Open vs. Pressure Commercial Fryers: Which is Right for You?
As you’re searching for the right fryer for your commercial kitchen, you may be wondering which type is best for you: a pressure fryer or an open fryer. Making the decision on which one to choose is primarily based on what you’re cooking, as pressure and open fryers have their own unique purposes. Learn about the characteristics of each before you make a decision of adding one or both to your commercial kitchen.
Commercial Open Fryers
Deep fryers have an open vat design for the operator to lower fryer baskets and product into heated oil. It’s a very simple process of immersing food in hot oil so product is crisp on the outside and moist on the inside. Open fryers are typically used to fry foods like chicken, tempura, french fries, onion rings and anything else that’s pre-breaded.
What are the Benefits of an Open Fryer?
- Quality flavor and texture—These units give a deep flavor and protects the moisture of the product so the texture is correct.
- Short cooking times—Because frying food in an open fryer takes little time, you can achieve a relatively high product output. This makes open fryers perfect for fast food/quick service restaurants.
- Oil stays clean longer—When you reserve an open fryer for just pre-breaded food items, you’ll accumulate less sediment at the bottom of the vat, meaning that the oil stays cleaner for a longer period of time.
- Easy to clean—When it is time to clean your open fryer, the process itself is simple. Just follow the recommended routine cleaning procedure for your particular unit or have a certified technician help.
Why Choose an Open Fryer?
Open fryers afford a lot of variety and choices—from an array of sizes and capacities to gas and electric options—making it easy to incorporate into any commercial kitchen. You can also fry up a wide variety of food, which will keep your customers happy. Open fryers are perfect for your restaurant if you need a piece of equipment with a great deal of versatility.
Commercial Pressure Fryers
While they boast many similarities with open fryers, commercial pressure fryers have their own unique characteristics. By creating a pressurized environment in a lidded chamber, pressure fryers cook food at higher temperatures to quickly fry proteins like bone-in chicken.
What are the Benefits of a Pressure Fryer?
- Faster cooking times—Just like open fryers, pressure fryers cook food quickly thanks to the pressurized environment they create.
- Flavorful food products—Thanks to the high temperature and the seal these fryers create, moisture and flavors are locked into food products, meaning you’ll create some of the best-tasting fried chicken around. This also causes the product to have a longer hold time after frying.
- Less energy to cook—Because pressure fryers cook quickly, it requires less energy to operate. That, in turn, means you save money on energy costs in the long run.
- Oil life—If the unit is filtered properly, you can get longer oil life from a pressure fryer.
Why Choose a Pressure Fryer?
As stated, commercial pressure fryers have a specialty in frying proteins. Because of this, they’re the perfect piece of equipment if your restaurant’s signature item is fried chicken. That doesn’t mean you’re limited to only using it for just chicken, though. Additionally, because there’s less exposure to air, you the oil stays cleaner for longer.