How do you currently filter your fryer oil?

1. Oil not filtered at all. Some chefs do not filter their oil at all. This is reflected in the very poor quality of the food they produce. The food is a darker colour, it tastes burnt, and has black fragments of other burnt food on it. The oil quickly burns out and needs to be replaced within two or three days and the fryer itself deteriorates with a carbonising ring around it. Positives: No filtering costs, not time consuming. Negatives: Dirty oil, poor food quality, high oil consumption, costly oil 2.  Oil filtered by hand on location. Some chefs filter their oil themselves, in the kitchen. They are able to filter the fryers once or twice each day and it takes approximately 20 minutes for each filter. There is a high chance of getting burnt in this process because the oil has to be transferred hot to the filter or the waste drum. It is essentially filtered through a paper filter sitting in a colander. There is always an issue with spilt oil and slippery floors. Positives: Paper filters relitavely cheap, can be done by kitchen staff, reasonable filter quality Negatives: Dangerous handling of oil, risk of burn, risk of splashes on floor, risk of back injury, very slow 3. Oil filtered by kitchens’ own machine on location. Some kitchens have their own filter machine.  These machines always rely on paper filters which can only be used for one day before they are disposed of. The machines suck the oil through a paper filter which clogs up during the filtering of the second fryer. The first filter might take 15 minutes, and the second one twice that.  The machines are awkward to use and they are unable to transfer old oil from the fryer for disposal.  In summary, they are inefficient, very expensive to buy, cost on average one dollar per day for paper filters alone, there are power cords around the kitchen and they are a large unit that cannot be worked around. They also are unable to filter very hot oil, and the kitchen has to wait for the oil to cool down to filter, and then to heat up again to continue cooking. Positives: Good filter quality, faster than colander method, less chance of burn and back injury Negative: Still dangerous handling of oil, slow, expensive, powercords, oil has to cool down 4. Oil filtered by professional contractor. There are contractors who can go to kitchens to clean the oil on location. These contractors have very good machines, and they do a very good and safe job. The only problem is that they are expensive. It usually costs between $12 and $20 to filter a fryer, and most kitchens have two or three fryers. So, for a two fryer kitchen to have both fryers filtered three times a week at $15 per filter, it will cost $90 each week. Positives: Very good filter quality, fast, safe (for kitchen staff) Negatives: Expensive, rely on external contractor

Could the CFM be a better option for you? 5. Cordless Filter Machine hired by kitchen  The CFM can be hired by kitchens for $38.50 (inc GST) per week. The machine filters the hot oil through long lasting (12 months) polymer filters. The oil is then pumped back into the fryer. This process takes approximately three minutes and the fryer has only lost 20 degrees in temperature, allowing it to get back to cooking heat quickly. The machine is cordless and it is a sealed unit. The dirty oil flows directly from the fryer valve into the machine where it is filtered and pumped back into the fryer. The risk of burns and back injury are very very low. The machine can filter a large number of fryers several times a day each. Food quality improves and oil consumption drops the more regularly oil is filtered. If the machine breaks down, it can be replaced very quickly at no extra charge. Positives: Safe, fast, economical, reliable, high food quality, low oil consumption and costs  Negatives: Staff fight over filtering the oil, leaves nothing for staff to complain about