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I currently use Duck fat, due to good flavor and good heat tolerance. Clarified butter and coconut oils seem to not be able to take as much heat, i am a bit worried oils burning and smoking. But Duck fat has about as much pufa as olive oil.

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I use avocado oil for almost all cooking, as it works great with my wok. I mostly cook with my wok, as I have a gas stove, and regular pans lose their coating pretty quickly with has stoves. I like the flavor of coconut oil, but for some reason it didn't work as well with a wok pan. With my cast-iron pan (usually only use for steaks), i go with ghee.

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I use only cast iron pans, and sometimes stainless, if i do a pan sauce. Sometimes the seasoning comes off from my pans when i heat it "NASA" hot ;) Torch is better but i am out of gas. Your wok is carbon steel? If not, get one ;) All real works are. – Jan May 10 2011 at 13:55
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 Yeah its non coated carbon steel, inexpensive, seasoned it myself. As long as its clean before firing up the stove (waiting 1-2 minutes before adding oil), nothing sticks. I cook eggs with it too, no problem. I pour egg mixture (3 is optimal amount) to the hot wok, then tilt in all directions until the egg coats almost the entire pan. Then I turn the gas on low, add fillings like ham, shrimp, mushroom, chives and roll it into a...roll :S – Antti May 10 2011 at 14:06
an accepted answer with no upvote? i don't want to ever see that again. +1 – Jack Kronk Jun 27 2011 at 0:18
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Speaking of duck fat.....where can I get it or do I need to cook duck and save up the fat? Sorry if this is a silly question.

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 I was surprised to see duck fat available in a plastic container near the cheese/deli counter at Whole Foods. – VandyGear03 Jun 26 2011 at 23:51
I buy french duck fat in cans. I use it to sear meats and especially offal. Its great for french fries, i think duck fat makes them "french" ;) And onions, well for everythin greally.:) – Jan Jun 27 2011 at 7:23
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Avocado oil is great. I pretty much only use it for searing a steak on a cast iron skilled, but there is nothing that beats it for high heat cooking.

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Is it fairly neutral? I will try it. – Jan May 12 2011 at 7:58
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_point

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Rice bran Oil is very good for frying

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Yes i am aware of its high heat tolerance but it seems little bit scary, i try avocado oil. – Jan May 12 2011 at 7:56
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Tallow is kind of disgusting on it's own. Last weekend, I bought it for the first time. 5 kg finest pastured yellowish auerochs fat. So the best i could find. Now I've a full drawer of fat and don't know what to do with it. Does anyone know about the Shelf life? I only use it sparingly because of its strong taste. Scrambled eggs and pan fried steak (only 1 tsp fat) tastes totally different now. I'd say, just buy a small portion to test it. It's hard (for me) to get used to it. But i love duck fat and lard. It tastes very good, even on it's own.

http://images.zeit.de/wissen/umwelt/2010-04/auerochse-zucht/auerochse-zucht-540x304.jpg

If some Germans read my post and are interested in meat from the animal above, just drop me a comment and i'll post, where you can buy it.

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Man I love beef fat! I get mine from the fat that rises and settles on the top of bone broth I make from pastured cows in upstate NY. I suppose tallow might taste different but this beef fat is awesome. – ben61820 May 11 2011 at 0:18
Hi Paul. I also find tallow very strong, and had the same experience you did, buying a whole bunch of it (though very cheap) and being a bit surprised by the flavor. What I do is mix it in with other fats. So in my mashed potatoes for example I'll mix in both ghee and tallow (in addition to salt, pepper, etc.). Or tallow and coconut oil. If there isn't too much of the tallow then it will add a nice meaty flavor without as much of the weird flavors along with it. – Paul Jun 27 2011 at 5:05
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Tallow...

http://paleohacks.com/search?q=tallow#axzz1Lq8vNAqW

Not much else to say about the matter really!

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I use home rendered tallow too but it seems that duck fat takes high heat better, not to mention the taste is good. – Jan May 10 2011 at 12:45
How hot are you heating it? Avocado oil might be a good substitute every now and then...also, this Wiki page is useful: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… – Jason May 10 2011 at 13:03
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 duck fat is awesome. all of Gascony uses it/eats it and they are the longest lived people in France - they credit the duck fat. – tartare May 10 2011 at 13:07
when i sear thin steaks, i heat my pan as hot as i can, so propably too hot :/ – Jan May 10 2011 at 13:52
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 you know what you should try for the summer? this: youtube.com/watch?v=Y5tytP4Do-A did it last night with a ribeye and it freaking rocked my world. Two small issues, you should really have a chimney for each steak and my chimney is a bit narrow, I'd like to find a wider one to fit the steaks better. But I may never cook a steak another way again... – tartare May 10 2011 at 13:57
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