It’s no secret that Americans have an ongoing love affair with any food that can be fried—which is good news for you. But if you want your brand to prosper and grow you need to know the keys to creating the ideal piece of fried chicken, french fries or fish—again, again and again. By using the right techniques, timing, temperature and equipment you can guarantee perfection for your customers every single time.
How do you choose the right fryer?
First, it’s important to ask yourself the right questions. How many locations do you have? How many pounds of food does each location fry a day? And perhaps most importantly, which fried foods do you serve?
Let’s start with the last question. As you know, not all optimal frying temperatures are created equal. Bone-in chicken does best cooked with the oil at 325 degrees. French fries are better treated at 375 degrees, as are fish. If you plan on offering seafood as well as other proteins you will want a separate cooker to prevent the dreaded fishy taste transfer.
So, you’ve decided on your menu offerings, the next question is how much of each food item will you fry every day? What are your customers asking for again and again? When you take a close look at your operation—and where you hope to grow it—you may decide that a large vat fryer paired with a smaller one, or two, will optimize your offerings, cook times and customer satisfaction.
Temperature control and cook times
Your next important consideration is which temperature control to use. There are two kinds —a manual dial thermostat controller or a computer process controller. The simple manual controller is basically an on/off switch with a temperature setting. If you are lucky enough to be a fry chef who understands the intricacies of frying different products, you are golden with the low-cost manual controller. If not, and especially with multiple locations, the process controller could be your best answer. Managing the entire cooking process, these controllers automatically detects the load size, brings temperatures up quickly and precisely and then lowers the temperature to complete the perfect cook. Yes, they are a little more expensive but consider this…
The average employee turn-over rate at a restaurant is 6 weeks.
Yes. You have 42 precious days to train and try to retain the folks at the heart of your business. And the sad truth is, even your best customers probably don’t care if Ralph or Ruthie was the genius in the kitchen. They do care if you keep your brand promise—that their gotta-have-it-now favorite wings taste just as glorious as the last time. They want to know that they can bring their friends, dates and clients in knowing that a bite of your fish and chips will seal the deal. And when they select their favorite deep-fried dish, they need to believe those calories will be worth it. So, a brand promise kept at the push of a button? That’s a pretty sweet deal.
Oil filtration
Even with all this locked down and optimized, there’s one humble ingredient that can still foil everything. Your oil. With the popularity of the health benefits of more exotic oils like coconut oil, temperature precision becomes a key consideration, as does filtration. Whether you’re using the more expensive oils or just a good shortening, the rapid degradation that occurs without filtration will cost you serious money as each vat will only last a maximum of three days. With manual filtration your oil might last around six days. With a shortening management system, you can easily expect nine days of use from a single vat. Bottom line? Filtration saves you money and keeps your customers coming back again and again for that consistently delicious taste!
We recently completed a filtration test for Rascal's Cajun Restaurant in Rayne, Louisiana. Download the case study and learn how our UltraClear filtration system kept their oil fresher longer and saved them over $1,100 per year!
Capital investment – lifetime
When searching for a fryer that will last and won’t break the bank there is a lot to consider. Purchasing a lower cost model may save money in the short term, but repairs and replacement parts can double the cost of a fryer over its lifetime, and that down time is lost revenue. Going without a filtration management system will increase your shortening costs considerably. We recommend purchasing a fryer that is built to last and one that reduces your energy and consumable costs. Here are a few things to look for.
- Heavy 16 gauge vat construction
- Efficient and fast heat exchangers that offer fast recovery times and low exhaust temperatures.
- Precise temperature controls especially for multiple locations.
- Oil filtration management system to reduce oil replacement costs
- Amazing customer service and training. The company behind the product is just as important as the product itself.
So if you’re looking to produce a large volume of great tasting fried food that creates deeply loyal customers and exceptional profits…we think you might be looking for us.
Give Ultrafryer Systems a call and find out how to optimize every single bite of your business.
Ultrafryer Systems
Rich Jones: 800-545-9189 ext. 5021
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