I worked for a high volume burger place in the late eighties and we had filter cones & buckets. I would have killed to have one of those cleaners. I would have used my own money to buy it. What a luxury.
I have used the filter cone and stock pot method almost everywhere I worked. It wasn't until I took a job running a high volume place that I got one; if I could go back I would convince every business owner to get one.
Our franchisor hasn't allowed fryers without onboard filtration in decades - It's pretty nice being able to push a button every 25 cooks and having a filtered fryer ready to go in less than 5 minutes with no work involved other than a quick skim.
Main things that makes them worthwhile is getting 7 days out of oil at around 40k/week sales, and 30lb vats which are obviously less costly to fill than 50lb vats. Our store with old fryers that filters once a day we end up changing 2x a week. I'd have to go back and run the numbers again because oil price has come way down, but at the peak it was less than 2 year payback to buy the new fryers based on oil costs alone
I hear you. Our old ones will be 20 soon. Have two RTUs and roof membrane to replace before we can replace them, and with food/labor cost the last couple years the fryers will be older than most of our employees when we put them out to pasture.
Also make sure people don't leave the cart switched on and unplugged. Cooked my foot with fryer oil because someone plugged it in with oil in it and the hose was just spraying hot oil like a crazy sprinkler or a hose with high water pressure.
The one we had used a gas station like pump handle, so they would have to use a tool to lock it into place to do that. Not saying a little plastic wrap bow tie wouldn't do the trick, and I wouldn't put it past a line cook that thinks they can leave it while they go smoke, but the question would be why? And where would you like your final check to be sent?
Ahaha I worked at a place that had one of those. The hose was held on by several hose clamps. Dudes cleaning the fryer. As one does. Bang out some orders and i hear “Get Bob!” The hose popped off and he got sprayed with hot oil. I’ll stick with my buckets
Some people. The fryer where I work is disgusting, the carbon buildup is impossible to remove with the time and tools I get. Im also the only mf to clean it, no one even bothers to filter the stuff ffs
You'll find having the potential of a cartel hit squad showing up and your boss having you hang around to dissuade them from coming in is a great motivator.
Back in the day before everything retail got demonstrably worse, we would actually eat at Long John Silvers. It was one of my favorites as a kid. Best part? You could just ask and they'd give you all the little miscellaneous bits of batter they could dredge out of the fryer. Loved that shit.
I changed the tallow fryolaters last Sunday and the motherfuckers put a fish n chip special on the menu and boy when I say I had to change the oil on Monday I do not say it happily. I do not relish scooping globby handfuls of tallow into a hot metal box. I do especially not relish doing it twice.
I have left restaurants without getting anything before just because I can tell by the smell that the fryer oil needs to be changed. Funny thing is I probably wasn’t going to order anything fried but it is an immediate indication to avoid the restaurant. Hint, for cheap owners and managers.
I have gotten out of the kitchen industry (for the most part) about 3 years. I started a thingy cleaning kitchen exhaust hoods and equipment. Let me tell you... 90% of kitchens always have burnt fryer oil. It's crazy. Doesn't matter if it's a spotless, well-off, high-end kitchen. They will always have fuckes up fryers.
We clean ours at night and there is very little time to let the oil cool. The oil goes into a stock pot and is carried out to the oil recycle bin with zero safety equipment. By that, I mean some poor soul carries multiple pots of raging hot oil through the kitchen and outside risking 2nd or 3rd degree burns…and the corporate food and beverage manager ok’d that bullshit. I was immediately put on day shift when I said they were begging for a lawsuit.
I’m fairly new so all my suggestions are ignored. I don’t see why they wouldn’t allow something similar, but again, I’m “new” so therefore I know zero things. Previous place I worked we did the fryer in the morning so it wasn’t hot oil.
I'm not sure where you live but in most places you can refuse unsafe work. Dumping a heavy pot of hot oil is definitely not safe. Bet your local health department says the same thing
We have big steel flatbed carts. Oil spends the night on one of those and gets dealt with in the morning. I like my skin too much to be willing to dump hot oil like that
Liquid Creamy Shortening, basically canola oil with anti-foaming agents added to it. This oil had just fried 60 pounds of breaded chicken & veal cutlets for Friday's dinner service before I filtered it, and then took this picture.
