Choosing a Deep Fat Fryer

Here is something that you may not know if you are considering buying a Blue Seal fryer. All foods float in the top two inches of oil in a deep fat fryer while cooking, so this could mean that you have invested in a fryer which is too deep and which is using more oil, and also fuel, than necessary.

The industry-wide performance of a deep fat fryer – including the Blue Seal fryer – is usually measured in the number of pounds of chips per hour it can fry, which sounds sensible on the face of it. However, this could cause you to make the wrong decision, because almost no food outlets have a steady rate of requirements for chips per hour. In many fish and chip shops, and others as well, there is a huge burst of sales at lunch time, so chips per hour doesn’t allow for the fact that in the lunch hour you have to produce a far greater number of chips than at three in the afternoon.

Another point to consider is the type of chips you are frying, and the type of chips quoted in a manufacturer’s figures. For instance, the size of the chips can vary considerably, and also the frying times will vary according to whether you are frying frozen chips, fresh chips, chilled chips, blanched chips, and so on.

Then there is the question of whether to have a gas fryer or an electric one. You can get either a gas Blue Seal fryer or an electric one. Overall, electric fryers are a little cheaper to buy and suitable for anything up to mid volume requirements. If you are frying large quantities, especially chips, then a gas fryer will be more expensive to buy but will be cheaper to run. Operating costs should always be taken into consideration.

There are other factors to consider as well, such as the cool zone required by many gas fryers, and some electric ones as well. The best option – especially in a busy outlet, is to have two fryers – one for chips, and the other for everything else.

The Birth of the Espresso Coffee Machine

A Bezzera coffee machine is named after the Italian Luigi Bezzera who patented his espresso machine in 1902. In the 19th century, drinking coffee was extremely popular in Europe, but the actual process of brewing a cup was time-consuming and laborious, taking five minutes for a cup of coffee to brew, which could make life difficult for workers on their “coffee break”.

In order to speed up the process, in 1884 Angelo Moriondo patented a “new steam machinery for the economic and instantaneous confection of coffee beverage” which was the prototype of the espresso machine. Espresso is Italian for “fast”. However, Moriondo’s machine  could only produce coffee in bulk, and it was left to inventor and businessman Bezzera to produce the first machine that would force steam and hot water through ground up coffee into an individual cup thus reducing the brewing time from several minutes to 30 seconds or so.

The Bezzera coffee machine had several improvements over Moriondo’s machine which was created for the Turin Grand Exposition as a bulk brewer. In fact, not much is known about Moriondo after that and there are no machines still in existence. It was Bezzera who introduced the multiple brew heads, portafilter, and many other innovations that are still in use today.

However, Bezzera only built a few prototypes because he had neither the money to expand the business, nor any idea about how to market the machine, and in 1903 he sold his patents to Desiderio Pavoni who set about making further improvements, notably the pressure release valve which prevented the barista from being splashed with hot coffee. Bezzera and Pavoni worked together and introduced the Bezzera coffee machine to the world at the 1906 Milan Fair where they made cafee espresso.

Among the growing number of competitors to Pavoni was Pier Teresio Arduino who had a much larger workshop than Pavoni, and it was he who exported the machines to the rest of Europe. However, the machines that we have today were invented by Milanese café owner Achille Gaggia who managed to increase the pressure from only 1.5 bars to 8 – 10 bars and in so doing produced the crema that now floats on the surface.

Some Factors to Consider When Choosing a Bottle Cooler

Bottle coolers are an essential item for every pub and restaurant, and there is a choice of several different makes and sizes. One of the things that will help to decide what size of bottle cooler you have is simply the amount of space that you have in the backbar. If you do not have very much room the choice will probably be limited to a single door bottle cooler.

Of course, you can get a single door bottle cooler in a choice of heights, so if you have the space, a tall one with four, five, or even six shelves will hold the most bottles and allow you to display more types of drink than an under counter one. 

One of the most important things about a bottle cooler is that it has to be able to maintain a constant temperature and cope with the door constantly being opened and closed as bottles are taken out and stock replenished. It has to be tough enough to cope with the wear and tear that comes from the way that it is used, yet it also has to have a maximum amount of glass in order to display the products to best advantage.

Effective lighting is also an important factor for displaying the products and the overall aesthetics. A single door bottle cooler needs to look good behind the bar, and there is actually a noticeable trend today for operators requiring bespoke finishes to match the décor of the bar or restaurant, and in some cases the company branding. Another important factor is to have adjustable shelves so that different brands of drinks can be displayed. Bottle coolers should also have variable thermostats so that the operator can set the temperature to between 4°C and 10°C to suit the environment and customer preferences, and also take account of any specific requirements of the drinks themselves.

Of course, another factor is energy efficiency. You want a bottle cooler that has high insulating glass, and LED lights for maximum efficiency. You can also get bottle coolers with “wire on tube” condensers today which are not only highly efficient, but also virtually maintenance free, since it is almost impossible for them to be blocked with dust like conventional condensers.