Fryer Filtering
By Pat Finley – Lead Master Certified Technician
The most often overlooked part of the kitchen is the fryer oil. Filtering the oil is an essential part of the daily routine. It helps maintain the quality of your product, extends oil life, and cleanliness of the fryer itself. Using a fryer filter prevents food particles from burning and ruining your oil. When oil is filtered daily, it can last over twice as long, and you'll save your restaurant a lot of money. Filtering makes food taste better too!
Filtering Can Happen by Several Methods
First up is the pour over technique. It is the simplest, but can be dangerous due to handling hot grease. Simply pour the oil from your fryer through a filter cone that sits on top of a large metal pot. Once drained, close the valve on the fryer. You can throw away the filter cone and debris, then pour the oil back into the fryer.
Next is the stand-alone filter machine. These come in a variety of forms and sizes. There are a ton of different manufacturers of these. Waste oil companies will often supply them. You use your drain tube on the fryer to dump the oil into the filter pan. It is then drawn through a pump and can either be cycled through the filter paper or you can refill the fryer from the wand. Some, like pictured, are used to pump the old grease into a disposal tank.
Finally, we will get to a built-in, these are inside the fryer. This type of filter utilizes a pain, pump, drain tubes, return lines and more. Some of the more complex systems will have linear actuators that open and close on their own. It will only open one pot to drain, and another that will open the return to that vat. These often have connections for the disposal of used oil and will utilize the filter pump to push the oil into a disposal tank.
The Key to filter machines is to only use filter paper or media specifically designed for your unit. Incorrect or no filter media will clog your pump, causing it to fail. You may trip an internal limit on a motor or worse. If this happens, you will need to contact a service provider to clear the clog. Also, do not run water through your filter machine. It will damage the unit. It is fine to clean the pan with water but be sure it is fully dry before filtering. If water is in the pan when you dump hot oil, it can be a dangerous situation.
General Parts Group conducts commercial fryer repairs, and offers planned maintenance program on Pitco, Frymaster, Dean, Garland, Vulan, Avantco, Imperial Range, APW, Henny Penny and many more commercial fryer brands. If you need service or advice about your unit, please call (888) 498-1238. To find your nearest GP location click here.