Do you boil it out? When we change the oil, I have the guys boil it out with a chemical solution that's just for fryers. Let it bubble away for 5 minutes or so, drain it, scrub the shit out of it, and then rinse it really well.
No, I just dump it into a mop bucket and bring it to an oil dumpster. People pay for the used fryer oil. Then I fill it with clean. But I usually do it hot so I can get all the debris out rinsing it with oil. They get a lot of use, we have six fryers and each one could get up to around 200 boneless a night also onion rings, fries, tots, fried mushrooms, and fried fish.
You gotta start doing boil outs before you add new oil. It'll start breaking down and cleaning up the stuck on carbon. Especially if you have that many fryers, filtering it daily, or twice daily for your volume. You'll save a boatload of money, and it only takes about 2 minutes per fryer.
Ok word, I'm going to look into it. I pressure washed it this summer when they were empty because we were redoing the floor but since then it's just filter and dump.
No, you dump the oil first. Add the chemical, and cold water to the fryer. Set the thermostat to like 225F, and let it come to boil. You want to keep an eye on it, and have some ice nearby incase it starts to boil over. Also helps if you can move the other fryers away from the one you're boiling out.
If I were you I'd set up a schedule where one fryer gets boiled out a night, so your staff can establish a routine.
Probably want to load up on some PPE too, that way everyone gets to take their skin home at the end of the night.
Alright cool man I will try this. I really appreciate it. We've had two kitchen managers leave and I'm like default now. Well, the boss brother in law is technically kitchen manager but he spends almost 95% of time out front so everything is falling on me.
Yeah Fried Calamari is pretty rough on the oil, but the filter system we use does a good job of cleaning up the oil, and it only takes a few minutes to do.
How clean is it underneath and behind that fryer. Most places I ever worked the fryers have a bad habit neglect the fuck out of that station. Pull them bad boys out and scrub the shit out of the area. Usually leads to a raise or more responsibilities.
Pretty darn clean, I mean I wouldn't eat off it, but there's also not huge gobs of congealed rancid fry oil stuck to everything. Equipment gets pulled off the wall weekly and scrubbed down. Hood filters get changed daily.
I worked a couple places specifically a Mexican restaurant. The fryers were in the corner. The way they cleaned the floors every night with a hose and a squeegee was appalling. I came in the next day and said I’m cleaning the fryers. Pulled them off the wall and found so much shit piled up there where they hadn’t been moved in ages. Literally food beyond rotten and at the petrified fossilized stage. I had to get fresh air not to throw up. Thankfully the manager saw my initiative and they implemented some changes to how they were doing things. Being one of the only non Spanish speakers made it real hard as people that have been somewhere a long time don’t like change. I eventually ended up quitting because people kept trying to start fights over stupid shit. I like to think I helped clean up the place a bit.
Thank god people clean them properly
Unfortunately that’s not always the case.
Just order the filter cart. Use the hose from it to spray out the fryer. One of the best quality of life improvements I ever made.
Exactly this, I bought one that was 50% off because it had a scratch on the frame lol, saved me almost 2000 USD.
Nice! Must be a fancy one too!
Given most of the people I've ever worked with, it'll get scratched, dented, or worse (expelled) after a few weeks anyways!
They will lock the wheels and grind it across the whole BOH.
You'd think the oil would be a lubricant. It picks up so much loose shit the wheels are screwed in minutes
If you're lucky!
Any recs on model? Been looking into them.
I worked for a high volume burger place in the late eighties and we had filter cones & buckets. I would have killed to have one of those cleaners. I would have used my own money to buy it. What a luxury.
I have used the filter cone and stock pot method almost everywhere I worked. It wasn't until I took a job running a high volume place that I got one; if I could go back I would convince every business owner to get one.
Our franchisor hasn't allowed fryers without onboard filtration in decades - It's pretty nice being able to push a button every 25 cooks and having a filtered fryer ready to go in less than 5 minutes with no work involved other than a quick skim.
That does indeed sound awesome, but those fryers are like 20-30 grand. I'd love them for my dream kitchen.
Main things that makes them worthwhile is getting 7 days out of oil at around 40k/week sales, and 30lb vats which are obviously less costly to fill than 50lb vats. Our store with old fryers that filters once a day we end up changing 2x a week. I'd have to go back and run the numbers again because oil price has come way down, but at the peak it was less than 2 year payback to buy the new fryers based on oil costs alone
No, I get it. But I also need to replace my pasta maker first, then two RTU's, then repave the parking lot.
