Cleaning Deep Fryers

Well, it was time to clean the deep fryers. Yes, I said fryers as in plural, as in we own two. One fryer isn't enough when you want to have people over for a deep fry night. And yes, we still have a little while before we move, but I don't like to leave everything until the last minute, and cleaning the deep fryers is a big job I wanted to have out of the way. So, a few tips:



1) I only recommend the kind of deep fryers that come completely apart and have a stainless steel shell like this one. The kinds that you can't take the lid off and take the basin out to clean are worthless, don't buy them. If you do in a few months you'll be throwing it out because you can't stand how you can't get it clean.



2) Obviously wait until the oil in the fryer is completely cool. Remove the basket and set aside.



3) Pour the oil into some sort of container you can throw away. I usually save the bottle the oil came in and pour the used oil back in that. A gallon milk jug also works great. But really anything will work, just something you can throw away. DON'T PUT THE GREASE DOWN THE DRAIN. Then put the container full of oil in the garbage.



4) After you've drained the oil, you'll want to scrape the residue that's usually in the bottom of the fryer (especially if you fry a lot of battered or breaded foods). I usually use my Pampered Chef nylon scraper, but anything like that would do, just as long as it's not sharp. Scrape the residue off into the garbage (or onto a paper plate which you can then throw in the garbage). Again, you don't want this stuff going down your sink, unless you want a plumber's bill later.



5) Using your kitchen sprayer, spray out the basin, lid and shell of the deep fryer. Now spray everything (including the heating element, but avoid the electrical housing/box) with Dawn Power Dissolver and let it sit for awhile, even overnight. The next day use a scrubbing brush and a sponge and scrub down all the parts. All the cooked-on grease should scrub off without too much effort. For really heavy build up, you might need to do a second treatment with Power Dissolver.



6) Now put the basket & lid in the dishwasher. Wash the basin, shell, and heating element with Dawn Direct Foam (works so much better at cutting grease than regular dish soap) and rinse thoroughly. Sometimes there may still be some cooked grease droplets on the stainless steel outer shell. You can use a brillo pad to get those off, washing again afterwards. Drip dry. Wipe down the electrical housing/box with a soapy rag, then again with a clean rag to rinse. Let air dry.

7) Once all parts are dry, put fryer back together, and you're done.