless you really crank the temp and burn the oil that way, if it's smoking it's burning, the big problem is little bits of food in the oil.

So I think you're fairly safe provided you follow some safe practices.

Never return used oil to fresh oil.  Have 2 containers.
Filter the used oil while it's hot.  It just filters/flows better.  A coffee filter or two will work.  Metal tools, 'cause the oil is hot.  I've seen people dump a whole fryer into a plastic bucket, the bucket melts and there's hot oil all over the floor.  
Maybe use a spare pot for filtering & then return the oil to a Used Oil nalgene once it has cooled down.
An aluminum foil wind screen, like what MSR stoves come with, can be re-formed to a nice funnel shape to support the coffee filter.

When re-using the oil, heat up the old oil first.  If you know what rancid oil smells like, it smells even more when hot.  FYI, this is also helpful when using stock or milk - heat it up and you'll know if it's still good.
Once you've determined the old oil is still good, top up with fresh oil.

I have reused oil before. Our group was not as cautious as Preacher.  For several years our group would take 2 small bottles of oil.  After cooking we would let the oil cool in the skillet and then port it back into the bottle we used first.  We would pore it slow and let the crumbs stay in the skillet. We would fry fish about every other day.  Never had a problem with rancid oil. I do not think oil will go rancid unless there is moisture in it.
I have been the user and care taker of some 500 gallon of canola oil for 10 + years.  It was used for high voltage dielectric.  I had what was not in a sealed barrel filtered annually.  The filtering takes the moisture and particulate out. Last month I gave the oil to another group that wants to use it as high voltage dielectric. I had to pump 100 gallon out of a non sealed but closed barrel where it had been for 2 years with out filtering.  It was not rancid.

MagicPaddler

well, if you demand deep-frying...that's one idea.  I've got used to just "frying" the fillet....a small bottle now lasts a whole trip, fish nightly.  No more submerging....just a 1/4" in the bottom of the pan, turn the heat down lower....and wait a few minutes longer...same great taste and minimal oil useage.  But IMO...if I demanded submergence of my fillets, or signifigant oil useage...I'd find bringing another bottle easier than the recycling hassle.

One trip, turned down the temp even further as no oil left, put some fake butter in the pan...low enough to not "burn" it....fish did get done and was indeed good.

I wonder if there's a way to re-use toothpaste?

;D ;D ;D

just leave the boa at home!

or TP
....learn to wash it, dry it, and rewipe!

Quote:

I've got used to just "frying" the fillet

I know some people enjoy the deep fried/breaded style with fish, but I contend the breading can either enhance this method or ruin it.

A teaspoon/tablespoon of oil heated till shimmering will easily pan Sear as many fillets as will fit in the pan without touching each other. A minute or two depending on thickness, shake pan to release fillet, flip and do the same too other side. I pull pan from heat, and if fillet doesn't flake easily with fork, I cover and let sit for 30 seconds or so.

I also like to add dry spices to oil, the heat releases the oil in the spice, making a little spice go a long way.

Filtering/re-using oil seems like a hassle, but to each his own.
Just be sure containers are leak proof/ double sealed and avoid spilling fish flavored oil onto pack/gear ;)  Yogi doesn't need any encouragement ;D

ST
I suppose your right. Straining oil does seem like a hassle. Plus, as you've pointed out there is a great potential to make a mess and start to contaminate your whole kit.

When I fry fish I do it hot and fast where the oil comes up 1/2 way (perhaps slightly less) on the filet. If you catch a decent sized fish ( we fished deep on our last Quetico trip and fully 80% of our walleyes were right at 5lbs) then the filets tend to be thicker and thus more oil.

By adding 25% fresh to the old I could probably get another batch out and then toss it. I'm more uncertain now then when I started. I'll put my kit together and see how it plays out and then start figuring what quantity to bring.

One of these days I would like to try some of your fish and learn some of your other tricks.  

Quote:

One of these days I would like to try some of your fish and learn some of your other tricks.

MT,
My next trick will be getting time off for a trip :(
So far it's not looking good.
Happy to be working, sick to my soul about 0 vacation time :'(

:o. MT, I hope you were not eating those 5 lb waldos.

Geez, now I'm in trouble :(. I let most of them go but we did eat 2 or 3 of them. When you wait all year to have fish fry's with your buddies and that's all your catching..........

Your point is well taken though. It takes a long time for a fish to get big in the North country. I caught one eye at 6.5 which I let go but did manage a picture. I also caught 2 twin 8lb lakers "back to back" which I released immediately (as I know they are fragile) without taking time to get a picture. I landed them with the boga grip (no net to knock their slime off) took a quick look at the weight and then made sure they took off under their own power.

I hadn't really given it as much thought as I should. Thanks.

masterangler...don't matter how long it took 'em to grow....they be your fish and you eat any of 'em you desire.  They were the stat'es fish when in the water, but when they went on your stringer, then they became your personal property.

Wanna be politicaly correct...go ahead...they be yours
Wanna eat 'em, go ahead, they be yours

Sorry to derail thread.

