Deep frying with coconut oil... ?

[Michael Leach]

I've wondered about this for quite some time; deep-frying with coconut oil.

From the research I've done it seems that coconut oil would be an ideal oil to fry in, but I'm surprised I haven't read of other Paleo'ers loading up deep-fryers with vats of coconut oil and going to town.

Has there been any debate on this? I've been doing the Paleo thing for 3 years now and consume massive quantities of fat from olive oil, butter, nuts, seeds, fish oil, etc and really doubt a little extra coconut oil would make any difference. I guess the only reason I haven't tested the waters is the purchase price of a deep fryer and bucket 'o coconut oil. Any feedback?

[Gerhard Lavin]

Lard would probably be a much cheaper and more stable fat for high temperature frying.

[Neil Bauersfeld]

Originally Posted by Michael Leach

I've wondered about this for quite some time; deep-frying with coconut oil.

From the research I've done it seems that coconut oil would be an ideal oil to fry in, but I'm surprised I haven't read of other Paleo'ers loading up deep-fryers with vats of coconut oil and going to town.

Has there been any debate on this? I've been doing the Paleo thing for 3 years now and consume massive quantities of fat from olive oil, butter, nuts, seeds, fish oil, etc and really doubt a little extra coconut oil would make any difference. I guess the only reason I haven't tested the waters is the purchase price of a deep fryer and bucket 'o coconut oil. Any feedback?

I looked at this a while back and the resources I found suggested the smoke point of coconut oil is around 350 F. Most of the things I have deep fried go in around 375 F, so I decided not to try it with coconut oil. In my experience, deep frying at lower temperatures lets more oil push into the food, leaving it more greasy than I like. Let us know if it works out for you. Sweet potato/coconut oil french fries sound delicious.

+1 on the lard suggestion.

[Kurt A Gross]

Both lard and coconut oil have a smoke point around 350. Actually, I find that cooking with a sat fat at lower temps still yields crispy results, as compared to seed oils, which I don't use anymore. My fiance loves sweet potato fries, done in coconut oil. I've been cutting out my starches, so we do not eat these too often anymore.

[Michael Leach]

Stupid question, but where do you go about obtaining lard?

[Michael Leach]

From the wiki:

Industrially-produced lard, including much of the lard sold in supermarkets,[citation needed] is rendered from a mixture of high and low quality fat sources from throughout the pig.[8] It is typically hydrogenated[citation needed] (which produces trans fats as a by-product), and often treated with bleaching and deodorizing agents, emulsifiers, and antioxidants, such as BHT.[4][9] Such treatment makes lard shelf stable. (Untreated lard must be refrigerated or frozen to prevent rancidity.)[10][11]

Consumers seeking a higher-quality source of lard typically seek out artisanal producers of rendered lard, or render it themselves from leaf lard or fatback.[8][11][12][13][14]

blah. i dont want to use hydrogenated oils. nor do i want the time and expense of tracking down 10lbs of fatbacks and spending hours making my own lard. and then any unused lard has to be kept in the fridge. blah blah.

[Jeff Evans]

Do you have any farmers' markets nearby? You may be able to obtain some there, or at least speak to someone who knows. Search for places here (w/fs).

[Renee Lee]

Originally Posted by Michael Leach

Stupid question, but where do you go about obtaining lard?

you can make it yourself. buy pork fat and render it down on your own. there's a thread on here about making it somewhere...I asked about it not so recently. google lard, my name, scott kustes and jay cohen...that should find it for you the fastest?

[Michael Leach]

just ordered (2) 1 gallon buckets of extra virgin organic coconut oil from nutiva.com for $70 shipped (use coupon FBFAN for extra 20% off). rendering pork fat and making my own lard sounds cool and all, but there's other things i'd rather be doing.

now i've gotta pick out a deep fryer...

[Renee Lee]

for future purchases, you may want to check out tropicaltraditions.com

in my experience, they have the best prices...but i could be wrong