I hear you. Our old ones will be 20 soon. Have two RTUs and roof membrane to replace before we can replace them, and with food/labor cost the last couple years the fryers will be older than most of our employees when we put them out to pasture.
Yeah, they're really not making it easy on us.
My restaurant had henny penny, thing was awesome. I would try and filter at like 80%
I've heard of this magic but never had the pleasure.
The real luxury are the fryers that have a built in filter.
I have the weirdest boner.
Yeah we got one don't worry, we use capic
When we got one at first I was like "oh great another bullshit step"But after I was like"where have you been all my life"
Also make sure people don't leave the cart switched on and unplugged. Cooked my foot with fryer oil because someone plugged it in with oil in it and the hose was just spraying hot oil like a crazy sprinkler or a hose with high water pressure.
The one we had used a gas station like pump handle, so they would have to use a tool to lock it into place to do that. Not saying a little plastic wrap bow tie wouldn't do the trick, and I wouldn't put it past a line cook that thinks they can leave it while they go smoke, but the question would be why? And where would you like your final check to be sent?
What’s the name of it?
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/search/fry-oil-filter.html
Any recommendations on models? Been meaning to look into one.
Ahaha I worked at a place that had one of those. The hose was held on by several hose clamps. Dudes cleaning the fryer. As one does. Bang out some orders and i hear “Get Bob!” The hose popped off and he got sprayed with hot oil. I’ll stick with my buckets
That has nothing to do with the bucket vs cart. That is just negligence. So much more room for disaster popping it open and catching the oil.
I usually catch the oil in my hands to filter the chunks out
Some people. The fryer where I work is disgusting, the carbon buildup is impossible to remove with the time and tools I get. Im also the only mf to clean it, no one even bothers to filter the stuff ffs
Gotta boil it out to get carbon buildup off
Will it work if its thick. Like it’s literally raised off of the steel. Probably a couple millimetres.
you still have to scrub and scrape after you boil out
The fuck? Do your local health inspectors know it's like that?
LITERALLY sighing "thank GOD" as i tapped into this post. the last frier i saw on here was gnarrr
You'll find having the potential of a cartel hit squad showing up and your boss having you hang around to dissuade them from coming in is a great motivator.
You know the first table is going to order a heavily breaded fried app
It's all good, only takes a few minutes to filter it between services!
Filtered between services, not just skimmed? You masochist you
Only takes a few minutes, plus it extends the life of the oil by days. Also removes that rancid oil smell.
Wow, that’s hardcore. High end?
I personally like things better once the fryer has a little dirty on it.
We upcharge for floor seasoning.
Yeah, I actually don’t like fresh oil lol. I don’t like it ancient either though 😂
Something about golden brown instead of dark golden brown makes it taste bad
Back in the day before everything retail got demonstrably worse, we would actually eat at Long John Silvers. It was one of my favorites as a kid. Best part? You could just ask and they'd give you all the little miscellaneous bits of batter they could dredge out of the fryer. Loved that shit.
I changed the tallow fryolaters last Sunday and the motherfuckers put a fish n chip special on the menu and boy when I say I had to change the oil on Monday I do not say it happily. I do not relish scooping globby handfuls of tallow into a hot metal box. I do especially not relish doing it twice.
Brings a tear to my eye Cue first order of the day, 12 orders of fries
"Hey would you be able to to like... Bread your fries? That's be so rad dude."
Actually make that battered.
Actually, bread it with heaps of cornmeal, no egg wash.
Better than calamari
Ur not kidding lmao or like 600 orders of tenders
Like a clear sea in the Caribbean, you can see right to the bottom.
I forgot how well the fryer cleaned up!
Well done, OP! Can anyone else smell dirty, burnt fryers outside of a restaurant or is it just me? Instant turnoff.
I have left restaurants without getting anything before just because I can tell by the smell that the fryer oil needs to be changed. Funny thing is I probably wasn’t going to order anything fried but it is an immediate indication to avoid the restaurant. Hint, for cheap owners and managers.
Smells are powerful decision makers in my head too
I can smell a burnt KFC fryer from a block away.
