The Hesed Le’Abraham (Rav Abraham Azulai, 1570-1643) writes (in chapter 55) that the most preferred Menorah for the Hanukah candle lighting is a gold Menorah, and the second most preferred is a silver Menorah. After silver, he writes, the order of preference is as follows: bronze, copper, iron, tin, lead, glass, wood, bone, glazed porcelain, unglazed porcelain, pomegranate shell, coconut shell and acorn shell.
If one has a silver Menorah with glass cups in which the wicks are lit, he is considered to have lit in a silver Menorah, and not in a glass Menorah. Since this is the standard, accepted manner of using a silver Menorah, the fact that the wick is lit in a glass cup does not mean that one has not used a silver Menorah. This is the ruling of Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (Israel, 1910-1995).
Today many people use prepared jars of oil which is coagulated so it does not spill. After the wick it kindled, the oil gradually begins transforming back into a liquid. Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv (Israel, 1910-2012) ruled that this oil may be used, despite the fact that it contains a coagulant, because the coagulant comprises less than one-sixtieth of the mixture, and is thus considered Battel ("nullified"). Rabbi Bitan, in Yalkut Yosef (p. 118), adds another reason why such oil is acceptable for the Misva. He cites the work Teshuva Me’ahaba as claiming, based on several sources, that the oil used by the Hashmonaim was solidified and not a liquid. Thus, it is certainly permissible to use coagulated oil, which more closely resembles the oil kindled by the Hashmonaim in the Bet Ha’mikdash.
Summary: The most preferred kind of Menorah used on Hanukah is a gold Menorah. After gold, the order of preference is silver, bronze, copper, iron, tin, lead, glass, wood, bone, glazed porcelain and unglazed porcelain. One is credited with using a gold or silver Menorah even if the wick is lit in a glass cup. Oil containing a coagulant may be used for the Hanukah candle lighting.
