What is the best oil to cook in. We use olive oil at home but don't know if this would be the best.

I usually use vegetable oil, but I hear that Peanut oil is the best.

I bring up canola oil. It's a little more $ than cheapo vegetable oil but well worth it. Peanut oil is great but it's big bucks.

I have never cooked fish in peanut oil, but love it for other things. Have folks tried this? Is it worth a little extra $?

Thanks!

peanut oil is the stuff!!!-- gets hot without smoke and your
camp will smell like the Minnesota state fair..works great for
things like pancakes and bannock as it gives them a bit more of
a taste--

I use crisco shortening -- packaged as bricks.

Although I don't use it at home, they work well for camping -- no chance to bust open and spill throughout the pack. I pack one brick per fish fry meal. There is a butter flavored option that you may like as well. Although I was intially concerned about the oil burning, I found it not to be an issue.

On the subject of spilling. Next trip I'm packing brown sugar instead of syrup for pancakes. Make a syrup with a little hot water. Used it with the kids in a pinch recently and it really does the trick.

health wise, I would stay away from the shortening. Not good for you at all. Canola oil is one of the best for your heart. Its up there with olive oil and a lot less expensive. Not sure how peanut oil does with the whole health conscious crowd, but I would definitely stay away from the shortening. I put my oil in a small bottle with a tight fitting lid. Never had a problem with it.

Generally, for frying you want something with a high smoking point so it can withstand high temps. Canola and grape seed oil is up there but lacks flavor, which is good if you want the flavor of the food to stand out. Olive oil and peanut oil are not as good at super high temps but are more flavorful for sauteing. Camps stoves probably don't get hot enough for the need to use canola for deep frying if you are looking to add more flavor to your meals (who takes that much oil along anyway). To me anything cooked with peanut oil takes on an asian flavor. I would not fry in sesame oil though. It's more for use as a dressing. I should add that peanut and sesame oil can go rancid, so check it before you pack it.

Apparently no one uses lard anymore?

Pork Fat Rules!

spcashin - I prefer Crisco for a fish fry also. Since it is used for baking it is more highly refined than oil. How do you shape the bricks? What is the weight/size of a brick necessary for a good fry?

The sell it in a four-pack. I use one pack per fry. I'm just guessing, but they are probably about 16-20 oz each. You could pack your own from bulk into a suitable container. That'll cook fish for four adults.

I agree with others on the other oils. At home I prefer peanut for frying, although I most often use canola as it is more versatile and less expensive. I generally use olive for sauteing, and depending on my taste, I may use various oils for dressings. Yes, certain oils are less healthy, and even though my family grows many of our own vegetables, and I cook most of my food from scratch, I also stop at McDonald's for convenience. Life is full of trade offs.

And thus for camping my concern is the spillage factor. I've learned the hard way that syrups and oils can be a mess. For that reason, I've been really pleased with the results from Crisco (as have the rest of the crew!)I haven't yet tried lard. I gave the Criso a shot, was pleased, and haven't tried that option. I should look into it.

Another option that I hadn't considered is simply using butter. It probably wouldn't work great for frying fish in a batter, but it would work great for a flour dusting. You won't get it as crispy as oil, and you'll need to watch the burn factor, but as noted in this thread, those camping stoves don't get incredibly hot anyway.

Oh, bassmaster is also right on. One other thing I do is save my morning bacon drippings. Just let them solidify in your pan in the morning. Go out and catch a mess o' fish for dinner and fry them up in the same pan. That's the most efficient option!

I also agree with spcashin, like the convenience of the bars of Crisco and not having to worry about spilling. Clean up is easier since it will solidify when cooled after cooking. Just scrap it into a ziplock, double bag it and put in trash. Not too worried about the healthiness of Crisco. I take 3-4 trips per year and have mostly one meal of fish per trip. I'm sure I need to worry about the # 4 at Mac and Don's (double 1/4 pounder w/ cheese, large fry and coke) more then 3-4 meal of fresh walleye fried in Crisco every year.

canoepaddle

at home - peanut oil fo fish, butter for eggs an evoo for most else
in the bush - butter flavored crisco bars

I still use lard. It works great. It also makes a gret sandwich spread when you don't have time to cook. Great taste keeps you going all day.

We're big olive oil fans- But don't cook with the extra virgin, it is not made for frying- use straight up olive oil. Great taste and can handle the heat. We go light and pack it in a really small nalgene- about 2 oz for 5 nights inside a ziplock. We like to eat the fish and not all the oil...

Folks still using lard reminds me of trips with my gramps in the mid 70s. Tasty but not good for you. We use expeller pressed safflower oil to fry fish. It is a light oil which does well with the high temps it takes to fry fish. Grape seed oil is my favorite but it is a bit pricey. When frying fish with olive oil the oil will smoke when it gets hot. We use olive oil for everything outside of fish.