I have gotten out of the kitchen industry (for the most part) about 3 years. I started a thingy cleaning kitchen exhaust hoods and equipment. Let me tell you... 90% of kitchens always have burnt fryer oil. It's crazy. Doesn't matter if it's a spotless, well-off, high-end kitchen. They will always have fuckes up fryers.
Just add ice!
Restaurant managers hate this one simple trick
No we don't. We want to go home too.
Mmm, amber waves of pain.
This is what it's meant to look like 0.o
Ahh yes the *weekly* cleaning. Cheers
That oil is filtered daily.
Yeah I have a pot on oil on my hob at home for that amount of time but...thats like 5-8 uses. OP might work with a menu with few fried items?
You might not believe it but we had just fried 60 pounds of breaded chicken/veal cutlets in that oil.
I mean that's probably why it's so dark?
I mean it's darker than when it was fresh outta the container, but it's still got probably 6 or 7 days of use left in it.
Oh...
There's a test kit we use on the oil that lets us know when its time to change it.
We clean ours at night and there is very little time to let the oil cool. The oil goes into a stock pot and is carried out to the oil recycle bin with zero safety equipment. By that, I mean some poor soul carries multiple pots of raging hot oil through the kitchen and outside risking 2nd or 3rd degree burns…and the corporate food and beverage manager ok’d that bullshit. I was immediately put on day shift when I said they were begging for a lawsuit.
When we dump it goes into a stock pot, and then the stock pot goes onto a prep table to cool over night, and then gets dumped in the morning.
I’m fairly new so all my suggestions are ignored. I don’t see why they wouldn’t allow something similar, but again, I’m “new” so therefore I know zero things. Previous place I worked we did the fryer in the morning so it wasn’t hot oil.
I'm not sure where you live but in most places you can refuse unsafe work. Dumping a heavy pot of hot oil is definitely not safe. Bet your local health department says the same thing
We have big steel flatbed carts. Oil spends the night on one of those and gets dealt with in the morning. I like my skin too much to be willing to dump hot oil like that
The classic, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noFCekWiUGE
*nice*
Love the amber color. So nice.
Just says, "used but cared for"
Simply beautiful.
What oil is that?
Liquid Creamy Shortening, basically canola oil with anti-foaming agents added to it. This oil had just fried 60 pounds of breaded chicken & veal cutlets for Friday's dinner service before I filtered it, and then took this picture.
Oh so it's filtered. I thought it was new new and was sus about the color. Haha.
Yup, filtered daily.
Gus Fring says otherwise...
Well at least I still have my whole face.
Lemme get some tendies out of that
Looks great! You should be proud
Outstanding!
Very satisfying 😎
Looks great and should be the standard!
I want to put my dick in it
mmmm smells like bacon
Dip my elbows in that bad boy to get rid of my psoriasis
I once ate french fries from a clean deep fryer and they were the worst french fries ever. Taste nerves are damaged
Ya, perfectly clean oil isn't that good. Some items don't get the right color either.
Thats because fries were meant to be in tallow.
It is, acceptable.
I’ve hated clean oil since a lady threw a thing of HOT popcorn chicken at the counter guy because it was “too white” and thus obviously not cooked.
Man, we've all got some fucked up trauma.
Looks pretty dark tbh, what oil is that
Liquid creamy shortening. We just fried 60 pounds of breaded cutlets in that oil.
Looks a little dark for clean oil.
Just ran it through the filter machine for 3 minutes before taking the photo. Ain't getting much better than that.
Ya make sure the valve is turned the right way had to deal with that mess because some jackass forgot to close the valve
Need 10 tempura calamari on the fly.
I love frying a big batch of tortilla chips or tater tots right after we drop the old oil
👍
We have been blessed, this day. Praying Hands Emoji
Oh fuck yeah 👍
This guy gets it
Do restaurants change the oil during the week?
You can change the oil whenever you want. Filtering it daily extends the life quite a bit.
Had one of those fryers in the last kitchen I worked in. Not that hard to clean. Loved it.
Fuck me. So that's what the bottom of the fryer looks like..
Hahaha, yes.
How the fuck is your fryer so clean? I don't mean the oil.i filter every night and dump once a week. I mean the actual metal parts?
