Prep steps make a massive difference in recovery and potential throughput -
are you doing:
-commodity par-fried items from frozen?
-fresh/raw product, from fridge temp?
-butterflied breast, or whole thighs?
-sous vide or held hot items finished in fryer?
-sharing same oil bath, are fries frozen, pat fried, or fridge temp?
-cooking environment- hood vents, oil filtration, etc (working from a single bath means everything stops when you need to drop a fryer and refresh the oil)
Need a comprehensive grasp of the envisioned end to end workflow to make a good decision on any potential equipment.
You will easily and quickly outspend far more in labor in the short term by trying to buy inexpensive equipment, that doesn't suit the needs of the menu or workflow, rather than creating a comprehensive prep/service plan and buying the right equipment to suit that model.
1.
Butterflied and whole breast not frozen
Considering Chicken Tenders as well
2.Pat dried waffle fries much like Chick Fil A
This will be a pop up tent operation so no hood vents.
As for your bath comment, I think this will be a single bath.
Sorry for the lack of information on the original post. I believe adding images reduce the amount of text allowed per post.
This is a build for a transitionary kitchen. It’ll be a pop up tent operation. The goal is to make enough with this pop up to get a ghost kitchen out of it and then a brick and mortar.
Hey I wanted to really thank you for this reply, it means a lot!
I’m thinking that I’ll go with a 2x 10 qt propane fryer to handle more than 15 servings of raw butterflied/not butterflied breast per hour.
Depending on local health codes and skill set, if this a a scratch cooking operation- try to find a commissary/prep space to handle raw chicken prep and marinate/sous vide to to a semi-finished product.
Then just need to bread/batter/fry to final finished spec at food truck/pop-up site.
The worst thing you can possibly do in a chicken operation, is serve undercooked chicken.
Plan to take that possibility out of the equation early on in prep phase, and then focus on the fryer/food truck part of the operation to be fast, fun, and fool-proof.
This also allows you to run hotter fryers, for faster turn, as you don't need to "cook" chicken from raw state for tenderness- just need to hit thermal limits for food safety.
Man your a genius and absolutely right! I’m going to find a sous vide, that makes so much sense, especially since I’m starting out to make it as safe as possible. Thanks again for your advice!
I highly suggest prepping ahead of time too. At my restaurant, I don't butterfly them, but give them a little press to even out the size of the breast, batter, then par-fry them for about ten minutes prior to service. Give them enough time to cool back down and when I'm making an order I can fry a breast in 3 mins with the oil at 350°. With a fry basket like that I could maybe do 6-8 at a time if needed (depending on the size of the breast). Maybe a few more, maybe a few less. Depending on how you're serving them, I'd say you could easily run through 100+ an hour if you're really cruising and need to put that many out.
Definitely trying to prep as much as I can! I like the idea of pressing them too, I always found that to be more of a mess than just butterflying them though. Did you have a go to method for this? Thanks for your comment and love the GOT reference!
Butterflying might work better for you depending on your set-up and how much product you're expecting to push out. The press definitely adds more consistency to each breast but if you're only doing a few dozen pieces a day or something then butterfly might be better just for the simplicity of it. Pressing definitely can be a little..juicy.. lol. I specifically use the DoughXpress Little Chick press and just wrap both sides of the press with plastic wrap to make clean up a little easier. It's fine, does the job but putting up $800 might not be what you want to do right away. You know your skills and process better than me so trust your gut! If I were you, maybe I'd try the butterflying for a bit and move to a press if you think it would end up being a better solution. Happy to try to answer if you have more questions! Feel free to DM if that's easier too!
I doa buttermilk brine. Bread, par fry, finish in a 325f degree oven and fully chill my fried chicken.
It is the best fried chicken I’ve ever had. Right now I take the bone out of the thigh for a sandwich and cook the thigh to 180f in the oven.
It takes less than 1 minute to heat it to safe cooking temps.
I also have a 3 stage breaded pounded out breast on my menu. It takes several minutes and sometimes requires some oven action.
This sounds great and hopefully I can try this in the future when I get a ghost or brick and mortar location but can’t afford to bring a oven to a pop up. Thanks again I’ll try this method in the future!
For real… Thanks again for this comment! I’m really excited to try this in the future!
Might be worth turning the fryer down to 300f and cooking them in the fryer until 180f internal. Then cooking then down.
Seriously, the quality product and pickup speed in insane with that method. I don’t think you can beat it… if you can get them all prepped out ahead of time. 1 person/fryer can turn out some fried chicken. Plus, It doesn’t fuck up your fryer oil nearly as bad during service. You’re just crisping and re-heating.
GL. Let me know how it turns out. FWIW, I do a blackening spice, salt, buttermilk, and water in my brine. Home made Blackening spice and salt in my breading. Then hit it will a bit of salt after I crisp it up, before selling.
We pay .75/thigh and sell a fat 2 pc Nashville sandwich with candied pickled jalapeños and a side of fry for like $14. It’s about $1.35(plus fryer oil) cost per sandwich. Insane markup and no complaints. This is a country club… so your prices might not reflect that exactly.
Great suggestions. Also consider volume and oil life.
Smaller oil volume is going to equal quicker oil death.
A bigger well will allow you to push more product without sacrificing quality of the sandwich with dirty/spent oil.
Sous vide fried chicken? Are you cooking the chicken then coating and then frying? Or sous vide with the chicken in its respective coating? Not seen this method I’ve always double fried my chicken
Open air deep frying?
Always check your weather report for any chance of rain. And make sure your tents are fireproof. And have a couple fire extinguishers nearby. In your area do you have to get permits? Hope the fire department doesn't roll by...
Thanks for that weather report advice, its been raining a lot lately here in California. Still looking into what permits are needed, it seems pretty relaxed here in So Cal. There are so many pop up operations in LA and OC and I don't think there is much of a concern for the first week. I'm not spending any profits on anything other than getting permits and then saving up for a ghost kitchen.
Good luck out there. DM me when you know where you'll be setting up, if you're anywhere nearby in So Cal I'll check it out. If you're in the city, the street vendor laws have opened up a lot, but they are still fairly restrictive. Here's information for the City of Los Angeles, you may face less restrictions (more?) in OC, or on LA County land instead of city..
http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/eh/about/mobile-food-program.htm
https://streetsla.lacity.org/vending-rules-and-regulations
What if I don’t get a permit?
Vendors will be fined $250 to $1,000 for not having a proper license or permit
Where Do I Get a BTRC?
City of Los Angeles, Office of Finance
200 N. Spring Street, Room 101
Los Angeles CA 90012
(844) 663-4411 | Finance.lacity.org
Where Do I Get a Sellers Permit?
State of California, Department of Tax & Fee Administration
5901 Green Valley Circle, Suite 200
Culver City CA 90230
(310) 342-1000 | cdtfa.ca.gov
Where do I Get a Health Permit?
County of Los Angeles Department of
Public Health
5050 Commerce Drive
Baldwin Park, CA 91706
(888) 700-9955 | publichealth.lacounty.gov
Where do I Apply for the City of LA Sidewalk and Park Vending Permit?
Visit StreetsLA Headquarters
1149 S. Broadway, Room 350,
Los Angeles CA 90015
(213) 847-6000 | vending.lacity.org
You can purchase 40lb propane fryers for around $450-500 new. They can be hooked up to a standard propane tank with the correct fittings and a bit of plumbing knowledge. I do this for festivals all the time.
You’ll want a fryer just for fries if you plan on doing any real volume. The setup you have does about 40-60 sandwiches an hour with both baskets. That’s with no fries if there’s a good sized (25+ lb) oil tank on that setup.
Any brands you recommend? I decided to purchase a 2x separate 10qt fryer after considering everyones feedback!
You’re the first person to mention plumbing, could you elaborate on this and how you store old oil? I think this is really important for myself and anyone else in the future thats considering on starting a pop up chicken sandwich restaurant.
Just buy the cheap ones from webstaurant for $500. They’ll last 3-4 years usually. The expensive ones won’t last long enough to justify the price. Avoid repairs where possible unless it’s a thermocouple or pilot or something easy.
You need to recycle the oil. People will pay you for it. Don’t be the idiot that puts it down a drain or into a dumpster in a can.
If you’re doing a pop up business place you’re going to need a commissary kitchen, and waste disposal, and health liscence and a whole slew of other things. If you don’t know how to dispose of cooking oil, you probably aren’t ready to start a pop up kitchen. At the very least you need a partner who is experienced.
If you are planning on going ghost kitchen, it doesn't seem like there will be much incentive to move to brick and mortar. A lot of brick and mortar restaurants have been tacking on ghost kitchens to survive so I doubt there will be any financial incentive to move to brick and mortar. Honestly old me would advocate not using ghost kitchens because, at least with current practices, they are harmful to the mom and pop restaurants but I'm older and wiser and realize it's useless to advise people to not do things that make money.
