frustrated.....need some help.

ok.....last night for the playoffs i made some hot wings with my new cooker....they turned out great but i had 2 problems.
first off the pot i got is aluminum and it seemed like the oil would never get back up to the heat that i wanted it to.
i had the propane turned up to sound like a jet engine and it took forever for it to get back up to around 350 to 375.
would a stainless steel pot do better with that?? and the 2nd problem i had was storage and drainage of the oil.....with peanut oil at 10 bucks a gallon i wanted to try and store and filter my oil...i bought a funnel with a metal strainer so i put a coffee filter in there to kinda help filter it out but he grease would not go thru the coffee filter.......any suggestions on this issue??

waiting in anticipation for the cooking experts to inform me

When it comes to filtering it I always used a paper towl with no problems. I imgaine a coffee filter would work just as well but maybe not. One thing you might look for if you fry things often if a oil pump/filter. We recently got one and you just stick the thing down in the oil and it filters the oil while pumping and BAM you can re use it again! I am not sure how much it was but I can bet if it was too expensive it would not have been bought around my house. Goodluck!

Bubba, the aluminum is not your problem, we have been using an aluminum turkey fryer for years without a problem. How many gallons of oil are you putting in the fryer? We usually put about 8-9 inches in the fryer. The more you put in, the longer it's gonna be to bring it up to temperature.
We don't use peanut oil for the exact reason you stated, it's way too expensive, and personally, I don't like the flavor it puts in the wing, as it affects the flavor of the sauce you are putting on them. Canola oil is cheap as Hell, it heats up quicker because of the low viscosity (compared to peanut oil), it doesn't flavor the wings much if at all, and it browns better, quicker.
As for the filtering, a coffee filter is too fine of a screen for the oil to get thru. Your best bet is to use a fine strainer, like a "china hat", you can find at nearly all chef supply houses. Depending how many pounds of wings you are frying up, the muck at the bottom will clog even this screen, so be prepared to rinse it often, especially when you start getting to the bottom of the fryer.
I hope this helps...