Snack makers must understand how a specific potato chip, pork rind or cheese will react during the frying process before selecting investing in a new system.

To figure out the best option, start by answering some key questions, suggested James Padilla, Heat and Control’s director of product development and processing.

For example, when do the snacks become buoyant? Will the products expand or reduce from their original sizes during the frying process? If the snacks touch, will there be a negative impact on frying, resulting in undercooked areas or marriages? Will the products need to be held back during the frying process or can they be captured between two belts? Are there any particular shape or “curl” requirements for the finished items? Will the frying process create a lot of fines? Will the products need drain time as they exit the fryer?

Padilla added that the answers will dictate the fryer’s internal configuration requirements. The system may require a submerging and main conveyor.

Another may have paddles followed by an immersion belt or a submersion conveyor with or without positioning flights. Other systems like specially designed belts create contoured snacks.

Meanwhile, a free-fry section in the kettle’s infeed allows snacks to fall directly into the oil or into an infeed belt to prevent products from dropping into oil that may create product distortion. Snacks may even require flipping while other processes require a sediment removal conveyor to get rid of fines from the bottom of the kettle.

He recommended that snack makers consider the amount of heat required during the frying process. A potato slice contains more than 90% water while some starch pellets only have 8% to 12% water content with many other snacks falling somewhere in-between. The frying process varies for each of them.

Monitoring water content is critical because the higher the product moisture content, the greater the heat load on the system, said Doug Kozenski, sales manager, process prepared, processing sales at Heat and Control.

“Heat load is a critical consideration when determining what type of fryer to select,” he pointed out. “It is best to collaborate with the fryer supplier to discuss the product in detail, taking into consideration pre- or post-frying characteristics and any nuances that may take place from when the product enters the fryer to when it exits.”

To better control production, sensor technology has improved for measuring temperature, oil level control and flow applications, as well as for monitoring the fryer environment of heat, moisture and corrosion during the boil-out process, said Daniel Luna, director of processing equipment for PPM Technologies.

All these sensors influence quality, and temperature level controls can reduce waste.

“We have switched from troublesome float devices and other older technologies to improved digital technologies, both analog and fixed sensor, unaffected by fines in the oil and able to withstand the higher temperatures involved in the frying process,” he said.

In certain applications, he added, PPM Technologies uses multiple temperature sensors, then averages the temperature readings with a PLC.

Operators can now monitor moisture and oil readings during production using near infrared technology. They may then check their frying processes and make changes, when needed.

This article is an excerpt from the May 2024 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Frying, click here.