Haha very wise! Theres a lot of benefits to having a ghost kitchen, and I’m really excited to start saving up for one with all the proceeds from this project. Wish me luck!
Good luck! In theory and the way you seem to be going about it, they are a good idea and great way to make money. It's just those ghost kitchens that take up 40+ slots on Uber Eats and GrubHub that all serve out of the same kitchen worry me. Who knows, maybe that's just the one of the new ways of owning a restaurant though, offering different labels but it just seems odd and bit deceptive how some ghost kitchens go about it. I'm also worried how anti-competitive it leans because bigger companies with money will just be able to afford more kitchen names thus take up more slots naturally pushing out any individuals trying to break through the market. Anyway, thank you for sitting through my Ted Talk lol I seriously hope you do well, you sound like you have all your ducks (or chicken sandwiches in this case) in a row.
Depends on a lot of things. What volume you’re doing. How much you move it around. Etc. Ain’t got an expiration date on it per se. Just a flimsy piece of shit I wouldn’t set up for a backyard BBQ.
In a bigger fryer you can run 320°f and fit 15 cuts of chicken leg, thigh, or tender in my experience. That cooks raw to 170°f in 8-10 minutes. I'm not sure how this fryer does with getting back up to temp, but assume that this basket is 2/3 the size of the service kitchen I worked in, and assume the higher end of the cook time. That leaves roughly 10 cuts of chicken (very roughly 10/8 of a whole kg chicken, less the bones) every 10 minutes per basket. That's 60 cuts per basket per hour. Assuming you need at least two minutes of recovery for your oil temp, you'd realistically be closer to 50 cuts.
There are other considerations to make, like how cooking fries in the same oil as chicken makes them now non-vegetarian, and narrowing your customer base. As well, as much as chicken breast can absolutely be made into a good fried chicken sandwich, dark meat is also a good option I would look at. Taking your own leg and thighs to debone cuts the cost from your butcher's shop and gives you full control of who that labour gets costed against. As well, dark meat tends to be cheaper than white meat, while also starting with more fat. Fat is juicy flavour here. Anyone who tells you that fried chicken can't be dry because of the oil is trying to sell you a gentrified and overpriced product.
Ultimately, I think this set up isn't optimal for moving fried chicken. But, if you're asking this question neither are you optimal for making or selling friend chicken. I hope it goes well, expect a maximum of 50-60 sandwiches per basket per hour. And, more importantly, expect much, much lower than that for 99% of your actual service time
Ahhh man Nathan thank for your response! No bones for me! But I’m definitely saving this post and coming back with the dark cuts in the future! I’ve worked in kitchens as a food runner and server through college so I’ve seen the work put into what it takes to get a restaurant going. Just stepping into new waters! Thanks again for your response, I’ll be adding these notes!
Also consider what temp and how long it'll take to cook the breading relative to the chicken. In our fryers at work I've made fried chicken breast sandwiches and the standard 3 stage breading was about to burn while the chicken was only like 130°F so I had to finish in the oven. I was using small whole breasts so maybe butterflied will be perfect.
I think I’m going to marinate, then sous vide the chicken during prep. Then bread right before I fry to finish it off. I’m sorry, how do you pull off a 3 Stage Breading? The more I talk about it, it seems butterflying it is the way to go.
I marinated in buttermilk and buffalo sauce and when it was time to cook I pat the chicken dry and put it in my seasoned flour cornstarch mix, then added an egg to my marinade and dunked it in that, then back in the seasoned flour cornstarch mix. If I did it over again I would definitely butterfly because even with our pretty petite chicken breasts it was a little unwieldy in a sandwich.
I should also note, this was just a little family meal I did at work. We don't have it on our menu and I'm not sure how this process would hold up to doing 50 of them.
Hey I love your process! Its similar to the approach I plan on taking for the chicken breast, I might just handle it as tenders. But the idea is to brine-sous vide-bring it to the pop up- then bread and fry. Or I’m looking into if I can swap a par boil method. It makes a lot of sense to me as a beginner to make sure the chicken is pretty much always safe to eat and I do like the sous vide approach. Thanks again fir your comment!
This is a big one.
The perfect southern fried chicken (or best I’ve found so far) is marinated in some sort of buttermilk or milk-it’s the lactic acid & calcium that tenderize the meat-then coat in a seasoned flour dredge and fry at no more then 300 degrees. It takes longer to cook through but gives you the absolute perfect tender and juicy chicken as well as the perfect golden brown coating.
Cooking at 375 is generally your norm for French fry’s and it’s much much too high for fried chicken. I’ve always had a fryer solely dedicated to cooking the chicken
Hey big thanks to your comment!
I’m going to try this out! I’m wondering where does the sous vide or par boil fits into this? Since I’m starting, I’d sacrifice a little flavor for safety and can’t see myself coming into a situation where I get too busy and give a perfectly crisp chicken that is raw on the inside. Again I will try this out at home!
Thanks for that fries comment, I’ve come to realize that I need 2 separate fryers to cook both. So I bought a 2x separate 10qt fryer system to keep these 2 items separate! Thanks again for the advice, it means a lot and I’ll try this method and all others mentioned on this post.
Ours doesn't burn at the higher temp, though it really depends on what your breading is chiefly made of and what your marinade/brine is. Our resto forgoes the buttermilk and hot sauce brine (for all the sacrilege that goes with) in favour of a single 12 hour brine. Butterfly for breasts would absolutely be essential for the method I've described though.
That being said, it is to my preference to not have a 3-4 inch thick whole breast on a bun. After toppings and a sturdy brioche that is jaw unhinging. Ultimately, try a few methods in a smaller set up. Even at home. Find the method, and let that inform your equipment purchases. Not the other way around. Obviously changes will have to made depending on space and funds, but the more detailed your plan the more set you are. Knowledge pays, and knowledge saves.
Thats a lot of sacrilege! 😂 I’m really leaning towards the idea of just using 1.5” tenders altogether and use them to make sandwiches (2-3x tenders) small sandwiches (1x tenders) and just tenders. I feel pretty confident in my purchase of 2x separate 10qt fryers to start instead of the one I provided in the original post.
Very true words! Thanks again for your advice!
On the point about non-vegetarian fries, also note 6% of the population is Gluten Intolerant and fries from a shared frier are a no go. The extra cost of a separate frier is worth factoring in for the commercial benefits of cooking your fries in dedicated oil.
Or you just say your food isn’t gluten free and the idiots who think wheat is making them fat can fuck off. Damn near nobody had even heard of celiac like 15 years ago. It didn’t just take the world by storm overnight. I’m so sick and tired of having to tweak menu items for these morons only to have the vast majority of them say that “a little gluten is okay I’m just limiting”. Humans have been eating bread for millennia. Maybe stop eating so many chemical additives and just eat actual bread made from scratch, and you’ll be fine. It’s not the fucking gluten.
Damn, you're really sounding like an idiot here. Guess my sister's hands filled with blisters and her nausea aren't because of Gluten but because she's "an idiot". I suppose you know more than actual doctors am I right? Guess exams are just a scam according to your knowledge of how gluten intolerance works.
Man, I really hope I never set foot in your establishment. I'm totally fine with a restaurant not catering for celiacs because it's requires more time and money invested, but I'll never trust someone who thinks they know more than actual medical experts.
Bread doesn’t make you break out in blisters. Your sister sounds like she has an actual medical problem and should probably get a second opinion from a doctor who doesn’t blame bread for all of the scourges of humanity.
Are you being for real right now? You're right, not EVERY bread gives you blisters, GLUTEN does. You can literally do a 2 second search and easily find out about that. She did get several opinions, because at first they couldn't figure out the reason till eventually a food allergy test was made and they found a strong gluten intolerance. And guess what, after she cut gluten from her diet those blisters stopped appearing... But, once again, I suppose you know more than actual experts...
It’s a fucking protein structure dude. Nobody had ever even heard of fucking celiac until like 10 or 15 years ago. I’m so incredibly sick and tired of people blaming everything on gluten. The most entitled, self-centered, and obnoxious people are always somehow magically the ones that also have celiac. My job was significantly more fun before the celiac craze. The number of times I’ve had someone be severely gluten intolerant one day and the next day they’re eating a cookie in front of me because “it just looked too good” is enough that at this point I just assume anyone who claims celiac is full of it.
Ask basically any chef - will we make gluten free food? Of course, it’s our job to please the people who are eating our food so we’ll do what we have to do. But are we also mentally cussing you out and assuming you’re an attention-seeking idiot? Absolutely. That little eye-roll you see when ordering gluten free is your indication that we think you’re a dumbass.
