which chippys cook in vegtable oil and not beef dripping?

I doubt many use beef dripping as it's so expensive. I thought most fast food places used vegetable oil that can be used over & over & over again. Very cheap but also full of trans fats :gag:

Beef dripping for cooking fish and chips is no longer used and hasn't been for some years. I don't know whether it is another of those bloody silly EU Directives or not but it isn't allowed. Those deep fat fryers which you can buy wouldn't be able to use dripping either so if you fancy old fashioned fish and chips you'll have to buy a chip pan with a basket.

Originally posted by Escafeldia
Beef dripping for cooking fish and chips is no longer used and hasn't been for some years. I don't know whether it is another of those bloody silly EU Directives or not but it isn't allowed. Those deep fat fryers which you can buy wouldn't be able to use dripping either so if you fancy old fashioned fish and chips you'll have to buy a chip pan with a basket.

That's a very broad generalisation Escafeldia, and quite inaccurate too. I'm veggie and know of several places in Sheffield that still use animal fat or an animal fat/vegetable oil mix to fry their stuff.

Luckily, most Sheffield chip shops do use vegetable oil to fry; most at the coast still use the unmentionable stuff.

I thought that the "fish" part of fish and chips excluded veggies! I suppose some eat fish, as it`s not really meat, but what about all the burgers and sausages they cook in the same fat fryer? Not that thare`s any meat in them though!

Most takeaways in Sheffield do seem to use vegetable oil for chips, although some of them do use the same pan of fat to fry non-veggie products as well. Most takeaways don't really cater for vegetarians.... even pizza places put cheese which contains animal rennet on "vegetarian" pizzas. :mad:

I use oil, but didn't someone say lard was the best ? i'd like to know what exactly IS the best to use.

Originally posted by si@guisborough
I thought that the "fish" part of fish and chips excluded veggies! I suppose some eat fish, as it`s not really meat, but what about all the burgers and sausages they cook in the same fat fryer? Not that thare`s any meat in them though!

I'm not a veggie - I just don't like meat so I don't have a problem with my food being cooked alongside meat but that's a really good point. If you're a vegetarian you'd not be eating fish but you'd not want your chips or pineapple fritter cooked in oil that's had fish or meat cooking in it :| Maybe the chips are cooked separately to everything else? Or maybe that's not essential if you've not put up a sign to say your food is suitable for vegetarians :suspect:

Beef dripping is by far the best way to cook fish and chips - compare the grub on offer in much of Bradford (where it is the norm) with Sheffield (where it hasn't been the norm in my 35+ years of scoffing the stuff). They might not be good for much, but those West Yorkshire types beat the rest of the nation hands down when it comes to fish and chip expertise!

It's only my opinion of course. But it's also The Truth! ;)

Originally posted by f_g
which chippys cook in vegtable oil and not beef dripping? Coz it is completely absurd to cook a vegetable product in anything else than vegetable oil ?? And cook fish.. In meat fat ? You must be having a laugh !

I'm not having chips at your house cooked in lad for sure; you distgusting person !

Any kind of oil is more healthy than lard. But they dont taste as good. All fish and chip shops years ago used lard. Boy, did they taste good. But you dont have to use only veg. oil, there is olive oil, sunflower oil and all types of oil. They just dont seem to brown as well in oil do they ? I use veg oil myself though.

But wouldn't you need an awful lot of beef drippings to deep fry, also wouldn't it have some juices left in it, then it would splatter, dosen't make much sense.

Originally posted by Captain_Scarlet
I'm not having chips at your house cooked in lad for sure; you distgusting person !

Well, unless I missed an episode, I don't recall f_g offering to cook you a meal. After that last statement I wouldn't expect your invitation would be in the post anytime soon...

Originally posted by Kristian
Well, unless I missed an episode, I don't recall f_g offering to cook you a meal. After that last statement I wouldn't expect your invitation would be in the post anytime soon...

Kristian.... was that realy you ?:hihi:

Originally posted by poppins
But wouldn't you need an awful lot of beef drippings to deep fry, also wouldn't it have some juices left in it, then it would splatter, dosen't make much sense. No,we mean lard, not beef dripping. Beef dripping used to be the meat juices drained off the meat, and used on our toast.(Could just eat some, couldnt you Poppins ?) and some salt sprinkled on.Lard is the large blocks of white stuff, that you can buy at the Supermarket. Either cook or bake with it. The fish & chip shops years ago would buy it in big tubs. Just looked like oil when it melted.(Must go to Beres Pork shop tommorrow,and buy a carton Of Pork dripping for my toast. !

Yes i use lard for some things,, now i'll try it deep frying, it's just that Damon said "Beef Drippings" that didn't seem right to me.

I think maybe he was thinking of yorkshire pud done with beefdrippings don't you ?

Mum's other half keeps tubs of dripping in the fridge, and lets face it guys. It looks like cat food jelly.

Sorry if I confused - I may have got my lard and my dripping mixed up. Whatever, fish and chips cooked in lard are mind bogglingly nicer than those cooked in oil. Like I said, pop up to Bradford and check 'em out! Yummmmmm...

