There are many different types of oil you can use in your commercial fryer that will make a difference in not only the taste of the oil, but the longevity of it, and the cost, as well. Filtering is an important factor of regular deep fryer maintenance because of the nature of the foods cooked in the oil. Preventing food particles from building up and causing problems for your fryer is very important, but this can also impact other areas of the fryer and the food you serve, as well.

The typical commercial fryer holds about twenty gallons of oil. One gallon of vegetable oil usually runs roughly $4.96 dollars a gallon. So, each refill of a twenty gallon commercial fryer costs around $99.20. If you’re a busy restaurant, that can mean going through quite a lot of vegetable oil- and filtering is important because it prolongs the life of that oil. Generally, though, for most commercial fryers, the stable oil lasts about 100 hours. However, factoring in the actual cooking, you’ll lose about 1/5th of your oil- that’s about four gallons. In an improperly filtered fryer- that number can increase pretty dramatically. But, we’ll say in a fifty batch of food day in a restaurant, you’ve lost $19.84, just in running the fryer as normal. Different types of oil don’t really make much difference in this- the differences in the oils are health and flavor related, for the most part. Though, considering the sort of oil you use in your fryer may be an important and wise marketing tactic, as health conscious as people are these days.

The reasons that you’d want to filtered that oil are numerous, but looking at the above paragraph, you realize that anything that would prolong the life of that oil- and 100 hours at a 50 batch of food a day run is going to end up costing you about $175.00 every four days without a filter- assuming you only do 50 batches. More than that, the cost shoots up further. With a filter, you prevent the breakdown of the oil itself. So, filtration is very important for economic reasons alone. Each and every little food particle that builds up further and faster breaks down that oil. Having a good filter system or having the oil regularly filtered can actually cut that cost in half, sometimes even more than that, but there are other benefits. Consider your fryer and how much it costs. Now consider that while yes, all that particle build up is causing issues with the oil- but what about that large, complex and expensive piece of machinery it is frying in?
That’s right. Filtration can also save you on maintenance and even having to replace your fryer itself. So, to recap, not only does filtration of the oil save you money in oil costs, but it makes your food taste better longer, gets rid of those yucky little extras that people sometimes find in their fried foods, but also prolongs the overall life of your commercial fryers themselves.

For more on filtafry visit filta.com.