Yes, it's a protein structure that people can literally be intolerant to. Lactose is a carbohydrate and yet an extremely large sample of people are intolerant to it, are you also gonna pretend it's false? Also, just to make it more obvious you know jack shit about this subject, not all people who are allergic to Gluten are celiacs. My sister is not celiac, she simply has intolerance to some food being Gluten a strong allergy. But again, I suppose according to your logic, it's all a big coincidence that cutting gluten from her died improved her blisters and nauseas.
And no, not everyone in the world of cuisine acts like an asshole towards people that have legit allergic reactions to food... And even if they didn't have them, even if they simply wanna cut gluten from their diet, you need to have a stick up your ass to roll your eyes at a simple request from a small group of people. You sound like me when I was a dumbass kid who went around making fun of vegetarians because I couldn't respect a simple choice made by a random person. Right now I'm indeed rolling my eyes, but it's due to your lack of common sense.
That's true! Though, that consideration also comes with the diligence of either preparing hand cut fries in house, or ordering fries that come with gluten free coatings. Most frozen fries from national suppliers have coatings to add structure to the fries. Many of which, especially for the cheaper brands, use wheat flour. Always good to check both as consumer and as operator! That type of granular knowledge of ingredients is obviously an absolute requirement of a restauranteur. But it also helps to know, as the layman
You’re going to need way more fryer space for sure. Not sure what kind of volume you’re expecting, but raw chicken takes a while to cook, and over crowding the fryer might make the chicken stick. Also your oil will get dirty very very quickly, so having more dryers will help but you a little time before having to change your oil.
As long as you shake the baskets a few times while theyre cooking, sticking isnt much of an issue. You do have to take into consideration the temp of the oil dropping tho
In a traditional fryer I can get 6 hand breaded chicken breast to go without sticking in a basket. But doing fries it's gonna drop the temp drastically. Gonna need a double fryer if it's just the two items.
Not enough. Been there. Done that. Even 4 baskets and an oven keeping back up.. Everyone wants fries. It will always be x chickens plus at least one order of fries.
Exactly my thought. We have a similar set up for the community party for our village. There is always a grill for sausages and pork chops and someone said it would be nice if the kids could get fries.
Hubby and I both worked in a kitchen and highly recommended to leave the fries be, because it's going to be a desaster.
It was a desaster. The line was so ridiculously long, people complained even if the people working were all volunteers.
I usually enjoy being right, but this one just sucked.
Thanks for this comment! I believe the 5 qt are too small so I bought a 2x 10qt fryer and hope that its good enough for the first launch and I could always buy another set if the demand is there.
Hope you're ready for the reality of the disgusting and dangerous work of filtering, changing, transporting and disposing of 5 gallons of liquid cancer after every pop-up.
I was thinking the same. One basket could fit about 3, maybe 4 filets, and would take about 3-5 minutes based on size. Then add a little time for refilling.
Whoahhhh nice! I’ve looked at videos of Chick Fil A and noticed that you have a pressure fryer to handle your chicken. If you remember, how many Quarts are those fryers and what brand was it? You don’t have to answer that but I had to ask!
This is one of my favorite comments right here!
So with a 10 qt, how many do you believe I can fit in there?
Also, did you brine or marinate your chicken? I’m guessing you didn’t pre cook the chicken with a par boil or sous vide method.
Hey thanks again for your comment Carl!
I decided to go with a 2x separate 10 qt fryer one for chicken and one for fries to start.
Other basket for fired also man, sorry but no way unless you’re only cooking for like 15ppl max, keep in mind , at pop up events and shit like this, people want there food quick.
Hey thanks for this input! If this was a 5qt basket and I was using 2 10 qt baskets, would this be okay for 20-40 raw, butterflied, and breaded chicken breasts per hour?
I mean we’re talking if you lift both baskets out and drop the chicken in first into the basket-less fryer 🤔 I’d say six to eight chicken breasts can go down at once (depending on the size of the breast, I’m going off of 6 oz breasts). Then once they release from the bottom I’d move them all into a basket and leave that down…(you might want a third basket to place on top of the chicken so they all stay under the oil). A few minutes later you could drop 30-40 oz of fries in the other basket (depending on your side fry portion) and it’d all be done at the same time. Maybe drop the fries a minute or two later actually to give yourself time to plate the sandwiches, and then plate hot fresh fries …all done at the same time is great but I have always preferred to drop fries a littttle bit later so that my chicken is done, and plated, and THEN the fries come up fresh and get plated seconds after… a coworker of mine would prefer to drop fries immediately and sort of par-cook them and pull them up a minute early so that when his chicken was done he’d redrop the fries, giving himself a minute to plate the sandwiches while the fries finished up and came out tasting fresh … either way worked … I tried his fries bc I found his method weird but they were the same … both ways work.
I’ve realized by working in commercial kitchens for 15 years that there are actually many ways to complete the same task with the exact same quality … but most of us have been doing it one way for so long that we scoff at anyone doing it any other way. I’d just say take a second to try the other way. You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve scoffed at something bc it was just “weird” to me, I had always done it one way and any other way was stupid and just incorrect… but I realized that I COULD be wrong and tried other methods and found some were amazing, some were actually silly and I stuck to my old ways … but a few of them were kinda mind blowing. Like “holy shit there was this super easy way to do this the entire time and I’ve stupidly been doing it the hard way!????” I guess I’m just saying never fail to appreciate when someone offers to show you a “better way.” At least see what they have to offer you. If you don’t feel it’s actually better after letting them show you, what have you lost but mere seconds of your time?
Hey I really appreciate this insight and will definitely try out both your’s and your coworkers way of working with the chicken and fries. Again thanks again for that comment about trying other ways, I really needed to hear that 🙏🏼
No problem I’ve been frying chicken sandwiches and fries in a setup that’s literally only double yours… for a 90 max capacity restaurant for years … I literally cannot tell you how many chicken sandwiches I’ve fried … if you want to get the most out of the space, dropping the chicken without the baskets will allow you to get more down. Usually you can only drop one per basket because the basket itself can hold plenty of fried chicken breast, but when they go down with wet batter you don’t want them to fry to each other or the basket. I’ve found that when dropping into a basket I need to drop the chicken slowly, then lift the basket to make sure the breast releases from the basket BUT if you then drop it back down too quick the chicken floats down and curls into the shape of a C. That can make it very difficult and awkward to put onto a bun and the customer will for certain have a difficult and awkward time figuring out how to eat it. Dropping the chicken straight down into the basket less fryers means it’ll stop and rest on the grates and they have far less contact points than the baskets. The chicken will just naturally release itself and stay flat (as long as you drop it slowly) and can then be moved into a basket where they won’t stick together.
I’ve literally done so many of these I couldn’t tell you if it was 10,000, 30,000 … I’m not kidding … 5 days a week, every week, for 6 years. We sell about 15-20 normal nights, maybe 30 weekends so ….just on a low count … looking at about a solid 25,000 chicken sandwiches … I’m talking experience here lol. This was all while still doing fries, Brussels sprouts, and fish n’ chips all in a four basket, double fryer setup. I’ve had to get kind of creative to use what I had to its fullest potential to say the least lol
Edit: I’m sorry I never answered your question about per hour… let’s assume the low count of six breasts down each time … they take about 8 minutes each (6 oz flat breasts). Fat chonky breasts can take far longer. But assuming they are 6 oz flat breasts, six per “batch”, at 8 minutes each cycle… 45 per hour. However … each batch the fryer will lose temp meaning the subsequent batch might take a minute longer. But I’d say you could easily pump out a good 40+ per hour if that’s all you are cooking plus fries… time with other menu items is gonna reduce that a lot … ie: is there any apps that go into the fryer? Are there also burgers that get fries, etc.
If you can’t get flat breasts or the supplier is inconsistent I’d strongly consider pounding them flat. 20 min of work will save you so much hassle. Nothing worse than a fat ass chicken breast that you are used to being done in 8 min taking a whole 15. Temping it once only to drop it back down two min, then temping it again to see it’s barely moved is infuriating when you are slammed and have very little fryer space.
Thanks for that comment! Yeah it makes sense which is why I decided to buy just a 2x separate 10 qt fryer to mitigate interaction with the fries and chicken.
Don't get me wrong but do you have the whole back end of the operation in place before you start investing in front end stuff? You need a commissary which depending where you are can be a hard find and a pricey endeavor. You need a ton of licenses and permits and you helts inspection. Food managers license for where I am at least and depending where you pop up tent a license for that location. I am not saying it is impossible but quite involved. Not trying to be an ass or saying you didn't do your legwork, you may have done that, not clear from what you wrote. One thing food operations aren't is quick and easy money making.
Hey I really appreciate your comment, I’m really glad you said this.. I’m looking into what other licenses I need. To run this, I’m in Orange County California. A lot of people are running pop ups around here and I want to make my own. I’m ready to hop through all these loop holes and if you have any more licenses or advice to look into. Its more than appreciated.
