How often should the oil in a home fryer be changed?

Unfortunately, way too often. This is why I almost

never use my home fryer, and instead fry in small
batches in my wok.

(from Bon Appetit)

First up, what exactly are you frying?

non-breaded vegetables -> after 6–8 uses

breaded items -> after 2–4 uses

meats -> after 4–6 uses

You’ll see the oil getting darker and darker pretty

quickly with each use, and will become less and less
effective. You’ll find that the food will become
greasier with each use and becomes oily and soggy
instead. It’ll also start to impart a smoky like taste to
whatever you’re frying.
(from Times Food)

As for why breaded items are going to make the oil

less effective so quickly? Well, that breading is made
out of flour, which is going to leave a lot of particles
and food debris in the oil. Think of it as deep fried
oily sand.

As for why meats will also degrade the oil faster, it’s
all in the fat. Deep fried meat, like in say, chicken
wings, will have it’s fat being rendered while
submerged. As a result, the fat will mix with the oil,
and make the oil break down as well.

(from wikihow - using a cheese cloth to filter oil)

Now you can give the oil a little bit more life, say 1–3
more times to cook by filtering the oil through a
cheese cloth. It’ll get rid of the food debris and
reduce the oil deterioration. I’ve also used coffee
filters, but it takes FOREVER for the oil to drip
through.

Other than that, cook away and be sure to keep

track of the smoking points. If you overheat an oil to
the point of it smoking, it’s going to ruin that oil
faster as well.