...And now back to solving MT's personal angst regarding multiple uses of cooking oil...

I don't reuse oil, and only use it in small amounts.

My pre-occupation with re-using oil (and solar re-chargeable batteries as well) has to do with the length of time I am planning to be out. Lord willing (and the creek don't rise) I am intending a trip between 20 and 30 days.

My goal is to come in light enough to not have to triple portage. Since fish will factor into that goal getting maximum benefit from cooking oil would be helpful.

One thing I like about the adkins fish meal that I have suggested previously is it's a light coating that seems to stay on the fish rather well. That leaves a fairly clean pan of oil left over with little residue. (very few burnt chunks etc.)

Just exploring every angle. I should probably take OS tack and just use less than I usually do. I suspect I will be still torn though when I dispose of the remnants realizing it could still be of some use.  

Another vote here for just frying your fish in less oil.  

When I get done frying up my fish...whether it be for 1 person, 2 people, or 8 people...there's rarely more than a tablespoon or two of oil left in my pan and that's full of seasoning that I may or may not want next time I cook fish.

If you are having trouble with the concept of cooking fish adequately with very little oil it may be helpful to realize the physics behind cooking with oil and the effect volume of oil has on results.

Oil has 2 main functions.  It's a heat equalizer and a way to "store" heat.  

It functions as a heat equalizer by making the temperature of your pan more uniform regardless of where or how concentrated your heat source is.  The better your pan is at distributing heat on it's own, the less oil you will need.  A quality frying pan usually takes up the same amount of room in your pack, but it does weigh more.  You want to find the sweet spot on the spectrum of weight where you aren't lugging several pounds of cast iron but neither are you carrying an ultralight pan that gets hot only where the stove flame directly contacts it.  If you have a reasonably decent pan, just a thin layer of oil is needed to evenly cook the bottom side of any fillet, no matter how thick.  Fill your pan with fillets and the oil travels higher up the side of each of them.  No need to submerge or even get halfway up the fillet.  The fillet cooks from the bottom far more and far faster than it does from the sides.

Oil also functions as storage for heat.  Generally on a canoe trip, this is a function of oil that is rather unneccesary.  The reason why restaurants use deep fryers that hold a ton of oil is that they need to be able to cook large volumes of (often frozen) food as quickly as possible.  A large pot of oil stores enough heat so that when a basket of frozen goodies goes in it, the temperature doesn't dive down below the point where the food will cook properly.  It also mitigates the fact that the pot that the oil is contained in is a poor distributor of heat.  Granted, if you are feeding an army on a canoe trip (6-8 people) there is some advantage to using a high-volume frypan with a lot of oil...your fillets will cook faster.  But for 1-4 people, you can generally cook fast enough that the tradeoff of having less weight (smaller, lighter pan and less oil) is worth the minimal extra cooking time.

All that said, if you are cooking battered fish, you'll need more oil.  In this case, you have to get the oil level at least 2/3 of the way up the thickest fillets or you will have doughy batter on the edges.  With breaded fish, you have to hit the halfway mark on each fillet.  With seasoned, naked fillets as long as the bottom of the fillet is in contact with the oil, you're good.  For my money, batters and breadings are far inferior ways to flavor your fish.  Spices on naked fillets are much simpler and less heavy/bulky to lug around.

Snow_Dog wrote on Sep 26^th, 2010 at 1:10pm:

With seasoned, naked fillets as long as the bottom of the fillet is in contact with the oil, you're good.  For my money, batters and breadings are far inferior ways to flavor your fish.  Spices on naked fillets are much simpler and less heavy/bulky to lug around.

Thank you for sharing SD. Quite comprehensive.  [smiley=thumbup.gif]

Basically my entire life when I/we have fried fish it has always had some sort of coating on it. I have been partial to the slight crunch that breading's give a filet. I have never seriously considered frying a filet "naked". Solo Tripper has also mentioned it as his preferred method as well.

A few questions;
1) I believe ST does his in Olive Oil. How about you?
2) I am picturing this method with a heavy cast iron skillet which is of        course not practical. I own a GSI non stick. An excellent pan overall. How would this method work with non-stick?
3) Do you get the grease smoking hot or almost?
4) And of course your secret blend of herbs and spices ( or approximations thereof if you please)  8-)

This would be an obvious solution for me. Less oil AND less fuel as well as one less step. Usually I try and be open to instruction from others but was perhaps a little dull of hearing and needed to hear this method from more than one source. I will pull some snapper from the freezer and give it a go. Results posted tomorrow night. I'm not especially fussy but my crew is  ;).    

MT,

1.  I usually used peanut oil.  This past year I brought coconut oil as a healthier and more flavorful alternative.  The negative of coconut oil is that it moves from liquid to solid at around 80 degrees F.  So you may need a spoon to get it out of the bottle...or not.  Nevertheless, love the flavor so I'm making this a permanent change.  Always though, I use some squeeze margerine as well as the oil...roughly 2/3 oil to 1/3 butter.