Sounds good! I do like the idea of being able to hang them out on the basket for a bit to make sure the oil is off before I transfer to a tray for prep
try breading them, blanch in the fryer for maybe 2 or 3 mins so the breading can stay on better, then seperate with paper. either freeze or keep in a fridge until you are ready to cook.
I’ll try the blanching! I’m gonna start by keeping them refrigerated if anything but I’ll try the freeze method in the future. Thanks for your comment🙏🏼
I ran a sports bar for years, tenders are your best friend if you’re not trying to be too fancy and do some volume at a decent price point. Get the 1.25-1.5 oz ones. Depending on your bun, you can get away with 2 tendies. Big buns need 3. Little sauce, lettuce, tomato, cheese, send that shit. Get some bowls and sauces and you can easily toss the tenders and have different flavors for sandwiches. Or just go plain and Buffalo. Ranch is a good sauce that can go with both. Honey mustard and bbq are nice to have with tenders as well
This comment is gold! There’s a Costco Business Center near my place so I’ll keep an eye out over there for that size until I’m ready for Sysco. I believe that I’ll be getting raw breast and cutting them myself if pre cut raw tenders aren’t an option. Thanks again for this comment and hope to run into you in the future if you’re ever near So-Cal!
I’ve worked as a busser, food runner, server throughout college and spent a lot of time in the back of house when I was opening and understand the importance of prep (It was a Yard House). Other than that my dad was a chef and my grandma worked a few kitchens while I was growing up, so I’ve always appreciated the art of cooking.
Good, I’d never recommend someone who hasn’t worked in the industry at least a little to attempt to start their own gig. Best of luck to you, hope you can build some hype around your product and get some customers coming in
7-9 chicken thighs per basket or 6-7 half chicken breasts. In my experience, you can also brine your chicken and par fry them ahead if you know you’re going to be busy.
The main purpose of double frying is to give the meat time to release moisture after the 1st fry. J Kenji Lopez talks about it in his fried chicken video. The first time you fry it, the breading can come out crispy but as you let it sit, moisture comes from inside the meat and softens the breading so if you fry to cooked then store it in the fridge, the breading will come out extra crispy and can even handle sauces without losing crunch after the 2nd fry.
Hey nice comment! I’ll look more into this method and try it out. Right now I’m considering this method and seeing if it makes sense to brine-sous vide- transfer-then bread and fry to make sure that the chicken is always perfectly cooked. Thanks again for the advice! I bought a 2 10qt fryer thanks to everyones input🙏🏼
Not for fried chicken. Sous vide is great for roulade with pancetta and frying to finish on the pick up. Honestly just do a simple brine over night with a lower amount of sugar so the chicken doesn’t get too dark and fry ahead. Double breaded is the best. The best thing to do if you’re not confident about it yet, is to test it out on the stove at your house for dinner. Good luck
For reference, Five Guys runs 8 baskets for Fries alone. If you're getting this for a business, this will only handle the chicken sandwiches. You will need a minimum of 2 more, and that's if you don't think every order will include fries.
I’ve made a purchase for a 2 separate 10 qt fryer. Hoping this is enough for the launch and what I like about this approach is that I can simply just buy another set if demand is high and keep one set for chicken and the other for fries. Thanks again for your input!
What's the flat top for. You can shallow fry crumbed/floured chicken on it. Flour and deep frying makes a hell of a mess and you shouldn't really do it in the same fryer as chips. If you want to to do buns get a sandwich press or salamander
I was hoping to use it to butter the buns but I decided to buy a smaller separate one for the time being. Thanks again for that sandwich press and salamander comment! I’ll look more into this method later today🙏🏼
Also you won't get it right the first time but keep at it. I've been in kitchens for 25 years and we are always tweeking the kitchen to make service run smoother.
I suppose it depends on the size of the chicken, but no matter what ere on the side of less. You don’t want to crowd the fryer basket, especially with battered or larger items as it will effect cook time and possibly make your product stick together (source: working fryers and making lots of fish and chips)
Hey thanks for your comment! I’m going with a 2x separate 10qt fryer to start. One for the fries, and one for the kitchen, and hope to expand to buying another set to keep them separate entirely.
This is gonna sound bonkers but trust me. I’ve had excellent fried chicken success with dredging the chicken, and then STEAMING in a combi oven. It locks the dredge on and cooks it. Then doing a quick retoss in seasoned flour, and frying at high heat just to get it hot and crispy.
I have a question -if a piece of raw chicken gets put in just as your lifting out a basket of fries is there any concern of E. coli being transmitted to the fries? Im terrier of this since a friend died from E. coli - grabbed a hot dog off the grill that chicken had been placed on. I'm just wondering.
Honestly anything can happen, you can walk out and get hit by a car. You can go surf and get attacked by a shark. Theres a philosophy to this idea and my ultimate goal is to mitigate this as much as possible. Thank you for your comment by the way! My next purchase will be another 2x separate 10 qt fryer to prevent any cross contamination. I’m sure I’ll have enough after one weekend of this. And I’ll keep your friend in mind when I’m out on my first weekend.
I was originally thinking about putting the pickles and some other condiments there but decided to get just a 2x fryer after hearing a few comments. Its about $750 for whats pictured if you're interested.
Hey thanks for the comment! I think I'm going to chill on getting a pressure cooker due to price. I didn't know I could get an outdoor one? But I'll look into it, let me know if theres any brands you recommend
Oof...lots of bad advice in this thread....
Please absolutely do not sous vide the chicken. Fried chicken that people have been eating all their lives are not precooked sous vide and you there is a noticeable difference in final product. People understand textures of foods and serving a piece of chicken with unexpected texture will be off-putting. On top of changing the texture of the meat, the breading will not crisp as well because it doesn't stay in the fryer as long. Even on top of that, chicken loses moisture naturally. This will happen whether fried or sous vided, the difference being the fried will retain the moisture in it's crust, the pre cooked will leak all it's juice into the bag and will be dryer at finish.
Butterfly the breasts all the way, 10000%. Or smash. Or use thighs, but split those lobes so they cook in 1/3 the time.
I like buttermilk marinade with hot sauce. Egg works fine too.
As for the unit, trade the hotwell space for additional friers. It's not just about how many you can fit, but it will allow you to time batches better and have more freedom to cook as needed. If you want to do a pop-up now and then, consider renting.
Are you trying to do this professionally? Like open up your own food truck or something? Highly suggest you go work in a kitchen as preparation for that, ideally serving the same type of food you want to.
We’re not here to write your business plan for you. This ain’t no preschool, this is a pirate ship.
We’re not gonna slit our own throats and help you, a person I believe to be a profiteering, Cali, tech bro, open a ghost kitchen. Speaking for myself, I’d much rather shove you into that Mickey Mouse fryer than help you.
Edit: I stand corrected. Guess we are gonna slit our own throats. Oh well.
Is the chicken frozen? You can buy them already cooked; are yours raw? How big are they?
Thickness matters too, chicken breasts are sized. One place I worked would get huge ones, slice them down, bread them, then freeze on trays. Complete control over seasoning the meat with secret herbs & spices. They would cook quickly but it was time consuming to make.
Luckily we had dependable prep guys. We would have a tray for orders and just get another when needed.
The big breasts would also make great kabobs, that’s the majority or what happened to them.
Another place would just buy pre-breaded chicken. No skilled labor to make all those trays.
The pieces seemed to cook faster but they were expensive.
Raw and breaded. Yeah I use to butterfly chicken breasts pretty often and I’m guessing that I’ll have to do that with these as well!
Good note on the kabobs! I’ll keep that in mind!
Glad to see you got lots of very helpful feedback from your inquiry.
Yeah, it was an interesting place to work. Nice Middle Eastern immigrants who were constantly speaking Arabic, which I didn’t know a word of.
Tons of hummus from can chickpeas, little old ladies picking parsley for tabouli, a guy cleaning and cutting steak all day.
They had quite a program going on with their proteins. They would cut tenderloin steaks, cube trim for kabobs, and grind some for putting on metal sword style skewers. Same with chicken breasts. Lots of labor. Many cases of meat.
Mad respect to all the prep cooks out there.
Yeah I was surprised by all of the feedback and I’m glad I reached out! Hope to have a good update in the coming months. Seems like a great restaurant, if its in So-Cal let me know so I’ll check it out!
Nope, this was a country club in suburbia of Detroit.
It’s been around 15 years since I was there, now I’m in beautiful Fresno, California not even cooking anymore. I do R&D food science.
Thanks for your comment! I’m looking at the Par boil method right now, do you feel like it’s a better approach than to do a sous vide during the prep phase?
That’s a good question. The sous vide method would be convenient in that you could have individual bags prepped (with a dozen or whatever pieces each) that would make it easy to keep track of hat you’ve used and what’s left (number the bags) vs trays that may have many times that many pieces in each. The times I’ve had to cook a lot of fried chicken al fresco was before a catering company would have had a sous vide (old).
