Frying Donuts

So I've never made donuts before, but am going to give it a try this week. I have been doing a little research around what is best to fry donuts in and of course all I find is conflicting opinion. I've read a lot out there that suggest using palm oil and a lot that suggest using Canola.

Does anyone have any recommendations from their own experience?

I'm not fond of Canola: If it gets even a little too hot, it'll add a fishy aroma to your donuts, not to mention your whole kitchen.

I haven't cooked with palm oil, I'd go with good ol' soybean: neutral flavor, decent smoke point.

I've seen Mario Batali deep fry sweet fritters in EVOO, but that's going to significantly impact the flavor.

I have no first-hand information (yet), but Smitten Kitchen did a gorgeous (as always) post on apple cider doughnuts:
http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/10/apple ... doughnuts/

In the post, she claims that Crisco gives a less greasy mouthfeel because it is solid at room temperature. One of the commenters helpfully suggested lard.

Please let us know what you try.

Cheers, Jen

Interesting, because I've only made cake doughnuts once. I used canola oil and they turned out greasy. I thought the problem was with the oil temperature. It never occurred to me that it might be the oil.

Oils that are liquid at room temperature will leach out of the donut and make for an oily donut. Crisco or other partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is typically used, as is palm oil because it is semi-solid at room temperature.

I've used peanut and canola. I prefer peanut. I have a different question: how many times can you re-use the oil?

I made donuts just last week and used solid Crisco (it's also what I use when frying chicken). It seems that they turn out less greasy using it, though temperature is DEFINITELY a factor (I get mine to 375 degrees). Just remember not to overfill the fryer/pan otherwise it will cool down the oil temperature and that definite will make them soggy/greasy.

Do you just put the solid crisco into the fryer/pan and let it melt as it preheats? What happens to the Crisco when you are done frying with it? Does it solidify again? Do you toss it before solidifying or do you reuse it? Thanks

Pucca,

Yes, just let it melt and then get to the proper frying temperature. You CAN reuse it, though it should be strained before you try to cool and store it. However, if it's full of seasonings (if you've been frying fish or chicken), it's probably best to just toss it. For donuts, a cheesecloth will catch most/all of any solid batter that might be in your oil. It will solidify again and you can just scrape it out (putting it in the fridge will expedite this process). I probably wouldn't re-use it more than a couple of times, though. I would assume, all that heating/cooling will end up affecting the taste eventually and who wants to ruin perfectly good donuts?

Thanks for the tips everyone.

I believe I'm going to try either Palm Oil (depending on it's availability) and if not, then Crisco. Personally I don't like to use Veggie oil or product.

Hopefully they'll come out great, I've never made donuts before and I'm going to try and make yeast donut holes (regular flavor) with a maple frosting out of milk, powdered sugar and maple syrup and then bacon on top. Sounds great, hopefully it will come out just as good. Oh and the best part is that I'm making these for a dietary/health discussion. Oh the irony.

So I landed up not being able to find 100% palm oil, so I purchased Vegetable shortening from WF's that was made with Palm oil and the donuts came out really good. I made plain yeast donuts and they were not greasy at all, had a great exterior and a nice soft interior. I assume Crisco would produce the same results.

Hi,

I'm a regular viewer of WGN's Midday Lunchbreak segment. A lot of chefs, cookbook authors and experts pop up. Yesterday, I missed it and found it online with a knock out concept: May 11: Lunchbreak - Chicago Cream Doughnuts with Raspberry Jam and Foie Gras Filling

Fortunately, you don't have to watch in real time. You can catch when you want.

Regards,

We've always used lard in our family (although it's been many, many years since I've had homemade donuts), but I can't see why Crisco wouldn't work just as well.

Lard or tallow work best for cake doughnuts, IMO.