One of our readers started a new job as a cook in a large public school kitchen.  He wanted to know what the right procedure is for cleaning a large commercial deep fryer and how he should drain the oil out.

How Do I Drain Oil Out Of A Large Commercial Deep Fryer?

While the specifics will vary depending on the fryer model, the procedure is basically the same for all commercial deep fryers.  First you will need to turn off the fryer and possibly unplug the cord from the unit.  Then after the oil has cooled down you should look for a drain near the bottom or sides of the unit.

Wondering when you should clean out your deep fryer?  Read our guide to see if you need to change your deep frying oil.

If you find one, then you can just drain the oil from there into a disposable container.  If there’s no drain then you will have to remove the oil from the reservoir.  Luckily, most of these reservoirs are removable so you can lift it out of the fryer for easy cleaning.

Pour or scoop out all the oil into a throw away container and scrape off any build up from the sides of the oil tub with a metal bench scraper.  You can then wash the metal tub with dish detergent and give it a good scrub.  It is important that you get rid of as much burnt on food and rancid oil as possible

Next you will want to dry it as much as possible and install it back into the fryer.  Hook up anything that you disconnected to take the tub out and refill it with fresh vegetable oil.

Cleaning A Professional Deep Fryer With A Foam Oil Cleaner

Alternatively, your kitchen may have a policy that they keep their deep fryers clean with a specialized deep fryer cleaner.  You would still need to drain out all the old oxidized oil, but you do not have to wash the inside of the deep fryer.  Instead you can just fill it up with water and the amount of foam cleaner that’s needed.  Then you just let the mixture sit and heat up on low heat for about 30 minutes to several hours.  The water will start to get foamy as it removes all the old oil.  Afterwards you can just drain out the dirty water and refill the deep fryer with clean frying oil.

Okay, so at the suggestion of a reader I’ve recently taken to deep frying enchiladas with my electric fryer.  I’ve chosen this model from Amazon, the 5466 model dual bin Presto profry for this task for several reasons.

First off, this electric fryer has a very deep body which means that there is enough oil to cover whatever foods I’m going to be frying.  Another thing I really like is that because there are two frying baskets I can deep fry in batches and not have to pause and go which makes it really easy to whip up large batches of food for my large family and for dinner parties.

I don’t know how many of you have experienced this, but I buy my enchiladas frozen either from my regular grocery store or from Trader Joes and such and they tend to come frozen.  A very big problem I often face is that my Electric Deep Fryer does not cook up each piece evenly so the outsides will be burnt while the inside with the filling is still frozen and under cooked. Fortunately, the 5466 has enough room for the oil to circulate while the food is cooking and this helps maintain an even cooking temperature.  I am proud to say that my enchiladas came out perfectly cooked this time both inside and out!  However, even though this fryer pretty much makes deep frying any food idiot proof you still have to use some common sense and not overload it…

I also like the cover that comes with the ProFry as it has air vents so you can use it to cover the unit and reduce oil splatter while you are cooking.  The wire baskets are also collapsible and easy to store which is a very important design since leaving the baskets in the oil when they are not being used will lead to rancid oil build up which is very difficult to clean.

My one gripe with this fryer is that you might need to have a meat thermometer unless you are used to deep frying foods and know what to look for to make sure that they are fully cooked.  However this should not be a big problem as meat and fryer thermometers are pretty cheap and only cost a couple bucks at the grocery store.

So even though I only tried to cook enchiladas with the ProFry, this is a good sized fryer for a variety of deep fried foods especially if you have to cook in large batches.

Click here to compare prices on the 5466 ProFry.

Electric Deep Fryer Review:

Presto GranPappy Electric Deep Fryer

What I Liked About This Presto Deep Fryer:

• Uses just six cups of oil to fry up to six servings at a time or larger foods like deep fry fish for two
• Fits easily on countertops, only measures 8 inches wide (the width of a piece of lined paper)
• Very quick temperature recovery time and keeps frying oil at the correct temperature automatically
• There’s no bells and whistles so the Presto GranPappyElectric Deep Fryer is a pretty idiot proof electric frier

What I Disliked About The Presto GranPappy Deep Fryer:

• The slotted spoon that comes with this Presto Electric Deep Fryer really doesn’t drain the oil that well and there’s no wire basket inside so you’ll want to get a wire skimmer like this stainless steel wire skimmer

(Click to see price and more reviews)