Importance of Filtration

How Important is Oil Filtration?

In the following paragraphs the use of the word oil is taken to mean any vegetable cooking oil, liquid or solid along with any animal fats (Beef dripping etc.)

In the fish and chip trade we all know the benefit of frying in fresh clean oil. We can have the finest quality potatoes, the best fish available, the most up to date shop with the very latest frying equipment and excellent well trained staff. However if our oil isn't kept clean and fresh we are wasting our time because every pound that comes across our counter depends to a large extent on the quality of the oil in our pans.

From the moment you start to use your oil it starts to break down for a number of different reasons i.e. oxidisation, high temperature, moisture etc. However the biggest single cause of oil breakdown is the formation of carbon particles during the frying process.

All carbon starts out in life as batter scraps, chip scraps and breadcrumbs etc. Initially these are removed by skimming with a fine mesh sieve but unfortunately as you carry on frying, the particles you don’t remove carry on breaking down and getting smaller. Initially they fall to the bottom of the pan as carbon dust which is now too small to be picked up with the skimmer. It needs to be removed at this stage otherwise it carries on getting smaller until it is suspended in the oil making it cloudy. The oil then gradually loses colour and body, goes dark and starts to foam.(Oil change please)

This is where the filter machine becomes invaluable. There are a few different machines on the market, each one doing a similar job. However the best one by far is the Merlin Top-Fry, manufactured by a company called Merit Filtration. It’s a well made, top of the range piece of equipment which has the added advantage of secondary filtration through a Super Pad, bringing clarity back into dull used oil. A good quality filter machine depending on the model it will cost between £1400.00 and £2000.00 dpending on the model. This may seem a lot of hard earned cash but they are worth every penny. Your investment will be returned to you time and time again both in savings and reputation through improved quality. If that seems too expensive we usually have a few used or re-conditioned machines available.

The machines use a disposable viscous rayon filter in conjunction with our new single pass Superpad to remove the fine particles on a daily basis before they become suspended in the oil. With good oil management along with freshening due to your normal top up procedure and filtering daily, your oil will stay fresher for longer. At least 50% longer and in some cases you will find you never need to change your oil again. The savings are self evident, so is the vast improvement in the quality of your product.

Please feel free to call us on 01325 377189 or email us if you have any questions or if you would like a filter demonstration in your own shop.