Hang on Pie Lady. It will get figured out.

You may have to try a scratch recipe to see if it’s the batter…because you don’t want what will eventually turn into black dust all over the pies.

 
That’s exactly right. I’m not willing to ruin my livelihood just to make funnel cakes. I’ve looked everywhere around the internet and I’m simply not finding that other people are having the same difficulty. And some people are saying “batter should be thick” while others say “batter should be thin”. It’s frustrating. Some videos show them holding the batter a good foot away from the oil while others are pouring from less then two inches. I really hate that this is making me so crazy but I operate on such a shoestring budget that I don’t want to make mistakes that other people have already figured out solutions to.