2.  Type of skillet?  Sure, heavy cast iron would be the best, but I'm not carrying that and I suspect neither are you.  I use a non-stick skillet.  There's a lot of variablility out there on non-sticks.  Some aren't worth the coating they are sprayed with.  Others are quite nice.  I have a couple that I regularly use.  One is a GSI w/ folding handle.  One is an old nonstick kitchen skillet of indeterminate origin with the handle removed.

3.  Grease is less-than-smoking hot.  It should bubble vigorously when the fillets hit the pan but no need to scorch the oil.  Your fillets should come out bronzed, not blackened.

4.  I like Zatarains Blackening seasoning.  Also Lemon Herb spice by McCormick is good.  Or simply sprinkle with dill, salt, pepper and then squeeze lemon over the top when removed from the pan.  Or any of a variety of dry rubs from the supermarket or butcher shop can be good.

Mostly, though, just experiment.  Try it on the home stove to get your technique down, then move to a campstove to be sure you have the right pan and learn the proper flame setting.  Or just wing it and use your campmates as guinea pigs, like I usually do.

The main reason for not re-using oil is a health issue...cooking oil at high heat changes its molecular makeup.  Each successive time it is used it becomes more and more a "saturated" fat, even tho you started out with unsaturated corn or conola oil.
Olive oil is only slightly less likely to burn than butter when used for frying.
A non-stick pan by its nature requires very little oil.  I am not a fried fish gourmet but cannot see how deep frying the fish would make it taste different from using a non-stick pan and just a little oil.  Depending on what is used for breading, deep frying may be necessary to keep the coating from sticking to the pan.  Again, a non-stick pan would solve that problem.

MT,
I do usually use a good grade of olive oil,, but have experimented with other oils as well. Canola is good, so is Peanut oil, I even tried a blend of oils I saw in gourmet section of store. Grape-seed and a few oils I never heard of, but were touted as heart healthy. Could take the high heat I like for searing, but imparted a flavor to fish, I didn't care for. I know SD is a restaurant guy/ cook, and will have to try the Coconut oil. Sounds good and I like coconut.

If there's a Sam's club near you, check out there restaurant supply section. They have commercial grade pans,  made out of heavy aluminum. Non stick versions in each size. I use theme at home.
Long riveted handle and included silicone handle make them a good balance between light weight packer pans and the real heavy cast iron or aluminum fry pans.

The sell 2 small pans for around $ 20. I bought the non-stick. I think one would make a great solo pan. Easily hold a couple of fillets for one and would take the abuse of a trip.
 I have a thought for cleaning the pan of soot after cooking on fire, IF that is the way you roll.
 I've mentioned a product called POR-15 here before. It's a high-tech paint coating that dries extremely hard and smooth. So hard, that you need to sand blast it off when it hardens.

They make some high temp header paints for automotive use. My thought would be to paint the exterior of the aluminum pan, both sides of handle with this coating. It dries like ceramic, smooth and very non-porous. I'm thinking it would make removing the soot a matter of just wiping off with a scrubber/sponge type item.

Next trip I get to make, I'll try it out, unless you want to give it a shot ;)

I added   (You need to Login or Register a dozen years ago and I still fry fish basically the same way but for two differences. I cut up fillets and cook the backs a bit before adding the tails and bellies so thick and thin are done about the same time. My new pan is thinner (very thin/light) so I prefer cooking fish over a fire for more even heat distribution and less fuss. Good flame control is a must and while my stove has that, a fire is just easier for me.

If you like crunch (I do), the oven style shorelunch® (or equivalent) gets nice and crunchy. Whatever didn't stick to the fish gets dumped in the pan to brown just before the fish is done.

Quick note on olive oil.  Virgin, Extra Virgin are wasted on cooking.  The heat kills the aromatic notes.  They're really intended for use as guarde mange/cold prep items.  Saves you some cash.

Look for an oil with a high smoke point.  This will lengthen the life of the oil and avoid burning it.
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[quote author=Preacher link=1285160421/20#25 date=1285703635]

Look for an oil with a high smoke point.  This will lengthen the life of the oil and avoid burning it.
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Honest officer I am growing that hemp for the seed oil to cook my fish in.

wrote on Sep 28^th, 2010 at 9:07pm:

[quote author=Preacher link=1285160421/20#25 date=1285703635] Look for an oil with a high smoke point.  This will lengthen the life of the oil and avoid burning it.   (You need to Login or Register Honest officer I am growing that hemp for the seed oil to cook my fish in.

Heh, hemp != marijuana

Pretty sure hemp is a legal crop up here.  Quite the wonder plant even without the THC.  Down there the cotton & wood pulp cartels have shut down this vastly superior material.  Some day we'll stop grinding trees to make poor quality disposable books.
  (You need to Login or Register   (You need to Login or Register

wrote on Sep 28^th, 2010 at 9:07pm:

[quote author=Preacher link=1285160421/20#25 date=1285703635] Look for an oil with a high smoke point.  This will lengthen the life of the oil and avoid burning it.   (You need to Login or Register Honest officer I am growing that hemp for the seed oil to cook my fish in.

Enough hemp seed oil, you don't CARE what the fish taste's like, as long as there's plenty of it ;D