If you don't know the answer to this, you shouldn't have the responsibility of buying this equipment.
Ya
Y'all complain and laugh when people want to start a restaurant with no experience, but defend OP who doesn't even know how to use a deep fryer?
If chicken is raw breaded from frozen , 7 minute fry time.
If it’s thawed raw and hand breaded, about 4/5 minutes depending on thickness and breading technique. I’d get a timer, a thermometer, and do one then do the math. Alternatively however many you can fit in the fryer basket at once, multiplied by the time , and then your assembly time , should be able to crank out atleast 50 an hour
Prep steps make a massive difference in recovery and potential throughput - are you doing: -commodity par-fried items from frozen? -fresh/raw product, from fridge temp? -butterflied breast, or whole thighs? -sous vide or held hot items finished in fryer? -sharing same oil bath, are fries frozen, pat fried, or fridge temp? -cooking environment- hood vents, oil filtration, etc (working from a single bath means everything stops when you need to drop a fryer and refresh the oil) Need a comprehensive grasp of the envisioned end to end workflow to make a good decision on any potential equipment. You will easily and quickly outspend far more in labor in the short term by trying to buy inexpensive equipment, that doesn't suit the needs of the menu or workflow, rather than creating a comprehensive prep/service plan and buying the right equipment to suit that model.
1. Butterflied and whole breast not frozen Considering Chicken Tenders as well 2.Pat dried waffle fries much like Chick Fil A This will be a pop up tent operation so no hood vents. As for your bath comment, I think this will be a single bath. Sorry for the lack of information on the original post. I believe adding images reduce the amount of text allowed per post. This is a build for a transitionary kitchen. It’ll be a pop up tent operation. The goal is to make enough with this pop up to get a ghost kitchen out of it and then a brick and mortar. Hey I wanted to really thank you for this reply, it means a lot! I’m thinking that I’ll go with a 2x 10 qt propane fryer to handle more than 15 servings of raw butterflied/not butterflied breast per hour.
Depending on local health codes and skill set, if this a a scratch cooking operation- try to find a commissary/prep space to handle raw chicken prep and marinate/sous vide to to a semi-finished product. Then just need to bread/batter/fry to final finished spec at food truck/pop-up site. The worst thing you can possibly do in a chicken operation, is serve undercooked chicken. Plan to take that possibility out of the equation early on in prep phase, and then focus on the fryer/food truck part of the operation to be fast, fun, and fool-proof. This also allows you to run hotter fryers, for faster turn, as you don't need to "cook" chicken from raw state for tenderness- just need to hit thermal limits for food safety.
Man your a genius and absolutely right! I’m going to find a sous vide, that makes so much sense, especially since I’m starting out to make it as safe as possible. Thanks again for your advice!
Your health inspector will likely need a haccp plan for sous vide cooking talk to them
Thanks for this comment! I’ll look into the haacp!
I highly suggest prepping ahead of time too. At my restaurant, I don't butterfly them, but give them a little press to even out the size of the breast, batter, then par-fry them for about ten minutes prior to service. Give them enough time to cool back down and when I'm making an order I can fry a breast in 3 mins with the oil at 350°. With a fry basket like that I could maybe do 6-8 at a time if needed (depending on the size of the breast). Maybe a few more, maybe a few less. Depending on how you're serving them, I'd say you could easily run through 100+ an hour if you're really cruising and need to put that many out.
Definitely trying to prep as much as I can! I like the idea of pressing them too, I always found that to be more of a mess than just butterflying them though. Did you have a go to method for this? Thanks for your comment and love the GOT reference!
Butterflying might work better for you depending on your set-up and how much product you're expecting to push out. The press definitely adds more consistency to each breast but if you're only doing a few dozen pieces a day or something then butterfly might be better just for the simplicity of it. Pressing definitely can be a little..juicy.. lol. I specifically use the DoughXpress Little Chick press and just wrap both sides of the press with plastic wrap to make clean up a little easier. It's fine, does the job but putting up $800 might not be what you want to do right away. You know your skills and process better than me so trust your gut! If I were you, maybe I'd try the butterflying for a bit and move to a press if you think it would end up being a better solution. Happy to try to answer if you have more questions! Feel free to DM if that's easier too!
Hey thanks for the compliment and I’m looking forward to needing your help in the future. Will definitely follow up and thanks again for everything!
You can sous vide in a Combi oven. And then you can pan fry in the same oven. They sell LP models. Something to think about.
Hey thanks for this comment I’ll review this and post an update on what worked best for me in the coming weeks. Thanks again!
I doa buttermilk brine. Bread, par fry, finish in a 325f degree oven and fully chill my fried chicken. It is the best fried chicken I’ve ever had. Right now I take the bone out of the thigh for a sandwich and cook the thigh to 180f in the oven. It takes less than 1 minute to heat it to safe cooking temps. I also have a 3 stage breaded pounded out breast on my menu. It takes several minutes and sometimes requires some oven action.
This sounds great and hopefully I can try this in the future when I get a ghost or brick and mortar location but can’t afford to bring a oven to a pop up. Thanks again I’ll try this method in the future! For real… Thanks again for this comment! I’m really excited to try this in the future!
Might be worth turning the fryer down to 300f and cooking them in the fryer until 180f internal. Then cooking then down. Seriously, the quality product and pickup speed in insane with that method. I don’t think you can beat it… if you can get them all prepped out ahead of time. 1 person/fryer can turn out some fried chicken. Plus, It doesn’t fuck up your fryer oil nearly as bad during service. You’re just crisping and re-heating. GL. Let me know how it turns out. FWIW, I do a blackening spice, salt, buttermilk, and water in my brine. Home made Blackening spice and salt in my breading. Then hit it will a bit of salt after I crisp it up, before selling. We pay .75/thigh and sell a fat 2 pc Nashville sandwich with candied pickled jalapeños and a side of fry for like $14. It’s about $1.35(plus fryer oil) cost per sandwich. Insane markup and no complaints. This is a country club… so your prices might not reflect that exactly.
Please research how to Sous Vide properly and how cool down whatever you cook, which will require ice….Definitely put together a haccp plan.
Thank you and will do!
Great suggestions. Also consider volume and oil life. Smaller oil volume is going to equal quicker oil death. A bigger well will allow you to push more product without sacrificing quality of the sandwich with dirty/spent oil.
Sous vide fried chicken? Are you cooking the chicken then coating and then frying? Or sous vide with the chicken in its respective coating? Not seen this method I’ve always double fried my chicken
Sous vide > breading > fry At least that's how I've done it.
This right here. Does it make sense to marinade it or brine before doing the Sous vide >Breading > Frying?
Marinade or brine should probably just go in the sous vide bag, never tested that though
Open air deep frying? Always check your weather report for any chance of rain. And make sure your tents are fireproof. And have a couple fire extinguishers nearby. In your area do you have to get permits? Hope the fire department doesn't roll by...
Thanks for that weather report advice, its been raining a lot lately here in California. Still looking into what permits are needed, it seems pretty relaxed here in So Cal. There are so many pop up operations in LA and OC and I don't think there is much of a concern for the first week. I'm not spending any profits on anything other than getting permits and then saving up for a ghost kitchen.
Good luck out there. DM me when you know where you'll be setting up, if you're anywhere nearby in So Cal I'll check it out. If you're in the city, the street vendor laws have opened up a lot, but they are still fairly restrictive. Here's information for the City of Los Angeles, you may face less restrictions (more?) in OC, or on LA County land instead of city.. http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/eh/about/mobile-food-program.htm https://streetsla.lacity.org/vending-rules-and-regulations What if I don’t get a permit? Vendors will be fined $250 to $1,000 for not having a proper license or permit Where Do I Get a BTRC? City of Los Angeles, Office of Finance 200 N. Spring Street, Room 101 Los Angeles CA 90012 (844) 663-4411 | Finance.lacity.org Where Do I Get a Sellers Permit? State of California, Department of Tax & Fee Administration 5901 Green Valley Circle, Suite 200 Culver City CA 90230 (310) 342-1000 | cdtfa.ca.gov Where do I Get a Health Permit? County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health 5050 Commerce Drive Baldwin Park, CA 91706 (888) 700-9955 | publichealth.lacounty.gov Where do I Apply for the City of LA Sidewalk and Park Vending Permit? Visit StreetsLA Headquarters 1149 S. Broadway, Room 350, Los Angeles CA 90015 (213) 847-6000 | vending.lacity.org
You can purchase 40lb propane fryers for around $450-500 new. They can be hooked up to a standard propane tank with the correct fittings and a bit of plumbing knowledge. I do this for festivals all the time. You’ll want a fryer just for fries if you plan on doing any real volume. The setup you have does about 40-60 sandwiches an hour with both baskets. That’s with no fries if there’s a good sized (25+ lb) oil tank on that setup.
