A restaurant kitchen deep fat fryer is a must have piece of equipment for most commercial kitchen design projects. Most people love fried food, but not so much the time, effort and clean-up that goes along with frying at home; so restaurants are happy to oblige and fulfill this desire. When most professionals think of a restaurant kitchen deep fat fryer, they immediately think of the standard fryer with baskets submerged in large quantities of oil. This may be the most commonly purchased type of restaurant kitchen deep fat fryer, but manufacturers have created many other functionalities on this standard to meet various industry needs.
A restaurant kitchen deep fat fryer is supplied by either a gas or electric heating element that is placed in various locations of the reservoir that holds the fat. Each manufacturer has their own opinion as to the best way to locate their heating elements, but the functional characteristics of all are still very similar. Even though every restaurant kitchen design concept is different, it is likely that you will have at least one type of fryer listed below.
Restaurant Kitchen Deep Fat Fryer Accessories
Some of the more popular accessories for a restaurant kitchen deep fat fryer are:
- Casters instead of legs (usually required by the health department)
- Digital, Electronic or Manual Controllers
- Internal oil filtration system
- External oil discharge
- Automatic basket lifts
- Spreader cabinets
- Full pot baskets
- Triplet baskets
- Fry pot cover(s)
- Splash shields
- Split fry pots
- Sediment tray
- Crisper tray
Standard Restaurant Kitchen Deep Fat Fryer
This is the typical deep fat fryer a chef thinks about when talking about frying foods in a professional kitchen. They come in either a single fry pot, or multiple fry-pot batteries where several units are connected to one another like the model pictured. This model also shows optional automated basket lifts and the internal fryer oil filtration system. Manufacturer Pictured: Vulcan
Ventless Deep Fat Fryer
Sometimes a restaurant will find that they have outgrown their initial deep fat fryer requirements and find that it is not as simple as just getting another fryer. Most times, exhaust systems are designed for a specific amount of equipment beneath them, so in order to add another piece of equipment, you would either need to make the hood bigger, or add an additional system which can become quite costly. Some manufacturers understand this and have designed ventless, or self venting fryers that are fryer and hood all in one. Manufacturer Pictured: Wells Bloomfield
Pressure Fryer
Also known as broaster fryers, these specialty fryers were designed to combine the frying and pressure cooking methods to create a faster a cooking process of dense foods. Made famous by a fast food restaurant to go unnamed, these fryers create a crisp exterior product and moist interior of the items cooked within them in a much shorter amount of time than an open pot restaurant kitchen deep fat fryer.
Counter-Top Fryer
For restaurants who have very few fried items, or a menu where fired items are more of a garnish than a main item, a counter-up fryer may be a better choice. Having a small, compact footprint and the ability to be placed on a table or equipment stand, these fryers can easily be added to any cooking line with minimal square footage impact. Manufacturer Pictured: Garland
Greaseless Convection Fryer
This is not exactly a deep fat fryer, but worth mentioning in this post since it does technically fry. By using a small amount of oil and convection oven style functionality, this piece of equipment allows small volume operators to provide crispy fried foods to their customers with little cost to implement. Depending on your jurisdiction, these units may also be installed freestanding; meaning they may not need to be under an exhaust system. As always, we strongly suggest checking with your local fire authority before installing any new piece of cooking equipment to ensure you meet all local code requirements. Manufacturer Pictured: Perfect Fry Company
Doughnut Fryers
Probably the most iconic breakfast item in the world, does indeed have it’s own type of fryer. Doughnuts (or donuts, depending on where you are from) have very specific frying requirements where your standard restaurant kitchen deep fat fryer will actually become overkill. Doughnuts float on the oil and are only partially submerged, so a deep well of oil is not only unnecessary, but also wasteful. Most doughnut fryers provide only a few inches of cooking oil with some manufacturers offering automated batter dispensing and conveyor cooking technology, such as the model shown in the image on the left. Manufacturer Pictured: Belshaw Adamatic