Is it better to use oil or shortening for a commercial deep fryer?

Answer 1

There are two main food items that are typically used in commercial deep fryers-oil and shortening. The stable oils used in most fryers can last up to 100 hours, meaning that you don't have to change the oil each and every day after use, like you might with a home fryer. In fact, depending on how many batches you do each day in your commercial deep fryer, you may go through all the oil and actually have to add more to it.

Typically, if you do 50 large batches of food, such as fries in a commercial deep fryer, you would be short four pounds of oil. This is because some of the oil from the fryer does absorb into the food, even if you drain it. Let's say you started your day with a fryer that holds 20 gallons. After fifty batches, 1/5th of your oil would be gone and need to be replaced.

Shortening comes in tubs or bricks and quickly melts down to a liquid for frying purposes. Using shortening in commercial deep fryers used to be very popular because once the shortening melts down, it can last from 200 to 300 hours-2-3x as long as oil. This means you get just as many batches out of it without it having to be changed as often. Shortening is not used as much now, however, because it is so high in fat and calories. Now, most restaurants opt for healthier fry oils like vegetable, canola, and the like. Which type you would use in your commercial fryer would depend on what you are frying and if you are trying to save fat and calories or not.

Answer 2

Yes, you can use shortening to deep fry french fries.

Answer 3

Beef dripping