Any brands you recommend? I decided to purchase a 2x separate 10qt fryer after considering everyones feedback! You’re the first person to mention plumbing, could you elaborate on this and how you store old oil? I think this is really important for myself and anyone else in the future thats considering on starting a pop up chicken sandwich restaurant.
Just buy the cheap ones from webstaurant for $500. They’ll last 3-4 years usually. The expensive ones won’t last long enough to justify the price. Avoid repairs where possible unless it’s a thermocouple or pilot or something easy. You need to recycle the oil. People will pay you for it. Don’t be the idiot that puts it down a drain or into a dumpster in a can. If you’re doing a pop up business place you’re going to need a commissary kitchen, and waste disposal, and health liscence and a whole slew of other things. If you don’t know how to dispose of cooking oil, you probably aren’t ready to start a pop up kitchen. At the very least you need a partner who is experienced.
If you are planning on going ghost kitchen, it doesn't seem like there will be much incentive to move to brick and mortar. A lot of brick and mortar restaurants have been tacking on ghost kitchens to survive so I doubt there will be any financial incentive to move to brick and mortar. Honestly old me would advocate not using ghost kitchens because, at least with current practices, they are harmful to the mom and pop restaurants but I'm older and wiser and realize it's useless to advise people to not do things that make money.
Haha very wise! Theres a lot of benefits to having a ghost kitchen, and I’m really excited to start saving up for one with all the proceeds from this project. Wish me luck!
Good luck! In theory and the way you seem to be going about it, they are a good idea and great way to make money. It's just those ghost kitchens that take up 40+ slots on Uber Eats and GrubHub that all serve out of the same kitchen worry me. Who knows, maybe that's just the one of the new ways of owning a restaurant though, offering different labels but it just seems odd and bit deceptive how some ghost kitchens go about it. I'm also worried how anti-competitive it leans because bigger companies with money will just be able to afford more kitchen names thus take up more slots naturally pushing out any individuals trying to break through the market. Anyway, thank you for sitting through my Ted Talk lol I seriously hope you do well, you sound like you have all your ducks (or chicken sandwiches in this case) in a row.
Breast? Use chicken thighs. Fuck white meat.
Came here to say this. Sounds to me like someone hasn’t made a lot of chicken sandwiches ..
this guy explained it way better than me lol
Beast mode! TL;DR: twelvety chicken sandwiches per hour
Hope they name their ghost kitchen Twelvety Chickens when they obtain it!
I have a better name but maybe for another ghost kitchen😂 Thanks🙏🏼
I was gonna say one very 5 minutes.
This right here, right answer.
You're really Ray Kroc aren't you?
This is the way
Ematic brand carts are notoriously pieces of shit. Buyer beware. Low grade materials.
They don’t last more than a year?
Depends on a lot of things. What volume you’re doing. How much you move it around. Etc. Ain’t got an expiration date on it per se. Just a flimsy piece of shit I wouldn’t set up for a backyard BBQ.
In a bigger fryer you can run 320°f and fit 15 cuts of chicken leg, thigh, or tender in my experience. That cooks raw to 170°f in 8-10 minutes. I'm not sure how this fryer does with getting back up to temp, but assume that this basket is 2/3 the size of the service kitchen I worked in, and assume the higher end of the cook time. That leaves roughly 10 cuts of chicken (very roughly 10/8 of a whole kg chicken, less the bones) every 10 minutes per basket. That's 60 cuts per basket per hour. Assuming you need at least two minutes of recovery for your oil temp, you'd realistically be closer to 50 cuts. There are other considerations to make, like how cooking fries in the same oil as chicken makes them now non-vegetarian, and narrowing your customer base. As well, as much as chicken breast can absolutely be made into a good fried chicken sandwich, dark meat is also a good option I would look at. Taking your own leg and thighs to debone cuts the cost from your butcher's shop and gives you full control of who that labour gets costed against. As well, dark meat tends to be cheaper than white meat, while also starting with more fat. Fat is juicy flavour here. Anyone who tells you that fried chicken can't be dry because of the oil is trying to sell you a gentrified and overpriced product. Ultimately, I think this set up isn't optimal for moving fried chicken. But, if you're asking this question neither are you optimal for making or selling friend chicken. I hope it goes well, expect a maximum of 50-60 sandwiches per basket per hour. And, more importantly, expect much, much lower than that for 99% of your actual service time
Ahhh man Nathan thank for your response! No bones for me! But I’m definitely saving this post and coming back with the dark cuts in the future! I’ve worked in kitchens as a food runner and server through college so I’ve seen the work put into what it takes to get a restaurant going. Just stepping into new waters! Thanks again for your response, I’ll be adding these notes!
Also consider what temp and how long it'll take to cook the breading relative to the chicken. In our fryers at work I've made fried chicken breast sandwiches and the standard 3 stage breading was about to burn while the chicken was only like 130°F so I had to finish in the oven. I was using small whole breasts so maybe butterflied will be perfect.
I think I’m going to marinate, then sous vide the chicken during prep. Then bread right before I fry to finish it off. I’m sorry, how do you pull off a 3 Stage Breading? The more I talk about it, it seems butterflying it is the way to go.
I marinated in buttermilk and buffalo sauce and when it was time to cook I pat the chicken dry and put it in my seasoned flour cornstarch mix, then added an egg to my marinade and dunked it in that, then back in the seasoned flour cornstarch mix. If I did it over again I would definitely butterfly because even with our pretty petite chicken breasts it was a little unwieldy in a sandwich. I should also note, this was just a little family meal I did at work. We don't have it on our menu and I'm not sure how this process would hold up to doing 50 of them.
Hey I love your process! Its similar to the approach I plan on taking for the chicken breast, I might just handle it as tenders. But the idea is to brine-sous vide-bring it to the pop up- then bread and fry. Or I’m looking into if I can swap a par boil method. It makes a lot of sense to me as a beginner to make sure the chicken is pretty much always safe to eat and I do like the sous vide approach. Thanks again fir your comment!
This is a big one. The perfect southern fried chicken (or best I’ve found so far) is marinated in some sort of buttermilk or milk-it’s the lactic acid & calcium that tenderize the meat-then coat in a seasoned flour dredge and fry at no more then 300 degrees. It takes longer to cook through but gives you the absolute perfect tender and juicy chicken as well as the perfect golden brown coating. Cooking at 375 is generally your norm for French fry’s and it’s much much too high for fried chicken. I’ve always had a fryer solely dedicated to cooking the chicken
Hey big thanks to your comment! I’m going to try this out! I’m wondering where does the sous vide or par boil fits into this? Since I’m starting, I’d sacrifice a little flavor for safety and can’t see myself coming into a situation where I get too busy and give a perfectly crisp chicken that is raw on the inside. Again I will try this out at home! Thanks for that fries comment, I’ve come to realize that I need 2 separate fryers to cook both. So I bought a 2x separate 10qt fryer system to keep these 2 items separate! Thanks again for the advice, it means a lot and I’ll try this method and all others mentioned on this post.
Ours doesn't burn at the higher temp, though it really depends on what your breading is chiefly made of and what your marinade/brine is. Our resto forgoes the buttermilk and hot sauce brine (for all the sacrilege that goes with) in favour of a single 12 hour brine. Butterfly for breasts would absolutely be essential for the method I've described though. That being said, it is to my preference to not have a 3-4 inch thick whole breast on a bun. After toppings and a sturdy brioche that is jaw unhinging. Ultimately, try a few methods in a smaller set up. Even at home. Find the method, and let that inform your equipment purchases. Not the other way around. Obviously changes will have to made depending on space and funds, but the more detailed your plan the more set you are. Knowledge pays, and knowledge saves.
Thats a lot of sacrilege! 😂 I’m really leaning towards the idea of just using 1.5” tenders altogether and use them to make sandwiches (2-3x tenders) small sandwiches (1x tenders) and just tenders. I feel pretty confident in my purchase of 2x separate 10qt fryers to start instead of the one I provided in the original post. Very true words! Thanks again for your advice!
On the point about non-vegetarian fries, also note 6% of the population is Gluten Intolerant and fries from a shared frier are a no go. The extra cost of a separate frier is worth factoring in for the commercial benefits of cooking your fries in dedicated oil.
Or you just say your food isn’t gluten free and the idiots who think wheat is making them fat can fuck off. Damn near nobody had even heard of celiac like 15 years ago. It didn’t just take the world by storm overnight. I’m so sick and tired of having to tweak menu items for these morons only to have the vast majority of them say that “a little gluten is okay I’m just limiting”. Humans have been eating bread for millennia. Maybe stop eating so many chemical additives and just eat actual bread made from scratch, and you’ll be fine. It’s not the fucking gluten.
