Fryers in restaurants

I have a home fryer. I think its an Oster. I liked that it had a handle that would lock in place raising the basket out of the oil. But my main complaint is the small volume it can handle. A mixed blessing, I suppose, because the typical 15 amp 120 volt American outlet can deliver enough heat for slow but adequate recovery. Never have done seafood in it, just potatoes. But it's been unused for years now (without oil, of course).

A while ago I picked up a Butterball brand electric turkey fryer. Well, it had plenty of volume. But the oil temp never got much above 300�F and of course once you put a turkey in it, the temp plunged and took forever to come back up to even 300�F. So I wound up returning it. Good riddance. It's a big useless lump, IMHO.

For french fries lately all I do is add some good quality canola oil to to a big deep fry pan, maybe 1/2 deep, get it nice and hot, and then add the frozen fries, stirring as needed. The gas cooktop keeps the oil hot enough, and the canola oil is basically neutral and doesn't add any off flavors to the fries. Which reminds me, probably time to pick up another bag of frozen fries (crinkle cut, Ore-Ida) one of these days.

And yes, I've tried oven baking the fries, even tried the convection toaster oven, but frankly without oil it's just not the same. It's an occasional treat, not a regular thing, so the calories from the oil don't really concern.

For fish? I like to saut� or stir fry that. No real need to coat it with batter and dunk it in hot oil. To each his own.


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Post# 929791 3/30/2017 at 22:03 (2,576 days old) by fan-of-fans (Florida)
Checkrate/Likes Here are the fryers I seen in restaurants : McDonald's: Frymaster electric, triple with electronic controls Burger King: Pitco gas, triple with electronic controls Dairy Queen: Pitco gas, double with electronic controls Arby's: Frymaster electric, double with electronic controls Kmart: Wells countertop electric (2), Rival plastic fryer (1) Walmart deli: Giles electric, double with warming station in middle, left fryer have automatic basket lifts, dial timers Publix deli: Giles electric (2) with basket lift and electronic controls each high school: Keating electric (3) with 2 basket lifts and digital times each one junior high: Keating electric (1) with 2 basket lifts and digital timers, separate Keating warming station with heat lamps another school: Pitco electric double each with 2 basket lifts and electronic controls, with warming station in middle drive-in theater: Hotpoint countertop electric and Hotpoint griddle electric

Post# 929808 , Reply# 1 3/30/2017 at 22:51 (2,576 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine)
Checkrate/Likes When I was a senior in high school, I worked at the largest 24/7 truckstop in this state as a short order cook, and not one trucker ever complained about my cooking. One evening the right side Pitco started smoking from the bottom and discovered one of the tubes ruptured and grease was catching fire. Quick swipe with the fire extinguisher and gas shut off and we were back in business, minus french fries. New Pitco was promptly installed the next day.

Post# 929908 , Reply# 2 3/31/2017 at 09:52 (2,575 days old) by parunner58 (Davenport, FL)
Checkrate/Likes When I worked at Wegmans back in Pennsylvania we had 6 Fryolators in our store. 2 in prepared foods where I worked, 2 in the Wokery, and 2 in Pizza. They were gas with electronic controls each with a built in filter system. They were all connected to a 2 tank oil system in the back of the store one for dirty oil and one fresh oil. We would filter the oil after cooking and save it. When it was time to change it, we would flip some switches on the filter system and it would pump the oil to the holding tank in the back of the store. The refill was a wand mounted on the the side of the fryer you would just fill them up like you would your car at a gas station.

Post# 929951 , Reply# 3 3/31/2017 at 15:44 (2,575 days old) by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area)
Checkrate/Likes The drive-in restaurant near me had Hotpoint fryers and griddles, installed in the mid 50's when the place was built. Don't know what they have now, as I've not been there for several years. I worked at a Steak 'N Shake the summer of '78, and I think they had Wells electric fryers.

Post# 930064 , Reply# 4 4/1/2017 at 12:06 (2,574 days old) by sudsmaster (SF Bay Area, California)
Checkrate/Likes 1 The local Costco Business Center periodically has displays of various commercial quality restaurant food prep and cooking equipment. I was drawn to one of the fryers - at last a way to deep fry stuff without the oil failing to reach the proper temp, or in insufficient quantity to maintain temp once food (like fries) are added. But I successfully resisted the urge to buy one. Don't recall the brand but the stuff all looked quite well made and solid. All stainless, of course. They also periodically also have commercial gas ranges, freezers, fridges (separate) with solid or glass doors, Robocoupe food processors, real deli slicers, etc. It's all kind of pricey but then will last a lifetime, as opposed the consumer versions which might last a few years. However for the big stuff, Costco will deliver only to a commercial address.

Post# 930094 , Reply# 5 4/1/2017 at 17:26 (2,574 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Pitco Pitco Pitco. high recovery units for seafood frying. Dump the oil every day especially when frying over 30 lbs and up of seafood in one vat. If you want to do Seafood right... Don't try to get another day out of the oil. Buy the Cheap stuff and dump it everyday when frying in volume. Success after 40+ years. It's just not worth trying for that "extra" day and sacrificing quality Fried seafood. Chicken and as we say in New England "Badaedos" ( potatoes) is another story. The moisture can't touch that of seafood wrecking the oil.

Post# 930117 , Reply# 6 4/1/2017 at 20:09 (2,574 days old) by sudsmaster (SF Bay Area, California)
Checkrate/Likes 1 I have a home fryer. I think its an Oster. I liked that it had a handle that would lock in place raising the basket out of the oil. But my main complaint is the small volume it can handle. A mixed blessing, I suppose, because the typical 15 amp 120 volt American outlet can deliver enough heat for slow but adequate recovery. Never have done seafood in it, just potatoes. But it's been unused for years now (without oil, of course). A while ago I picked up a Butterball brand electric turkey fryer. Well, it had plenty of volume. But the oil temp never got much above 300�F and of course once you put a turkey in it, the temp plunged and took forever to come back up to even 300�F. So I wound up returning it. Good riddance. It's a big useless lump, IMHO. For french fries lately all I do is add some good quality canola oil to to a big deep fry pan, maybe 1/2 deep, get it nice and hot, and then add the frozen fries, stirring as needed. The gas cooktop keeps the oil hot enough, and the canola oil is basically neutral and doesn't add any off flavors to the fries. Which reminds me, probably time to pick up another bag of frozen fries (crinkle cut, Ore-Ida) one of these days. And yes, I've tried oven baking the fries, even tried the convection toaster oven, but frankly without oil it's just not the same. It's an occasional treat, not a regular thing, so the calories from the oil don't really concern. For fish? I like to saut� or stir fry that. No real need to coat it with batter and dunk it in hot oil. To each his own.