Check your math Sween....68 oz is about 2 quarts....and for $11 something, pleanty cheap...but then so are a lot of other things at Sam's...like Bombay gin and basamati rice. Buying in quantity tends to reduce the price per oz or per item.....this same oil costs a lot more by the 8 oz bottle at the grocery store. Yes...it IS EVOO....green and fruity. They have several brands at about the same price. The bottle I currently have is Bertoli...it gets pretty firm and cloudy at refrigerator temps. I bought it to make a boat load of pesto ( incidentally using Parmaganio Reggiano I bought at Sams for about $12 a pound) and found I liked it a lot. Incidentally I also know my way around a kitchen....and spent a lot of years feeding my family dinner like they might eat at a fine resturaunt on a daily basis. Ever been to a fancy food show? The display of olive oils is amazing, displayed in footed wine glasses, with a dish and bread cubes for sampling....and about every color of yellow, amber, green and olive....all of them very pricey EVOOs. There are the Greeks, and the Italians, Spanish, Portuguese, Isralis etc....all with their tables set out showing their oils. Olive oil is rather like wine....experts can tell where and when the fruit was grown.....and price doesn't always equate with the best taste. And I fry things in EVOO....as well as in butter....and a mix of the two......and unless I get a phone call and am distracted, things sautee well and never burn! Linda C

"-----Hrmm Pressure Fryer sounds like something I bet Dcarch could make.--" As a matter of fact I had converted a regular pressure cooker into a pressure fryer. But i will not give that much details because it can be very dangerous if you don't have the required understanding of what can happen. First you need to modify the pressure "giggler" to allow for lower pressure built up. Then all gasket material will need to be of material which can withstand around 400F. I even changed the handles to all metal. An oil fire is a very dangerous fire, the cooking should be done outdoors. I am happy with the end results of regular frying, it is not worth the trouble to pressure fry. dcarch

Angelaid, would it help to retrofit your lower storage to rollout tray shelves? The cupboards would hold a little less but it would be a lot easier to get at what you have. Definitely get rid of the Fry Daddy since storage is out. Maybe you can rearrange the contents of your cupboards and baking rack so that the only things that are downstairs are once a year kinds of things that you can take up and down in stages and at leisure, and more regular things, like the roaster, even though it's big, can live in the kitchen. Maybe even keep a small table or basket by the stairs on each level for things that are going up or down. I do that and it works well for me. For frozen things going down to the big freezer I leave a nylon tote bag there to remind me to take them. I'd keep all the "discards" for at least a year, though, to make sure I really didn't want them anymore. Whenever I don't do that, I get rid of something I end up wanting. DC, good idea about the rice noodles. I have them. :) It won't get me to put away the thermometer, but definitely easier to use. :)

I've been using coconut oils. They can be difficult shopping for though. The extracting and refining process can give different taste outcomes. It does handle some heat ok. For sauteing i have one that does not have a scent or coconut flavor. Barely a hint. Even the Carington Farm one is rather mild and is easily cancelled out with an herb, spice, or citrus. -i do like coconut but not its flavor with everything. So don't be turned off by the label. Some have zero coconut flavor and are very healthy for cooking. I also like that it is very stable and does not go rancid near as fast as most oils. For flavor, a good ev olive oil can't be beat. Finishing sauces, dressings. A mild olive oil, sometimes called 'light', i think has a higher heat tolerance and is an ok choice for a quick stir-fry, but as grainlady mentions, it does change with heat. Most oils change when heated. Especially the grain oils. And most nut/seed oils. (start studying oils and fats and you just might toss out your pans, and your oven, ha, and start nibbling raw, then pureeing raw to break down cell walls for better digestion... ; ) I tend to use grapeseed oil when the cast iron comes out for a fish bake... stovetop, then the oven. Not really a high heat dish. If i need a crisp, for crab cakes, cod cakes, corn cakes, etc i use a pat of butter with a bit of reg olive oil or grapeseed. (i should try the mild coconut) Come to think of it, we have not stir-fried in years. No real reason. I do have a winter thai dish that brings out the wok but not a true high heat fry. Maybe it is the oily heat flavor? I have been doing a high oven heat quick roasting of veggies. Seems to quickly 'bloom' the flavor and toast a bit. No oil. Then add to dishes and finish with a fresh sauce or dressing. Veggies are still fresh and crisp and no oily layer. Grainlady's knowledge of all things cooking and beyond is very impressive. My study is more abstract and surface but i do try and pay attention...i started studying oils, spices and herb oils when my husband kept insisting on buying a very expensive oil for itchy winter skin. So i have lots of oils and looked at skin absorbing properties, etc. And I make a good bug repellant for us and our pups. -He is much happier with my custom blend now and much cheaper! Almond, sesame, toasted sesame, avocado...all 'claim' on labels to be the best and healthiest for everything...