Commercial Countertop Fryer

Countertop Commercial Fryers: What You Need to Know

Countertop frying units give operators versatility without sacrificing valuable kitchen floor space. If you only need small amounts of fried food, a countertop deep fryer enables you to offer select fried foods on your menu without making them a staple of your establishment.

The most important component of a commercial countertop fryer is its frypot – the vat that holds the oil your food is cooked in. There are three primary frypot types, each specially designed to better cook specific foods. Understanding the type of food you want to cook enables you to determine what kind of equipment you need.

Common Questions About Commercial Countertop Fryers

Which fryer is best for each food type?

Wet-battered Food

For heavily battered food that floats freely on the oil, such as wet-battered fish and tempura, choose a flat bottom model. The frypots in these are simple rectangles, heated from underneath. Lost batter floats to the top or falls to the bottom and must be cleaned out regularly – otherwise it will burn and give your product an unpleasant taste.

Frozen Food

For lightly breaded frozen foods such as cheese sticks and fries, open pot models are best. These feature sloped bottoms that create a "cold zone" where lost breading collects so it isn't burned. The open design of this countertop commercial fryer enables high-volume food production, so this is the go-to design for French fries.

High-sediment Food

Higher-sediment, breaded foods such as chicken are best fried in a tube-type countertop deep fryer. These all operate on gas while heat travels through tubes that run through the pot interior. Underneath the tubes is a large, sediment-collecting cold zone. The tubes equip these fryers to recover cooking temperatures quickly after cold foods are added, and they stop sediment in the cold zone from flowing back into the hot zone, where they stick to food and sides of the pot.

Concession Food

For cooking concession snacks, select a commercial countertop fryer designed specifically for the snack you're serving. Donut fryers are flat-bottomed units with special grids that drop in and lift out the pastries. Corn dog fryers are equipped with clips that hold the snacks in place as they fry. Funnel cake fryers are additional flat-bottom machines, typically used with rings to form the round cakes as batter is poured onto the oil.

What is a cold zone?

The cold zone in a fryer is the area, usually at the bottom, that doesn't get hot enough to cook food or burn sediment. This is vital to ensure flavorful products. When frying foods, sediment, such as breading, will fall off. If this sediment stays within the hot oil too long, it will burn and impart a strong burnt flavor into your oil, which will then impact cooking food. A cold zone at the bottom of your fryer, where sediment collects, ensures sediment doesn't burn, instead waiting until you can collect and dispose of it.

What specialty options are available?

• Basket lifts automatically lift food baskets out of the fryer when a cooking cycle has completed. This can prevent overcooking or burning foods in busy kitchens with many distractions.
• Solid shortening must be brought up to cooking temperatures gradually; otherwise, you risk burning it. If you want to use this to cook your foods, choose a commercial countertop deep fryer with a melt cycle.
• To simplify operations, pick a model with programmable controls so operators can select the items they fry from the menu. Cook times and temperatures for each food are digitally stored in the unit and are automatically set when that item is selected.
• Split pot fryers have two separate sections in a single footprint, enabling you to fry two types of food simultaneously without risking flavor transfer.
• To save some cash on fuel costs over the life of your equipment, choose a high-efficiency model. These incorporate new technology that conserves energy compared to traditional units.
• Save money on oil costs with an oil conserving unit. These are designed to use less oil than traditional models.
• To simply cleaning an electric countertop commercial fryer, choose one with a swing-up element. As the name implies, the burners, which sit in the oil, swing up and out of the frypot so you can clean it thoroughly.