Efficient Frying: Henny Penny’s Guide to Using Less Oil

09/05/2024

Fried foods are some of the most beloved items on most restaurants’ menus. From fried chicken and mozzarella sticks to chicken sandwiches and French fries, these comfort foods are crowd-pleasers and money-makers. 

But here’s the catch: It’s getting more expensive to fry foods every year. 

In fact, the cost of edible oils in the U.S. has increased each year since 2018, and is expected to continue to do so through 2028.   

So what can restaurants do to keep serving their customers’ favorites while maintaining profitability? Continue to increase prices? Make less on each order as oil gets more expensive? 

At Henny Penny, we have another option: Improve efficiency. 

What if your restaurant could increase the quality of its fried foods while also using less oil per batch? That’s what Henny Penny equipment can offer, and here’s how your restaurant can maximize oil savings: 

 

The New F5 

One of the biggest difference-makers Henny Penny can offer is our newest piece of equipment, the F5 Fryer. 

The F5 was designed from the beginning with efficiency in mind. A low oil volume fryer with significantly reduced oil consumption compared to traditional fryers, the F5 improves efficiency in a variety of ways. 

Its oil management system and advanced frying capabilities extend the lifespan of frying oil, which means you can change the oil less frequently. 

It even automates that process with features like filtration and tracking alerts and automatic top-off. That means your staff can worry about one of the many other pressing issues in the kitchen rather than topping off and keeping track of when the fryer needs filtered next. The F5 will notify staff members when a vat needs to be filtered, and doing so allows the oil to last even longer. 

Using oil for a longer period of time will mean a drop in quality, right? Wrong. 

The F5 is specifically designed to extend oil life. It features easily enabled features like Melt Mode and Idle Mode to bring oil up to the proper temperature with less shocking heat and drop that temperature back down during breaks in frying. That streamlined — and automated — process is more gentle on oil, meaning your oil spends longer in the  and more time delivering the top-notch product you promise your customers. 

 

Prime Cleaner 

The F5’s advanced features will do wonders for your oil life. But if maximum efficiency is what you’re aiming for, you won’t want to stop with your equipment. 

The F5’s perfect partner is Henny Penny’s Prime Filters and Cleaners. 

Using a fine, tasteless compound, these products filter out harmful materials to combat the “enemies of oil” like contamination, oxidation, polymerization, hydrolysis and thermal decomposition. All of these elements contribute to shortened oil lifespan and a decrease in food quality. 

Prime Cleaner has 3 key benefits, which we like to call the 3 S’s: 

Soak 

A powerful soak option works for a quick cleaning or as an overnight soak, and allows for the same results as a deep clean. It eliminates fats, calcium, carbon and rust, making it easy to remove tough stains without damaging surfaces. 

Safety 

Using Prime Cleaner for your oil management system means that there’s no need for a vinegar rinse, reducing the risk of chemical contact, and is safe for employees to use. Regular use also helps keep your customers safe by eliminating uneven cooking and ensuring food is cooked to the proper temperature. 

Sustainability 

Many kitchens are working to be more sustainable, and we’re proud that Prime Cleaner works toward that goal by extending oil life, reducing oil expenses and reducing labor costs. Effective oil management maximizes your equipment’s useful life, making your back-of-house operations more sustainable. 

 

What They’re Saying

We know we’re biased about how great our products are, so don’t just take our word for it! 

Here is a sample of some of the feedback we’re hearing about the way the F5 and Prime products are saving our customers money and improving their efficiency. 

– “It’s an Energy Star-rated appliance, and every time the vat’s not being used, it goes into standby and we’re saving money. We’re able to keep the oil cleaner, and that’s saving us money on the oil. The maintenance guys who come in to work on the equipment are in and out quicker, and that’s saving us money on that bill. So in every way, the fryer is saving us a little bit of money.” 

– “We’re getting 16 to 18 days out of our oil now, whereas before we were changing it two or maybe three times a month. Just the increased profitability from that alone, over time, is worth the money.” 

– “The payback for one unit, I would say, is about four years. If I think about that, I’ve not seen equipment that pays itself back in such a short time.” 

– “Talking to our maintenance team, they really like how they’re able to get at least another day out of the oil for fries and two or three days in the protein vats. For me, as an operator with food costs, oil is one of our biggest expenses. So being able to do that and maintain great quality oil is key.” 

– “You’re looking at saving boxes and boxes of oil a month straight away. So if you look at that investment over the course of a year, that may pay off 25% of the costs of your vats just by doing the right processes with the new equipment.” 

– “Our culture is all about the fryers. It’s all about the shortening. If that’s not right, nothing else will be. Henny Penny Prime Cleaner helps us do that.” 

 

To learn more about the F5, check out the newest Henny Penny fryer here. 

And if you’re ready to see how Henny Penny can transform your operation, click here to schedule a demo and the Henny Penny in action.