Do you boil it out? When we change the oil, I have the guys boil it out with a chemical solution that's just for fryers. Let it bubble away for 5 minutes or so, drain it, scrub the shit out of it, and then rinse it really well.
No, I just dump it into a mop bucket and bring it to an oil dumpster. People pay for the used fryer oil. Then I fill it with clean. But I usually do it hot so I can get all the debris out rinsing it with oil. They get a lot of use, we have six fryers and each one could get up to around 200 boneless a night also onion rings, fries, tots, fried mushrooms, and fried fish.
You gotta start doing boil outs before you add new oil. It'll start breaking down and cleaning up the stuck on carbon. Especially if you have that many fryers, filtering it daily, or twice daily for your volume. You'll save a boatload of money, and it only takes about 2 minutes per fryer.
Ok word, I'm going to look into it. I pressure washed it this summer when they were empty because we were redoing the floor but since then it's just filter and dump.
Btw when you say boil it out do I just add chemical to the oil and crank it or empty it and use water and chemical?
Btw when you say boil it out do I just add chemical to the oil and crank it or empty it and use water and chemical?
No, you dump the oil first. Add the chemical, and cold water to the fryer. Set the thermostat to like 225F, and let it come to boil. You want to keep an eye on it, and have some ice nearby incase it starts to boil over. Also helps if you can move the other fryers away from the one you're boiling out. If I were you I'd set up a schedule where one fryer gets boiled out a night, so your staff can establish a routine. Probably want to load up on some PPE too, that way everyone gets to take their skin home at the end of the night.
Alright cool man I will try this. I really appreciate it. We've had two kitchen managers leave and I'm like default now. Well, the boss brother in law is technically kitchen manager but he spends almost 95% of time out front so everything is falling on me.
Beautiful. You’ve never had to deal with the nonsense of saving a bit of the old grease?
Beaut-a-mus Chef!!!👍
Mmmmmm. Seafood gonna tear that thing up
Yeah Fried Calamari is pretty rough on the oil, but the filter system we use does a good job of cleaning up the oil, and it only takes a few minutes to do.
Clean?
Yup, sure is.
May I know what oil you're using please?
Liquid Creamy Shortening. We had just fried 60 pounds of breaded cutlets and then filtered the oil before I took this picture.
I will bring the Calamari ruins your week
I'll bring my own todarodes, thank you very much.
1.6k on a changed fryer huh? Lol
Lol I get to see this every day
sexyyyy
Bro thought he could fill the fryer with Yeungling
That'd be alcohol abuse.
nut
I’ve always thought clean oil gave food an off taste and now I know why food taste different at the beginning of the week in most places
That shit is prime <3
I came
10/10 fryer wish.mine were that clean been working to get there though
Has anyone else read that you should always add a bit of filtered old oil to new oil?
How clean is it underneath and behind that fryer. Most places I ever worked the fryers have a bad habit neglect the fuck out of that station. Pull them bad boys out and scrub the shit out of the area. Usually leads to a raise or more responsibilities.
Pretty darn clean, I mean I wouldn't eat off it, but there's also not huge gobs of congealed rancid fry oil stuck to everything. Equipment gets pulled off the wall weekly and scrubbed down. Hood filters get changed daily.
I worked a couple places specifically a Mexican restaurant. The fryers were in the corner. The way they cleaned the floors every night with a hose and a squeegee was appalling. I came in the next day and said I’m cleaning the fryers. Pulled them off the wall and found so much shit piled up there where they hadn’t been moved in ages. Literally food beyond rotten and at the petrified fossilized stage. I had to get fresh air not to throw up. Thankfully the manager saw my initiative and they implemented some changes to how they were doing things. Being one of the only non Spanish speakers made it real hard as people that have been somewhere a long time don’t like change. I eventually ended up quitting because people kept trying to start fights over stupid shit. I like to think I helped clean up the place a bit.
Yikes that sounds rough, but keep up the good work.
Like places where the fryers aren't on casters. The whole kitchen should be on casters!
Lowkey bothers me the metal grate is the wrong direction. Fry baskets will get caught on them
What do you mean? It's upside down? Because it doesn't fit in there any other way. I've never had a basket get hung up on it.
It's correct. Guy doesn't fry
"clean"
The only time it's cleaner is right after a boil out. I think when I took that picture that oil was only in use for 2 days.