Kitchen Equipment - Purchasing a commercial gas deep fryer
Are you planning to add some more delicious foods to your menu?
How about some fried chicken wings and French fries or fried pastries? Sounds good?
To add the delicious and crunchy fried foods to your menu, first, you need the right fryer and purchasing commercial gas deep fryers requires some research. What type of fryer do you need? What will be the best size for you? There is more than one thing to decide.
Don’t worry! Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you buy the right deep fryer that can efficiently meet your needs.
The right type of commercial fryer for your need
There are different types of commercial gas fryers available, and you need to decide the right type according to your business and intended application. Unlike a gas char grill, which you can use for grilling all foods - veggies to steak, cooking different items in the same fryer is not suggested unless you plan to change the total oil every time you fry a different item because otherwise, it might lead to change in the flavour of the item you fry next. If you are planning to fry different things, it is best to opt for separate units.
The typical types of commercial gas fryers available include,
Countertop
These compact versions are ideal for frying smaller items like the fries in limited quantity. These are ideal for saving floor space in smaller kitchens or food trucks. In most of the bigger kitchens, the countertop versions work as a supporting appliance along with the floor-standing models.
Floor-models
These are versatile and can serve wide-ranging purposes. These models can handle smaller food items like onion rings, and chicken wings, as well as chicken thighs and thicker pieces of meat with full efficiency. The gas models are much powerful than their electrical counterpart and are more suitable for commercial, heavy-volume demands. A floor-based unit will essentially need a full-fledged hood system which should be considered before getting the device.
Speciality models
Instead of larger kitchens, these models are more commonly used in bakeries, concession stands and smaller outdoor foodservice units. These are designed according to the intended use and are commonly used for frying items like doughnuts, corn dogs and funnel cakes.
Gas fryers according to fuel type
The gas variety can be of two types depending on the fuel they use – Natural Gas and Liquid Propane. Both the types have their specific strengths and weaknesses,
Natural Gas
Natural gas is the most common fuel source in large-scale restaurants with higher footfall.
Pros
- NG produces a high amount of heat which warms up the oil quickly
- Maintains proper cooking temperatures
- Not very expensive
Cons
- Not portable and you should have access to a hard-line
- Availability is an issue outside foodservice venues or in rural areas
Liquid Propane
Liquid propane is another efficient option for commercial frying. Let’s take a quick look at the pros and cons,
Pros
- Provides similar advantages like NG
- Heats oil quickly and maintains ideal cooking temperature
- Fully portable and availability is not an issue
Cons
- More expensive than NG
- You always need to have extra fuel in reserve
The good thing is, converting a liquid-gas model to a natural gas model is simple, and depending on the exact model you have, it might just need addition/exclusion of an extra kit to convert the unit from LG to NG or vice versa.
Type of heat distribution systems in gas fryers
Next comes the heat distribution system. Here you have four different options, and you should choose according to the type of food you will serve,
Tubes and Baffles
These come with a large cold zone which prevents sediment burning. Heats the oil evenly and promotes consistent frying. This variety is best for high-sediment foods.
Open pot
Has less space in cold and more room in the hot zone which gives better capacity, but these models are less energy-efficient; best for frying low sediment foods.
Flat bottom
The cold zone free flat bottom units are ideal for funnel cakes and doughnuts. However, they run a higher risk of sediment burning.
Now you have all the information about the different types of commercial gas fryers available so that you can make the right choice according to your needs. The next task is to find the right size.
Calculating the size of the commercial deep fryer
To find the right size, you need to plan how much food you will be frying daily, just like you did for deciding the burner number of your commercial gas stoves. Decide a suitable serving size, considering both the cost and the competition.
Next step is to gauge how many people are likely to order the new item. You need to keep in mind the recipe as well as the placement of the new item and the food preferences of the customer group that visits or are likely to visit your restaurant. Determining servings per hour will help you to calculate how much of the item you need to cook every hour.
We understand these are not simple things to decide, but even if not exact, you need a logical idea of the same to get an appliance of the right size.
Oil capacity and production
Your fryer’s oil capacity is the direct indicator of the volume of food it can fry per hour. The general rule of thumb is that a fryer can prepare food of 1.5x to 2x volume of its oil capacity per hour. Which means if you are buying a model of 15-pound oil capacity, it should be good to fry 22 to 30 pound of fries per hour.
That said, the total amount will depend on the exact item to be prepared. French fries and chicken breasts will naturally take different durations to fry. When frying smaller items, such as onion rings or french fries, you can safely assume the hourly production rate at 2x of the oil capacity whereas for bigger dishes like chicken drumsticks, calculate it at 1.5x of the oil capacity.
Consider real-life situations
Now that’s the general guide to calculate the amount of food a fryer can prepare per hour, but it shouldn’t be the exact size of the appliance, because we have seen it far too often that what is perfect in the paper is not the best in reality.
Here the trick is to opt for a size that is reasonably bigger than what you got through the calculation, because in reality your sale might double up during Christmas or the waiters might serve a larger portion than you calculated to make the plate look fuller. If the fried item becomes a top seller, you might even plan to add a few more varieties, so the appliance should provide you with reasonable flexibility to scale up the production.
Does it all seem too confusing? You can always get professional help from your commercial gas deep fryers supplier in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Hobart, or Adelaide to decide the right appliance for your needs.
