Having spent 35 years frying in beef dripping, Colin Cromar was keen to find a frying medium that was easier to work with than solid fat. He hit on liquid vegetable oil, which had the added benefit that his takeaway, The Fish Hoose in Thornton, Kirkcaldy, would appeal to vegetarian customers too.
After a quick stint on a wholesaler’s own label, Colin moved over to Frymax Liquid Oil for its ease of use, longevity and stability. Colin explains: “I was really looking for something that was easier and safer for me and my staff to work with. Naturally your frying medium gets splashed everywhere and when you’re using fat it goes solid and is difficult to clean up. Frymax Liquid Oil is easy to use, it’s better for my frying range because there’s no risk of it solidifying in the pipes, and it can be filtered in the morning when the oil is cold, which is safer for my staff.”
Available in two 10 litre bottles, Colin likes the bottle sizes which are easier to lift and pour oil into the pans.
As well as being more user-friendly, Colin has found Frymax Liquid Oil performs better than the oil he was using previously, giving a longer lifespan.
“I certainly get a good fry life out of it,” he adds. “I fry my fish at 177°C and my chips I blanch at 140°C and finish at 180°C, and the oil stands up really well to those temperatures. I’m only open from 4-8pm at the moment but I would say I get about 12 working days before I need to change it. A busier shop, doing more hours would probably get even longer.”
A premium quality oil, Colin looks after it well, ensuring it is filtered every day, and that the pans are wiped over before clean oil is returned. He also skims the oil after each fry and, when working through a busy shift where he’s unable to drop the pans because the oil is too hot, he removes the crumb filter and replaces it with a fresh one.
“You have to look after your oil,” he adds. “It’s not a cheap commodity. I always move the oil along before dumping it so it goes from my fish pan to the blanching pan to the finishing pan. And I never put in 100% fresh oil because the food will come out very pale for the first two or three fries so I keep a tiny bit of the old oil in the pan to give it some colour.”
Frymax www.frymax.co.uk