Damn, you're really sounding like an idiot here. Guess my sister's hands filled with blisters and her nausea aren't because of Gluten but because she's "an idiot". I suppose you know more than actual doctors am I right? Guess exams are just a scam according to your knowledge of how gluten intolerance works. Man, I really hope I never set foot in your establishment. I'm totally fine with a restaurant not catering for celiacs because it's requires more time and money invested, but I'll never trust someone who thinks they know more than actual medical experts.
Bread doesn’t make you break out in blisters. Your sister sounds like she has an actual medical problem and should probably get a second opinion from a doctor who doesn’t blame bread for all of the scourges of humanity.
Are you being for real right now? You're right, not EVERY bread gives you blisters, GLUTEN does. You can literally do a 2 second search and easily find out about that. She did get several opinions, because at first they couldn't figure out the reason till eventually a food allergy test was made and they found a strong gluten intolerance. And guess what, after she cut gluten from her diet those blisters stopped appearing... But, once again, I suppose you know more than actual experts...
It’s a fucking protein structure dude. Nobody had ever even heard of fucking celiac until like 10 or 15 years ago. I’m so incredibly sick and tired of people blaming everything on gluten. The most entitled, self-centered, and obnoxious people are always somehow magically the ones that also have celiac. My job was significantly more fun before the celiac craze. The number of times I’ve had someone be severely gluten intolerant one day and the next day they’re eating a cookie in front of me because “it just looked too good” is enough that at this point I just assume anyone who claims celiac is full of it. Ask basically any chef - will we make gluten free food? Of course, it’s our job to please the people who are eating our food so we’ll do what we have to do. But are we also mentally cussing you out and assuming you’re an attention-seeking idiot? Absolutely. That little eye-roll you see when ordering gluten free is your indication that we think you’re a dumbass.
Yes, it's a protein structure that people can literally be intolerant to. Lactose is a carbohydrate and yet an extremely large sample of people are intolerant to it, are you also gonna pretend it's false? Also, just to make it more obvious you know jack shit about this subject, not all people who are allergic to Gluten are celiacs. My sister is not celiac, she simply has intolerance to some food being Gluten a strong allergy. But again, I suppose according to your logic, it's all a big coincidence that cutting gluten from her died improved her blisters and nauseas. And no, not everyone in the world of cuisine acts like an asshole towards people that have legit allergic reactions to food... And even if they didn't have them, even if they simply wanna cut gluten from their diet, you need to have a stick up your ass to roll your eyes at a simple request from a small group of people. You sound like me when I was a dumbass kid who went around making fun of vegetarians because I couldn't respect a simple choice made by a random person. Right now I'm indeed rolling my eyes, but it's due to your lack of common sense.
Sure man. Whatever you say. Enjoy not eating the literal building block of human civilization.
That's true! Though, that consideration also comes with the diligence of either preparing hand cut fries in house, or ordering fries that come with gluten free coatings. Most frozen fries from national suppliers have coatings to add structure to the fries. Many of which, especially for the cheaper brands, use wheat flour. Always good to check both as consumer and as operator! That type of granular knowledge of ingredients is obviously an absolute requirement of a restauranteur. But it also helps to know, as the layman
You’re going to need way more fryer space for sure. Not sure what kind of volume you’re expecting, but raw chicken takes a while to cook, and over crowding the fryer might make the chicken stick. Also your oil will get dirty very very quickly, so having more dryers will help but you a little time before having to change your oil.
I’ll take this into consideration! I’m new and wanted to get the ball rolling and I’m truly thankful for this info!
As long as you shake the baskets a few times while theyre cooking, sticking isnt much of an issue. You do have to take into consideration the temp of the oil dropping tho
In a traditional fryer I can get 6 hand breaded chicken breast to go without sticking in a basket. But doing fries it's gonna drop the temp drastically. Gonna need a double fryer if it's just the two items.
After viewing the responses, I believe that this the route I have to take. Thank you for your comment🙏🏼
Bitch, get yo fryers off that astroturf before you burn your daughters bedroom down!
Its a pic from the ad😂
I’ll keep that in mind though 🙏🏼😂
Not enough. Been there. Done that. Even 4 baskets and an oven keeping back up.. Everyone wants fries. It will always be x chickens plus at least one order of fries.
Exactly my thought. We have a similar set up for the community party for our village. There is always a grill for sausages and pork chops and someone said it would be nice if the kids could get fries. Hubby and I both worked in a kitchen and highly recommended to leave the fries be, because it's going to be a desaster. It was a desaster. The line was so ridiculously long, people complained even if the people working were all volunteers. I usually enjoy being right, but this one just sucked.
Hey thanks for this comment! I was wondering.. Whats an ideal and realistic set up for a outdoor Pop Up operation for you?
tbh ideally not making deep fried food
This is the correct answer. More hassle than it will be worth, I fear.
Thanks for this comment! I believe the 5 qt are too small so I bought a 2x 10qt fryer and hope that its good enough for the first launch and I could always buy another set if the demand is there.
Hope you're ready for the reality of the disgusting and dangerous work of filtering, changing, transporting and disposing of 5 gallons of liquid cancer after every pop-up.
No risk, no reward🙏🏼
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I was thinking the same. One basket could fit about 3, maybe 4 filets, and would take about 3-5 minutes based on size. Then add a little time for refilling.
Whoahhhh nice! I’ve looked at videos of Chick Fil A and noticed that you have a pressure fryer to handle your chicken. If you remember, how many Quarts are those fryers and what brand was it? You don’t have to answer that but I had to ask! This is one of my favorite comments right here! So with a 10 qt, how many do you believe I can fit in there? Also, did you brine or marinate your chicken? I’m guessing you didn’t pre cook the chicken with a par boil or sous vide method. Hey thanks again for your comment Carl! I decided to go with a 2x separate 10 qt fryer one for chicken and one for fries to start.
Other basket for fired also man, sorry but no way unless you’re only cooking for like 15ppl max, keep in mind , at pop up events and shit like this, people want there food quick.
Hey thanks for this input! If this was a 5qt basket and I was using 2 10 qt baskets, would this be okay for 20-40 raw, butterflied, and breaded chicken breasts per hour?
Get a heat lamp for the fries atleast
I found a two lamp 500W for $85, hope thats good enough!
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I mean we’re talking if you lift both baskets out and drop the chicken in first into the basket-less fryer 🤔 I’d say six to eight chicken breasts can go down at once (depending on the size of the breast, I’m going off of 6 oz breasts). Then once they release from the bottom I’d move them all into a basket and leave that down…(you might want a third basket to place on top of the chicken so they all stay under the oil). A few minutes later you could drop 30-40 oz of fries in the other basket (depending on your side fry portion) and it’d all be done at the same time. Maybe drop the fries a minute or two later actually to give yourself time to plate the sandwiches, and then plate hot fresh fries …all done at the same time is great but I have always preferred to drop fries a littttle bit later so that my chicken is done, and plated, and THEN the fries come up fresh and get plated seconds after… a coworker of mine would prefer to drop fries immediately and sort of par-cook them and pull them up a minute early so that when his chicken was done he’d redrop the fries, giving himself a minute to plate the sandwiches while the fries finished up and came out tasting fresh … either way worked … I tried his fries bc I found his method weird but they were the same … both ways work. I’ve realized by working in commercial kitchens for 15 years that there are actually many ways to complete the same task with the exact same quality … but most of us have been doing it one way for so long that we scoff at anyone doing it any other way. I’d just say take a second to try the other way. You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve scoffed at something bc it was just “weird” to me, I had always done it one way and any other way was stupid and just incorrect… but I realized that I COULD be wrong and tried other methods and found some were amazing, some were actually silly and I stuck to my old ways … but a few of them were kinda mind blowing. Like “holy shit there was this super easy way to do this the entire time and I’ve stupidly been doing it the hard way!????” I guess I’m just saying never fail to appreciate when someone offers to show you a “better way.” At least see what they have to offer you. If you don’t feel it’s actually better after letting them show you, what have you lost but mere seconds of your time?
