Wow--3 months seems longer than I would have thought although refrigerating it is the key I suppose. I can't imagine devoting that much refrigerator space to oil that I would rarely use but maybe for someone who fries a lot it isn't an issue. I think exposure to heat and light is what causes the rancidity...almost any oil will turn rancid if not refrigerated or kept in a cool dark place or used in a timely fashion.
I haven't tried them but I am sure that there are some decent frozen fries out there that you can just pop in the oven. The idea of hot oil and the smell and splattering and then the straining etc is just not worth it to me. I would rather go to McDonalds and get fries.

Yeah - it's kind of a pain if you're just doing a few fries. BUT - on your point about the frozen fries, many of them are good, but they're much better if you deep fry them rather than baking. Think of it as the classic double-fry method -- they're basically given a light fry and then frozen in most cases. So they get nice and crispy when you re-fry rather than bake. You can do it in a shallow pan as long as you keep them in a single layer. And a splatter guard will help control the mess.

Try frying the frozen ones in shallow oil and see what you think. You'll use less oil, but may have to do a couple batches. Same for frozen tater tots but you will need deeper oil.

On the other hand, I had McDonald's fries just yesterday and they're still delicious too .

I know MCD is really inexpensive; I’m going to just try oven fries tonight. I have a russet and a sweet purple potato so I’ll slice them and bake at 450 or so. Hopefully that crisps them. I bought 3 bags of Deep River chips as backup.

I appreciate the tips about straining and then reusing frying oil. I have pint jars that I can use. I would only deep fry French fries.

after the 3rd use or 3 months of use, how would I dispose of the final oil?

We might have done fries once or twice when we first got it. We like onion rings and tater tots more. I spritz them with oil, and then flip them over halfway through cooking, to make sure they�re crispy. I don�t find that beer batter onion rings turn out well, but panko breaded or similar onion rings, do.

Costco has a nice air fryer, that is similar to the one we bought on Black Friday 18 months ago. $60 or do for a fairly big size.

I have to say that I�m tempted!

We've got a good cooking thread going in the Japan forum.

Virtual Visit - support thread

I've been making a ton of Japanese/Korean food along with a big batch of smashburgers every Friday night.

Really good for the taquitos and mini tacos that Costco sells, too.

thank you! I�m checking out the thread in a separate window.

Personally I don't deep fly very much, and when I do (chicken wing craving, much better than any restaurant makes them) I throw away the oil after. It's such a pain to store in the fridge and usually has a bit of a smell to it. Not sure I want that around for three weeks or so.

I think rules for doing that vary locally. You might try a local city/county/state search. Whatever you do, don't dump it down your sink. Either it goes in the garbage (I just save an old jar or two and pour it in there to dispose), or there may be a drop off location for oils in your city -- I think that's usually if you're near a drinking water supply, but not sure what the rules are.

My wing cravings are cured by the grill. I was planning on doing some tonight but now see Chicago is expecting big storms. If you have a grill, give it a try. High heat grill, season the wings well (for me it's salt, pepper, cayenne, and garlic powder), and grill them for about 25 minutes. The skin will get crispy like a deep fryer but they'll also pick up a deeper flavor than you get from the fryer. Then remove them from the grill into a big bowl and toss with your favorite sauce. Overall, a little less crispy but more flavorful. I prefer them over restaurant wings but you have to set aside 45 minutes or so to make them, not nearly as quick as the fryer.

To add to the conversation a bit more, air fryers are a bit of a scam in my opinion.

They're just gussied up convection ovens with a slightly more powerful fan and less capacity. I've used all three versions of convection cookers and the air fryer is clearly the least of them. The actual appliance version is superior but vastly more expensive. The tabletop convections are better than an air fryer and exactly the same cost.

I usually soak my wings in seasoned buttermilk (salt, pepper, garlic power) for a few hours, then toss them in a mixture similar to yours, but including flour, and then letting them rest for 30 minutes before frying. Do you leave out the flour?

Those sound very good.

Yes, I prefer non-breaded/floured wings. Even if deep frying, I would just season and drop into the oil without flour. And of course no flour if you grill them. So it's a different type of wing than you usually make. Yours would turn out more like southern fried chicken, and almost certainly juicier than mine. The "crispy" part of mine comes from crisping the skin rather than the flour. I love fried chicken, but my favorite wings aren't breaded. Some day we'll have to have a taste-off! Hopefully those days are allowed again soon.

By the way, Hooters makes the breaded wing, other places like Buffalo Wild Wings either use no flour, at least as far as I can tell since they are similar in texture to mine.

They are!

I did forget one important tip. Take the wings out of the refrigerator, separate and season them, as you're heating the grill. 20 minutes or so will get them up to room temperature, so the inside cooks more evenly and prevents burning the skins.

I'd love for a few people to try it and let me know how they turn out. I just figured out how to do it on my own, which is pretty much how I do all my cooking. Perhaps someone could improve on it and share back. Good wings should be shared with the world .