Incidentally, if you're after health food, I think fish and chips are kind of off the radar whatever they're cooked in. So you may as well try and get the ones that taste best in my opinion.

Sadly, you generally have to make do with oil these days unless you can be bothered doing it yourself - and as part of the pleasure of fish and chips is getting them from the chippy, I must admit that I don't DIY.

Originally posted by Siân
I doubt many use beef dripping as it's so expensive. I thought most fast food places used vegetable oil that can be used over & over & over again. Very cheap but also full of trans fats :gag:

Hmmm I would be careful with using it over and over and over again. Most chipshops should use new oil everyweek.

Why? Because the oil becomes carconegenic (sp?) if you use it too many times.

Originally posted by Kristian
Well, unless I missed an episode, I don't recall f_g offering to cook you a meal. After that last statement I wouldn't expect your invitation would be in the post anytime soon... I don't recall calling the moderator police with its wittyless remarks either ...

Originally posted by si@guisborough
I thought that the "fish" part of fish and chips excluded veggies! I suppose some eat fish, as it`s not really meat, but what about all the burgers and sausages they cook in the same fat fryer? Not that thare`s any meat in them though!

I think 'vegetarian' means not eating animals.

If you eat fish, you are not a vegetarian, you are an omnivore (or a carnivore if you eat no veg, fruit or fungi).

The best chips are fried in beef dripping. McDonalds use an additive on their fries to make them taste more like that.

Also chips need to be fried twice. In dripping both times.

You can use an electric deep fat fryer with dripping, providing you don't use it for anything else!

Originally posted by Phanerothyme
I think 'vegetarian' means not eating animals.

If you eat fish, you are not a vegetarian, you are an omnivore (or a carnivore if you eat no veg, fruit or fungi).

The best chips are fried in beef dripping. McDonalds use an additive on their fries to make them taste more like that.

Also chips need to be fried twice. In dripping both times.

You can use an electric deep fat fryer with dripping, providing you don't use it for anything else!

SEE.... there it goes again, beef drippings ? surely beef drippings have juices in it, moisture would then get in the PHAN ? would make it smoke or splatter !

You can buy blocks of beef dripping which is just the white fat, or you could! Not seen it for sale for a while

Makes the best roast potatoes though and Phan is right, chips need to be fried once then rested, then fried again. Not many chippies left who know how to do it right :(

Now I am confused - maybe I DID mean beef dripping all along! I was always led to believe by my parents that this was the magic ingredient that made chips at my West Yorks grandparents' house so much nicer than chips at our own humble South Yorks abode.

Originally posted by Splodge_CRB
You can buy blocks of beef dripping which is just the white fat, or you could! Not seen it for sale for a while

Makes the best roast potatoes though and Phan is right, chips need to be fried once then rested, then fried again. Not many chippies left who know how to do it right :(

OK, now i get it... you're talking about a beef dripping you can buy like lard... i thought you meant pouring the beef drippings off the meat and using that.. sorry.... yes i always fry chips twice.

Originally posted by Captain_Scarlet
Coz it is completely absurd to cook a vegetable product in anything else than vegetable oil ??
Right, so erm... why is it that every single one of the world's top cooks reccomend that you roast potatoes in duck or goose fat? Perhaps we should try potato fat instead :loopy:

A friend of mine, who is both an ex-chef and Belgian hence supremely qualified, once told me in detail how to cook the perfect frites. If I remember rightly, it involved frying them three times, at a higher temperature each time and with a short rest in between fries.

Originally posted by Damon
Now I am confused - maybe I DID mean beef dripping all along! I was always led to believe by my parents that this was the magic ingredient that made chips at my West Yorks grandparents' house so much nicer than chips at our own humble South Yorks abode.

Oh definitely! Every butcher and village shop sold it at one time, it looked a bit like a fat candle wrapped in waxed paper and straight out of the fridge it was as hard to cut as a candle...

If any of you non-veggies find any anywhere try it and see the difference!

Aaah, French/Belgian frites are certainly a delicacy in their own right. Memories of the French holidays of my youth come flooding back... stopping off at the frites van... mmmmmm.

I do think of them as something separate from the British chip though. Being generally thinner and crisper, they're a quite distinct gastronomic experience I think.

Originally posted by Damon
I do think of them as something separate from the British chip though. Being generally thinner and crisper, they're a quite distinct gastronomic experience I think.
Yes, definitely different although much of the "science" (what fat to use, double/triple frying) is the same.

In my mind, I much prefer chunky British chips, at least the memories of chips from my childhood. But in reality it's years since I've enjoyed a portion of chips as much as I thought I would, and Belgian frites (with mayo, of course) seem to live up to expectations much better. Perhaps it's because nobody uses animal fats any more?

BTW, you can buy blocks of beef dripping (just like blocks of lard) from Morrisons, from what I remember they're dirt cheap (about 30p a block?)

Thanks..... all clear now, thought you were saying beef drippingS with an S , you're talking about beef dripping in a block.

Top chefs use best butter to saute in ,mostly the French !

Goggle says it's beef drips clarifeid into a block, Thanks again.

Just think on-the chippys that use veggie oil the more oil for diesel engines, I reckon that's good conservation.


Happy Motoring