A famous South American fried chicken chain wanted to take a closer look at our Collectramatic® Pressure Fryers. The owner had heard about Collectramatic but had never tested one. His purchasing manager pointed out our price compared to their current brand.
Our goal was to match their current process and texture and to reduce their maintenance costs. Their current fryer cost them a lot of time and money on maintenance.
Maintenance was a simple answer. However, the Collectramatic had more to offer against their current fryer:
- Only has a few moving parts that relate to pressure.
- Gaskets are simple to remove and clean.
- The fryer pot is round and does not have corners that are hard to clean and prone to cracking.
- Collectramatic fryers’ heating elements are immersed in the oil, resulting in faster recovery time.
- Fryers can fryer up to 20 batches of 6 heads of chicken (120 heads) without filtering. On the other hand, their fryer needed filtering after only four to five batches.
The South American Fried Chicken Test
We cooked a few rounds of South American fried chicken at our “normal” setting. Although the final color matched their website photo, the customer was looking for a much darker chicken.
Clearly, the big question was whether our Collectramatic fryer was capable of matching the South American fried chicken they were looking for? “I had confidence, but they have a unique process that I had not tried before,”, said Chef Barry.
First, the chicken was breaded and then refrigerated for a minimum of one hour before frying. In our test, the breaded chicken was loaded into a quarter rack basket, then placed in the refrigerator. On the other hand, they customarily breaded the chicken, placed it directly on a sheet pan, and refrigerated it. Later, they would hand drop each piece of chicken into the pressure fryer.
Now the big test! Having never had the opportunity to try their chicken beforehand, we had never tasted their breading or their chicken (secret stuff). We were ready! So Chef Barry set the Collectramatic to their setting of 350°F for 12 minutes and 30 seconds.
Amazing Results!
The breaded chicken was pulled from the refrigerator after one hour. Needless to say, the breading was fully set, as opposed to when you bread and place it directly into the fryer. We loaded the chicken in the fryer and started cooking.
In the meantime we waited patiently as the Collectramatic fryer went to work, uncertain how this breaded, refrigerated chicken would turn out.
After the buzzer sounds we pull the chicken. The chicken appears much darker than we are used to. We look at the customer to gauge his reaction. Nothing.
We then un-racked the chicken and let the customer dive in.
He begins pulling pieces apart, looking very closely at the breading, and studying the interior like a true fried chicken professional. Taking a knife, he cuts through the bone to examine the marrow. He grabs a thigh and takes a huge bite. Wait for it… “Perfect, now that’s what I’m talking about!”
We were still a bit skeptical about the dark color until we grabbed our first piece and took a bite. The exterior was dark, firm, crunchy with that old-school black iron skillet fried chicken look. It did not have a burned or overcooked taste. The interior was very juicy and very tender. It was absolutely amazing!
It is clear why this South American fried chicken chain has such a huge following.
So, the next time you are making fried chicken in our Collectramatic fryer, give this breading option a try. You will not be disappointed!
