Choosing the Right Size Commercial Fryer

Do you know what is the best thing about commercial fryers? They give out the best-looking fried delicacies that are impossible to get with a fryer at home. Moreover, with an aroma to die for, these fryers can attract a bunch of potential customers at your food joint 😉

Okay, so you own a food joint; or are thinking of establishing one; and have a few items on the list that require a commercial fryer. The most crucial question lingering in front is ‘what size should you choose?.

Fret not! We will fill you in with all the key points to consider before buying a commercial fryer. It will help you in deciding the perfect size that will best suit your food joint needs.

Let us keep things in question/answer format. It will help us consider and resolve each aspect in detail.

What kind of food will you be frying?

This question is very important as fryer needs for food joints may vary; depending upon how they augment their menu.

Do you need a fryer because you are adding new items to your menu?

Or, you want a fryer to maximize your output needs?

Fryers are a great kitchen gadget for French fries, chicken wings, fried fish, pastries. However, you can not use it for everything at the same time.

Now, another question; Can you cook different types of food in the same fryer?

Of course not! You do not want your french fries to have a hint of chicken, or your fried chicken drumsticks to taste like fish.

The only solution for this is either to have separate oil for each type of food or, to have separate fryers.

Can you fry frozen food?

Well, sometimes you can.

To put it clearly, there are different types of frozen food. French fries, mozzarella sticks, chicken nuggets, and spring rolls are quite common. However, be careful to get rid of as much ice as possible. You do not want the oil to splatter all over the place.

Moreover, there are thick food items, particularly protein-based such as chicken that need either to be thawed or slacked before putting them in the fryer. It will ensure that the food is properly cooked from the center. Remember to thaw only food that is required for immediate cooking.

How long does it take for food to cook in the fryer?

This is a very important question as it will help in deciding how many batches do you want to get done at a particular time.

For reference take a look at the following table:

How much food will you be frying?

This is perhaps the most crucial aspect to consider when choosing the size of the fryer. We understand how much daunting this must be to come up with fixed figures; however, you need to have a rough idea about how many french fries, onion rings, chicken wings, other fried items do you wish to prepare in a day.

If you are new in the market, the best way to figure out the serving size and see how the demand trends of food in the area of your food joint is to observe your competitor. They are the best teachers.

Once you’ve determined your serving, you need to get an idea of how many people will be ordering your new appetizer, entree, or dessert:

This will help you in calculating how many fried item orders shall you expect in a day, and how many servings can you manage in an hour; since you will be doing most of the frying in busy hours.

What size of fryer shall you opt for?

As the rule goes, a fryer can yield (1.5 ~ 2)x the total weight of the fryer’s oil capacity per hour. In a nutshell, a 40 lb deep fryer can output about 60-80 lbs of food per hour.

A smaller countertop fryer with 15 lbs of oil capacity should be able to produce 22-30 lbs of fries per hour. When you’re frying smaller items like french fries and onion rings, it’s safe to assume 2x your oil capacity. When handling larger items such as drumsticks, thighs chicken breasts, it’s safer to use the 1.5x in your calculations.

Our opinion:

For a standard setup, a 15 lbs fryer should suffice. However, we all know how calculations done on paper are not always accurate. Therefore, if affordable in terms of space and money, go for a slightly larger size. You may need to fry more batches than you expected.

Where to get a commercial fryer Have you heard about Chef point they are the best commercial kitchen equipment suppliers. Want commercial fryer from them! Contact them now.