No offense,but I think thay might of been your problem.If you kept the burners down it would only take longer to heat/re-heat.

Best investment is a fryer thermometer-get the oil to 365-370 and keep it there.

I can cook a 5 pound bag of french fries or about 20-25 crappie filets at one time. Look about 1/2 way down the page and you'll see me setup. Get the grease to about 375 before you throw something in and keep it wide open the whole time. They'll be fine.
Pictures from CAMP

Thanks for all the input. I will definitely look into cast iron and cut down on the amount i try to cook at once. Also, the frozen french fries killed the other pot ( i was doing fish in one and hushpuppies and fries in the other)!! I thought about trying fresh potatoes but i heard they are soggy.

Some great tips here, these points I consider most important

#1 cast iron dutch oven
# 2 3/4 gallons peanut oil ( oil only needs to be 3-4 inches deep)
#3 360 or so on the thermometer
#4 set the fish out to warm a little
#5 don't over crowd the pan , six or seven fillets at a time
will cook faster and not cool off the oil,
#6 recheck temp between batches , once you get the
burner set for the right amount of oil , you can
cook multiple batches with no adjustment, but
must follow rule # 5

Cooking too long/too cool will result in tough fish.

MO

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Fresh potatoes cut into fries have a lot of moisture in them and its hard to get rid of it all in one cooking to get them nice and crispy, or even to prevent them from getting soggy.

The trick is to par boil them in oil for a minute or so, then take them out and let them drain and cool a minute or three. Then back into the oil for the real cooking. They will come out nice and crispy.

Also,cut homemade f.f. about 3 days prior and soak in "lightly"salted water.Rinse and change the water a few times a day...works for potatoe chips also.

I had the oppurtunity to check out a Cajun Fryer by RV Works in action recently and I think it is the best fryer on the market hands down. A little pricey but well worth it, when you consider all benefits and oil costs.

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gaslabmasters.com

DonDon where did you get stir fry pan?????
I've been looking, found some on ebay, but they want $35.00
for shipping. Thanks Gary

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cork'n crappie

Amazon has them, free shipping on a lot of them.

Amazon.com: wok

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Crappie fishing is my lighthouse of sanity in an insane world,
It keeps me from crashing on the rocky shores of everyday life.
Crappie.com is my beacon of light!

Like 40-50 bucks total after shipping. Course they want 75 bucks for the stand BUT I cheated. I use a 8 inch Springform cake pan. LOL Works great