I hear all the pros & cons about Crisco & lard. I use the Crisco brick in the BW. They are easy to transport and use. At home, it's usually olive oil or canola oil. Crisco is not the best for you but I am only using it 1-2 times a year. I figure that my body can work with that.

PS: For those of you who have never cooked pancakes in bacon grease, you don't know what your missing!

I only use olive oil. I am very health conscious about things like that since I want to kick it for as long as I can. Although, my Grandma, who never used anything but lard lived to be 98. I always wonder how much genetics really play (and I hope I have her genes!!)

Crisco as sammich spread?! That makes me want to hurl. Maybe it is an acquired taste. ha ha ha

I carry in crico veg. oil but also a lb. of bacon per person. Save bacon grease to cook hoe cakes (cornbread pancakes),frybread, and or fried potatoes/hashbrowns and mix into fish fry oil as well. I may eat my words and have the big one someday, but my granparents used lard,butter,cream every day and went into their 90's. imo , moderation is the key (and that generation, as a rule, was more physically active with less stress (traffic,rat race) anyway, lard is a must for pie crust at home and REAL BUTTER ROCKS! :)imo

Lard is king. Doesn't spoil, doesn't stick, fries the best. I figure I can use if for frying fish for 5 days. It's not like I sitting around watching TV when I'm up there.

OTH, I'm with you. HOECAKES ROCK. We did them this weekend on boy scout campout. Fried 3# bacon up, (23 people lol) hoecakes in bacon grease, topped with honey. Couldn't make them fast enough. Good eats.

I am the butter, real cheese, kind of guy. Not everyday, in moderation, and we are all going to take a dirt nap eventually, I will go knowing I enjoyed my fats when I ate them. Whats' for dessert, some Ben and Jerry's?

Crisco bricks for us easy to pack store etc. Not the healthiest but hey once a year won't kill you.

I found I site that has little packets of olive oil and a canola/olive oil blend. I love these 'cause I don't have to repackage anything and I can throw a packet or two in with each meal and keep things organized. The site is called Packit Gourmet.

http://www.packitgourmet.com/

They make powdered peanut butter!?!?!

Interesting site. Thanks for the link.

I once met a group on the Bottle Portage that had 3 five gallon jugs of Oil. I am sorry I neglected to ask them what kind it was. I was too busy laughing and crying at the same time knowing that this stuff was going to end up poured out at some campsite after it was used to fry everything that could be possibly fried.

I can't argue with the statement that once a year won't kill you, but just reading many of these posts is making my arteries feel clogged.

we take olive oil in a small nalgene.
the fish fry is the only time we use it.

I have always used nothing but extra-virgin olive oil.

We all cringed when one guy (a physician, no less) said he was bringing a Crisco brick to cook fish this year. It was the best fish I have ever tasted.

For the number of fish we catch, we can handle a little Crisco.

I bring crisco, that way I don't have to worry if a bottle cracks, and leaks.

BTW, somebody who claims to know, told me that olive oil is not good for frying stuff like fish or pancakes. Apparently it doesn't stick around long enough to really do the job.

I came to this thread through doing a search. I had been wondering what kind of oil people preferred. After reading the comments, Crisco, something I avoid like the plague at home, is at the top of my list.

Jeriatric, the Crisco Stick are great for cooking. They have measuring markings like a stick of butter and come with a plastic container for transport.

Hands down, the best cooking oil is Grape Oil. It doesn't fry off or into your food like the others. You don't have to keep adding to achieve golden brown. It comes in a can with a great lid, tough and won't leak.

imho, olive oil is the best. used it on all trips so far and everything has turned out perfectly.

I've always brought crisco. This year I'm trying something else. I don't like the fact that the crisco gets thick as paste by the time you're done eating and is a real hassle to clean up. Makes a mess out of my kitchen towel etc. I was going to try butter. Anything negative about using butter? I was thinking of bringing extra foil and cooking my fish that way.

foiled buttered fish? better than pan fried in my opinion.

Use butter flavored Crisco for the fish and spud wedge fry. If you brought along some paper towels you can filter some of the Crisco back into a container for the next day. It will be a little darker but fine.

Frying fish.
Went from crisco solid,corn oil,to olive oil now using safflower oil and I love it-it has a little higher spatter or boil point.

Anybody try sunflower oil? Heard some good things about it.

In camp we use butter flavored Crisco. So much easier to travel with. Ever had a oil bottle break or leak in a pack? No problem with Crisco, just keep it in a Tupperware.
Edit, missed the old thread I already commented on.

Love that butter flavored Crisco! Spreads well on fillets also when baking.