How to choose the industrial automatic fryer？

Before we get started in discussing what type of industrial automatic fryer you need, we’d like to suggest our previous post on how to choose the best-sized fryer for your business (in terms of oil capacity). If you haven’t had the chance to read it, I’d certainly recommend you begin there. If you already know what size fryer you need, let’s jump into it!

Industrial automatic fryers come in many shapes, sizes and use different types of fuel. This article will help you determine which type of fryer and fuel type will serve you the best.

First, you’ll need to choose between one of 2 primary fryer types: automatic continuous fryers, batch fryers. Second, you’ll need to choose between 3 fuel types: natural gas, diesel and electric.

Step 1. Deciding Which Type of industrial Automatic Fryer You Need

Before you dive into the details of purchasing a industrial fryer, you will need to decide on the correct industrial automatic fryer type for your application or business. Your options may be limited based on your location. But it is good to understand all the options to make the best choice.

Automatic continuous fryer：

Automatic continuous fryer is often used in automatic food processing line, in which frying is a vital process. And as an industrial frying machine, automatic continuous frying machine is of great versatility, for it can be applied to deep fry many products, such as french fries, potato chips, banana chips, onion ring chips, chicken nuggets, seafood and so on. This alone allows great returns on your equipment investment. What’s more, the industrial continuous fryer can process large quantities of products for long time operation. The most important thing is, with advanced technology, our continuous frying machine can deliver superior frying results with sustainable use of oil and energy. With rich experience, we can custom design your industrial fryers to meet your specific requirements.

Automatic Batch type fryer：

Automatic Batch fryer is small scale frying machine that can fry a great variety of vegetables, fruits, meat, seafood and pastry. Since it has round frying pan, it is often known as round pan frying machine. And there are batches inside the frying pan, which can stir products constantly to ensure even frying results. Besides, our batch type frying machine ensure constant high oil temperature and adjustable frying time, which are essential for top final products. What’s more, due to smart design, the frying oil is effectively filtered to prolong its usage. However, due to the fact it can only fry one batch of product after another batch, the batch type frying machine is suitable small scale vegetable and fruit frying line with medium and small production capacity needs. So if you want to install small food processing lines, batch type fryer machines are preferable choices.

Step 2. Decide Which Fuel Source Meets Your Needs

Fuel type is probably the most critical decision you will make in selecting a industrial fryer. Again, your choices may be limited by your location, your business type or the application for which you will be using the industrial fryer.

Natural Gas or Diesel：

Natural gas is the most common fuel source for restaurants, bars and venues that have a significant amount of traffic. High traffic restaurants usually need one or more large floor fryers that can recover heat quickly in-between batches of food. Natural gas outputs a high amount of heat (BTUs) that absorbs into the oil via submerged tubes or indirectly as with an open pot fryer. Natural gas also heats your oil more quickly and maintains cooking temperatures far better than electric models.

The most common issue in using natural gas as your fuel source is that you must have access to a hardline. Natural gas is not portable like liquid propane and it may not be present in your building by default like electricity. You must have a natural gas line at your venue to take advantage of this fuel source. Although  natural gas lines are common in the city, food-service venues outside the city may have increasingly limited access as their location becomes more rural.

Electricity：

Electricity is available nearly everywhere, making it the most versatile fuel type in terms of availability. Using electricity to heat 500-800 liter of oil is usually sufficient for low output sides and appetizers. However electricity is the slowest method for heating oil and often requires much more recovery time in-between batches of food.

Even though industrial electric fryers are very energy-efficient, if you are cooking with over 1000 litre or more of oil, we highly recommend you cook with a gas-type fuel source. You can find electric fryers with high-capacity oil reservoirs. However, you will need to be very careful to allow enough time between batches for the oil to heat back up to safe cooking temperatures.

Summary of Choosing a Commercial Fryer:

Just remember, gas-fuel types produce more BTU’s of heat in a much shorter amount of time than electric. This allows for your fryer to heat its oil quickly and maintain cooking temperatures batch after batch. Natural gas is readily available in most city locations. However, you may need to rely on propane as you approach less-populated locations.

Electric fryers have superb portability and are great in assisting your larger fryers during busy times. They are also great for lower volume occasions.  Just be sure that  you will have enough time for the oil to recover in between customer orders.