Whether you’re using counter top fryers or full size fryer, and open pot fryer or a tube fryer, proper maintenance of the oil is the best way to get great tasting products for your customers and keep your fryer operating efficiently. Here’s some tips about how to take care of the cooking oil utilized in commercial fryers.
Extending the Life of Frying Oil
With a little attention, you can indefinitely prolong the life of your frying oil. Filtering the fat twice daily; or at the end of every shift and then adding 10% new oil will rejuvenate the original oil. This means that if you have a 50 lb. fryer, you will need to add 5 lbs. of fresh oil each day. If less than 10% of the oil in your fryer is absorbed by the fried products that were prepared that day, dip out enough existing oil to allow you to add in 10% of new oil. Be sure to keep that oil and reuse it on the griddle or for other cooking needs rather than disposing of it. By refreshing 10% of your fryer oil daily, you will easily see a significant savings in fat expenses.
Filtering for Performance
Are you frying breaded, battered or products with high water content? Frying these products in large quantities require you to filter more often. Be sure to rinse well too. Soap residue is biggest enemy of cooking fat because it causes it to breakdown faster.
Holding off Oil Breakdown
Talk to a master fry chef and they will tell you that water is one of the major causes of rapid cooking oil breakdown. Ideally, if a balance can be kept between frying dry items like breaded products and wet items like frozen French fries, the life of your cooking oil can be considerably extended. When this is not possible, and most of the fried items are wet, several slices of dried bread can be nested between the twin fryer baskets of a fryer periodically and ‘fried’ to absorb the water which has been added by the wet products.
Getting the most out of your fryer oil will not only save you money, but keep your fryer functioning at peak performance. Follow the tips above to reduce expenses, improve the performance of your commercial fryer and provide your customers with great tasting fried foods.
