Chef's Tips

Making oil last longer

Save money and improve food quality with these tips on looking after your oil.

Cooking oil is a foodstuff, therefore the cost of it is part of chef’s food budget. Unlike most other foodstuff however, customers don’t buy oil. It's a cost that is never paid back, making it vital to look after and care for what can be an expensive commodity. The other reason to look after your oil is the better the cooking medium, the better the food that is cooked in it. If you want to have the best quality fried food, it needs to be cooked in good oil.

Here’s our top ten tips to minimise oil costs without compromising food quality:

1. Always use good quality oil. You get what you pay for in this regard and quality oil will generally last longer and provide better results.
2. Before frying, ensure tank is clean and dry. Cleanliness is vital in a kitchen for obvious reasons while oil and water is a dangerous combination that can cause steam and potential burns.
3. Follow the manufacturer’s recommendation in terms of how much oil to be used. All Falcon fryers have lines marked C (cold) and H (hot). Oil expands when heated so only fill to the C line with cold oil.
4. When not frying, turn the control to a low temperature or even switch off completely during quiet service periods. Falcon fryers have fast recovery and heat up times so this won’t negatively impact upon your serving/cooking time.
5. Fry at the proper temperature. Different foods require specific frying temperatures. To ensure good food quality, while at the same time looking after your oil, apply the correct setting.
6. During frying, continually skim off any food debris floating on the oil surface.
7. Ensure anything to be fried is dry. For example, if chips were blanched in water or steam, ensure they are thoroughly dry before dropping in hot oil. Water and oil do not mix!
8. Filter oil as regularly as possible. Many Falcon fryers have inbuilt filtration which can be used up to an oil temperature of 175°C and only takes 5 minutes to do so.
9. Think before you fry. Some food items such a crumbed and battered products require more frequent filtering and skimming. Other foods such as sweet potato fries will taint the oil, which will affect food colour and overall oil quality. Avoid using frozen, pre-blanched starched products, such as fat potato chips or sweet potato chips
10. Keep fryer and component parts (elements, fry plate, baskets etc) clean and dry at all times.
11. When not in use, keep oil covered. This prevents oxidisation that breaks down the oil quality as well as minimising the possibility of foreign bodies (i.e. dust) entering the oil. Most Falcon fryers come with a lid supplied.

While many of these tips are straightforward and by making them a part of any frying regime, you will quickly notice your oil lasting longer, saving you money.

When looking to buy a fryer, if possible it is advisable to opt for one with inbuilt filtration. We've got over 20 different models with built in filtration across four different brands - Dominator Plus, F900, 400 Series and Infinity. The ability to regularly filter oil at the touch of a button will save any kitchen time, money and effort.