A commercial fryer is capable of cooking food extremely efficiently and quickly, and is often the primary tool behind many perennial favorites on the menu, including french fries, buffalo wings, jalapeno poppers, and many more.

Fryers use a heating element to superheat an oil medium to around 400 degrees Fahrenheit. When food product is dipped into the oil, the moisture inside boils, but because oil and water don’t mix, the product doesn’t lose moisture, and instead is steamed from the inside out.

Gas fryers are the most common type of fryer in a restaurant kitchen. They use natural gas burners to heat cooking oil in the fryer tank. Electric fryers are more commonly used in smaller countertop fryer models. Deciding between a gas commercial fryer and an electric one comes down to how much cooking you need to do, as the primary difference is capacity.

Calculating the frying capacity you need will help you determine what kind of restaurant fryer you should buy. The smaller the fryer, the easier it will be on monthly energy bills. On the other hand, you’ll want to be able to handle peak usage periods with ease as well as the growth of your business over the course of the fryer’s life.

The proper fryer maintenance can have a dramatic effect on food taste quality and affect the lifetime of the unit. Cleaning the fryer tank and heating element, as well as recycling the oil, are important for maximizing a fryer’s effectiveness. Because the fryer plays such an important role in many commercial kitchens, understanding how to troubleshoot common fryer problems is also an important skill for any restaurant owner or manager.