Turning up the Dial on Commercial Fryers: How to Choose One for Your Restaurant
March 24, 2018Fried food is a well-loved favorite.
This is a fact. It also makes a fryer an important piece of equipment to have in your commercial kitchen. Just consider how many appetizers and sides require frying: onion rings, French fries, and fried green tomatoes are just a few that come to mind…yum. Indeed, a fryer can be a valuable piece of kitchen equipment, even at home.
But there are many options to be considered when deciding to add a fryer to your arsenal of kitchen equipment. There are many different types of fryers, and each is best suited to a different food type, size, and venue.
Fryer Type
- Tube fryers are best for breaded foods that require heavy-duty frying and extra cooking time. The downside? This kitchen equipment is difficult to clean.
- Open pot fryers are affordable and easy to clean. These fryers have a heating element and a small sediment zone to collect crumbs. They are great kitchen equipment for many fast food restaurants.
- Flat bottom fryers are best for delicate items, such as tempura and tortilla chips, as well as battered doughs, like donuts. These are foods that don’t produce many sediments. This kitchen equipment, though, is difficult to clean.
- Hot air fryers are a portable and don’t require much space. They also require little oil for frying and can be very easy to clean.
Fuel Type
Fuel type is a very important consideration when buying a commercial fryer. This type of kitchen equipment uses either gas or electricity for fuel. Gas fryers usually consume much less energy over time and are cheaper to run, but they can be more expensive upfront. Oil is heated faster with electric fryers, but this is often the case only for lower-capacity fryers. Most large-capacity fryers tend to come in only gas.
Size
Size considerations for this kitchen equipment should include both the available space in your restaurant and the amount of food you plan to fry. Countertop and drop-in models occupy less space than others, but these generally have limited oil capacities and limited frying options.
Timing
How fast is your food? For restaurants boasting fast food preparation times, the fryer you choose matters. How quickly can the frying oil heat something frozen and fry it completely? Electric fryers usually have better heat recovery times than gas fryers.
Maintenance
No kitchen equipment lasts without proper maintenance, and fryers are no fun to clean. But some are much easier to clean than others. Easy cleaning can make a huge difference!
Quality comes at a cost, but so does buying the wrong piece of equipment. Consider your needs carefully and soon you’ll be adding the perfect fryer to your supply of kitchen equipment.
Preventing Dine and Dash in Your Little Rock Restaurant
There’s nothing more frustrating to a server – and a manager – than realizing that a table has left without paying for their meal. It costs everyone money, and it can be insulting as well. Sometimes dine and dashers are young people who think it’s a funny prank. Other...
Renovations: Keeping Your Restaurant Supplies & Costs in Check
Every restaurant owner has to face the reality of renovations at some point. Usually, this is good news – your restaurant is growing, or is successful enough that you can expand. Sometimes it’s just a matter of keeping up with the times, replacing old and damaged...
Build Up Your Employees with Fun Perks
Your employees do a lot for you. You depend on them to follow protocols, serve customers with kindness, and keep your commercial kitchen in top shape. Of course, you provide them with a great working environment. But why not thank them in additional ways – with fun...
Commercial Kitchen Fun: Almost a Dozen Ways to Cook Eggs
Cooking an egg might be one of the most basic kitchen skills around, but that doesn’t mean there’s only one way to do it. If you serve breakfast, you’re probably familiar with quite a few of them. But almost a dozen? That’s worthy of its own egg-only menu! Don’t...
Restaurant Equipment Spotlight: Using Tech to Promote Your Restaurant
You’ve got a great location. Your restaurant equipment is in great shape, and you have excellent employees ready to serve. Your menu is on point, and you’re ready to bring a top-level dining experience to your community. So… where are the customers? Having an...
Holiday Marketing for Your Restaurant
It’s never too early to think about how you plan to market your restaurant for the holidays. Your strategy will vary a lot depending on what type of establishment you have. The restaurant supplies you’ll need will also depend on the type of marketing campaign you...
Things to Instagram About Your Restaurant
A picture is still worth 1,000 words, especially when it comes to marketing. While customers taking endless pictures of their food to post online may frustrate your staff, the truth is it gets the word out about your restaurant. However, you don’t have to rely on your...
Choosing the Right Refrigerator for Your Commercial Kitchen
People who buy refrigerators for their homes often spend weeks researching different models and finding exactly what they need. It’s a major investment for many homes, and it pays to get it right! In your commercial kitchen, you may feel that you don’t have that kind...
Tips for Managing Restaurant Inventory
Does the thought of keeping track of every ingredient and piece of kitchen equipment in your restaurant make you want to hide your head under a pillow? You’re not alone. Keeping track of everything is time-consuming and often overwhelming. And you know how much your...
Restaurant Supplies: Getting Started With a Food Truck
While restaurants grow slowly, the food truck industry has been rocketing with 7.3% growth between 2012 – 2017. Food trucks are great for entrepreneurs because they have a relatively low startup cost and annual overhead compared to other businesses. Customers who...
Commercial Kitchen Fun: Restaurant Bloopers
Making mistakes is part of being human. However, sometimes these mistakes are pretty funny and deserve to be shared with others. There are many things that may not have been funny at the time, but in retrospect give you a smile and reason to be more gentle with...
Kitchen Equipment Spotlight: What You Need for Concession Stands
Tis the season for high school football and other fall festivals. Are you in charge of stocking concessions for your local team’s games? Or are you considering opening a concession stand at a local sporting venue, outdoor event, or pool? If you want to provide...
Kitchen Supplies: Should You Go Local With Ingredients?
If you own a restaurant in Little Rock, you’ve certainly heard of the trend toward going local. Local kitchen supplies, local ingredients, even local art as décor. There are a lot of great reasons to buy local – your money will stay in and support your community, for...
Commercial Kitchen Fun: Why Salty & Sweet?
All cooks who consider making desserts know that salty and sweet is a winning combination. Salted caramel shows up in hundreds of recipes. Candy bars combine salted nuts with chocolate. We dip French fries in ice cream. We put pineapple on pizza. People even put salt...
Restaurant Equipment Spotlight: Ensuring Safety in Your Restaurant
A lot happens in your restaurant every day. You have people coming and going all the time. Your employees are constantly moving around, and customers are entering and leaving throughout the day. Unfortunately, with all that activity, there’s also a lot that can go...