I deep fried some akara yesterday, then tried Kenji's technique for reusing cooking oil. I let it partly cool on the counter then put in the fridge overnight.
Next morning it was very cloudy–looked almost like a mix of orange and apple juice. I poured it into the original oil container and sure enough, there was a disc of solid gelatin on the bottom, which I tossed. I assumed the oil was cloudy from refrigeration and let it sit on the counter.
Almost five hours later and it's just as cloudy. I followed his steps to the letter (1 cup of water/2tsp gelatin for the 2 quarts of oil) and whisked vigorously into the oil after being brought to a simmer.
What's going on with this?
Edit: just tried pouring it through a paper-towel lined colander; no change.
by Scott_A_R
4 Comments
What cooking oil did you use? Olive oil?
In my experience the gelatin process leaves a very small amount of water dispersed in the oil, which probably accounts for the cloudiness. When you heat it for the first time, the cleaned oil spits and pops slightly as this water gets evaporated out. Just deal with it when you use it, or very gently heat it in a Dutch over or something to drive out the water.
There is a video going around of a guy who uses a cornstarch slurry in cooled oil and it coagulates into all the gunk. Try finding that and giving it a try?
It says in the article that they had to briefly reheat the oil before frying to get the last bits of water out, you’re adding water to oil, so its gonna be a little cloudy from the water remaining in the oil, its not a perfect system its not gonna get your oil perfectly new again, just gets the big chunks out