Deep frying

I grew up in a household in East Texas where if it wasn't battered and fried, it probably was not on the table. Maybe that's exaggerated just a bit, but the point is I know fried foods. The oil you choose depends a lot on what you're cooking. For instance, chicken will require a longer frying time than fish. Run- of- the-mill vegetable oil will be fine, because you can keep your temperature low enough to allow the chicken to cook through without burning the batter. When heating the oil, drip a small drop of water in the pot. If it sizzles and crackles, it's ready. Drop the meat in to start the frying and crank the heat down just a tad...not too much oil you'll have soggy chicken. Chicken should be battered by dredging in milk and then coating liberally with flour. Use whatever seasonings you prefer.

For fish (catfish, bass, crappie, other flakey fish) I season with salt, red pepper and onion powder, soak in a beat egg bath for 15 - 30 minutes, then drop into a pan of corn meal just before dropping into the hot oil. I use peanut oil for this because it will allow a much higher cooking temperature without smoking and burning. Since fish will cook through very quickly, you have to watch closely and dip the filets out as soon as they are golden brown. If you're deep frying, you probably don't need to turn the filets.

For chicken fried steak, the key is in the batter. Dip in an egg/milk dredge, drop into a pan of flour to coat well, then back through the dredge and flour again. Then fry it in vegetable oil just like with chicken, except the oil doesnt need to be as deep. Turn when golden brown.

If I'm sauteing veggies, I almost always use avocado oil. It also allow for a higher cooking temperature than olive oil without smoking. I prefer the taste to olive oil also, but that's just me.