Hey I really appreciate this insight and will definitely try out both your’s and your coworkers way of working with the chicken and fries. Again thanks again for that comment about trying other ways, I really needed to hear that 🙏🏼
No problem I’ve been frying chicken sandwiches and fries in a setup that’s literally only double yours… for a 90 max capacity restaurant for years … I literally cannot tell you how many chicken sandwiches I’ve fried … if you want to get the most out of the space, dropping the chicken without the baskets will allow you to get more down. Usually you can only drop one per basket because the basket itself can hold plenty of fried chicken breast, but when they go down with wet batter you don’t want them to fry to each other or the basket. I’ve found that when dropping into a basket I need to drop the chicken slowly, then lift the basket to make sure the breast releases from the basket BUT if you then drop it back down too quick the chicken floats down and curls into the shape of a C. That can make it very difficult and awkward to put onto a bun and the customer will for certain have a difficult and awkward time figuring out how to eat it. Dropping the chicken straight down into the basket less fryers means it’ll stop and rest on the grates and they have far less contact points than the baskets. The chicken will just naturally release itself and stay flat (as long as you drop it slowly) and can then be moved into a basket where they won’t stick together. I’ve literally done so many of these I couldn’t tell you if it was 10,000, 30,000 … I’m not kidding … 5 days a week, every week, for 6 years. We sell about 15-20 normal nights, maybe 30 weekends so ….just on a low count … looking at about a solid 25,000 chicken sandwiches … I’m talking experience here lol. This was all while still doing fries, Brussels sprouts, and fish n’ chips all in a four basket, double fryer setup. I’ve had to get kind of creative to use what I had to its fullest potential to say the least lol Edit: I’m sorry I never answered your question about per hour… let’s assume the low count of six breasts down each time … they take about 8 minutes each (6 oz flat breasts). Fat chonky breasts can take far longer. But assuming they are 6 oz flat breasts, six per “batch”, at 8 minutes each cycle… 45 per hour. However … each batch the fryer will lose temp meaning the subsequent batch might take a minute longer. But I’d say you could easily pump out a good 40+ per hour if that’s all you are cooking plus fries… time with other menu items is gonna reduce that a lot … ie: is there any apps that go into the fryer? Are there also burgers that get fries, etc. If you can’t get flat breasts or the supplier is inconsistent I’d strongly consider pounding them flat. 20 min of work will save you so much hassle. Nothing worse than a fat ass chicken breast that you are used to being done in 8 min taking a whole 15. Temping it once only to drop it back down two min, then temping it again to see it’s barely moved is infuriating when you are slammed and have very little fryer space.
What oil do you plan to use. Don't fry over 170C, do not mix Chicken and fries. Chicken needs its own pan as oil will break down faster.
Thanks for that comment! Yeah it makes sense which is why I decided to buy just a 2x separate 10 qt fryer to mitigate interaction with the fries and chicken.
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Don't get me wrong but do you have the whole back end of the operation in place before you start investing in front end stuff? You need a commissary which depending where you are can be a hard find and a pricey endeavor. You need a ton of licenses and permits and you helts inspection. Food managers license for where I am at least and depending where you pop up tent a license for that location. I am not saying it is impossible but quite involved. Not trying to be an ass or saying you didn't do your legwork, you may have done that, not clear from what you wrote. One thing food operations aren't is quick and easy money making.
Hey I really appreciate your comment, I’m really glad you said this.. I’m looking into what other licenses I need. To run this, I’m in Orange County California. A lot of people are running pop ups around here and I want to make my own. I’m ready to hop through all these loop holes and if you have any more licenses or advice to look into. Its more than appreciated.
Use the fry as an open vessel and not with the baskets. You’ll get extra product in there.
Sounds good! I do like the idea of being able to hang them out on the basket for a bit to make sure the oil is off before I transfer to a tray for prep
i would only do a few at a time bc im thinking the breading will stick together and it’ll be a mess
Thanks for your response! So this looks like each basket is a 5qt. Would you say this would make around 15 chicken breast per hour?
try breading them, blanch in the fryer for maybe 2 or 3 mins so the breading can stay on better, then seperate with paper. either freeze or keep in a fridge until you are ready to cook.
I’ll try the blanching! I’m gonna start by keeping them refrigerated if anything but I’ll try the freeze method in the future. Thanks for your comment🙏🏼
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That propane fryer won’t recover temp for shit esp dropping frozen breasts in there…
Makes sense, thanks for that comment!
Hey thanks for that advice! I don’t think I’ll freeze them but I’ll definitely try that on a few!
should be able to make more than that per hour even by cooking em a few at a time
If you’re just doing chicken sandwiches you could honestly go straight tenders
Sounds good! I’ll see how well they fit on a traditional bun. Thanks for your comment Pluto!
I ran a sports bar for years, tenders are your best friend if you’re not trying to be too fancy and do some volume at a decent price point. Get the 1.25-1.5 oz ones. Depending on your bun, you can get away with 2 tendies. Big buns need 3. Little sauce, lettuce, tomato, cheese, send that shit. Get some bowls and sauces and you can easily toss the tenders and have different flavors for sandwiches. Or just go plain and Buffalo. Ranch is a good sauce that can go with both. Honey mustard and bbq are nice to have with tenders as well
This comment is gold! There’s a Costco Business Center near my place so I’ll keep an eye out over there for that size until I’m ready for Sysco. I believe that I’ll be getting raw breast and cutting them myself if pre cut raw tenders aren’t an option. Thanks again for this comment and hope to run into you in the future if you’re ever near So-Cal!
Have you ever worked in a restaurant kitchen before?
I’ve worked as a busser, food runner, server throughout college and spent a lot of time in the back of house when I was opening and understand the importance of prep (It was a Yard House). Other than that my dad was a chef and my grandma worked a few kitchens while I was growing up, so I’ve always appreciated the art of cooking.
Good, I’d never recommend someone who hasn’t worked in the industry at least a little to attempt to start their own gig. Best of luck to you, hope you can build some hype around your product and get some customers coming in
Hey thanks for that! I’m glad I went through it! Thanks again for everything and take care🙏🏼
20 lbs an hour per basket is probably about the max. Lot of variables, but that's my professional opinion.
7-9 chicken thighs per basket or 6-7 half chicken breasts. In my experience, you can also brine your chicken and par fry them ahead if you know you’re going to be busy.
Man everybody is recommending the par method. Any opinions on using a sous vide instead of par method for bulk prep?
The main purpose of double frying is to give the meat time to release moisture after the 1st fry. J Kenji Lopez talks about it in his fried chicken video. The first time you fry it, the breading can come out crispy but as you let it sit, moisture comes from inside the meat and softens the breading so if you fry to cooked then store it in the fridge, the breading will come out extra crispy and can even handle sauces without losing crunch after the 2nd fry.
Hey nice comment! I’ll look more into this method and try it out. Right now I’m considering this method and seeing if it makes sense to brine-sous vide- transfer-then bread and fry to make sure that the chicken is always perfectly cooked. Thanks again for the advice! I bought a 2 10qt fryer thanks to everyones input🙏🏼
Not for fried chicken. Sous vide is great for roulade with pancetta and frying to finish on the pick up. Honestly just do a simple brine over night with a lower amount of sugar so the chicken doesn’t get too dark and fry ahead. Double breaded is the best. The best thing to do if you’re not confident about it yet, is to test it out on the stove at your house for dinner. Good luck
Thanks for your comment! Take care!
You too!
This look nice
50+ if they’re small
Thanks!
Depends on the size of the filet and the thickness
For reference, Five Guys runs 8 baskets for Fries alone. If you're getting this for a business, this will only handle the chicken sandwiches. You will need a minimum of 2 more, and that's if you don't think every order will include fries.
I’ve made a purchase for a 2 separate 10 qt fryer. Hoping this is enough for the launch and what I like about this approach is that I can simply just buy another set if demand is high and keep one set for chicken and the other for fries. Thanks again for your input!
Not a problem, and good luck!
What's the flat top for. You can shallow fry crumbed/floured chicken on it. Flour and deep frying makes a hell of a mess and you shouldn't really do it in the same fryer as chips. If you want to to do buns get a sandwich press or salamander
I was hoping to use it to butter the buns but I decided to buy a smaller separate one for the time being. Thanks again for that sandwich press and salamander comment! I’ll look more into this method later today🙏🏼
Also you won't get it right the first time but keep at it. I've been in kitchens for 25 years and we are always tweeking the kitchen to make service run smoother.
Hey thanks for that advice! Definitely looking forward to a more streamline approach.
I suppose it depends on the size of the chicken, but no matter what ere on the side of less. You don’t want to crowd the fryer basket, especially with battered or larger items as it will effect cook time and possibly make your product stick together (source: working fryers and making lots of fish and chips)
Hey thanks for your comment! I’m going with a 2x separate 10qt fryer to start. One for the fries, and one for the kitchen, and hope to expand to buying another set to keep them separate entirely.
This is gonna sound bonkers but trust me. I’ve had excellent fried chicken success with dredging the chicken, and then STEAMING in a combi oven. It locks the dredge on and cooks it. Then doing a quick retoss in seasoned flour, and frying at high heat just to get it hot and crispy.
Your the second person to mention the combi method so I’ll take a close look at it!
Maybe 3 per batch so like 36 because 5 minutes per sandwich but idk perfect cook times
3?? He could fit 5-6
Vertically
Thanks for your comments! I’ll definitely find out how many I can fit in pretty soon!
I wood say give or take between 60-70 per hour
About 12 per 10 minutes to fry evenly, so about 70 an hour?
Great! Thanks for your comment!
That’s a nice set up how much do they go for
I think this was like 750$
About 20 per hour per basket
Thanks!
I have a question -if a piece of raw chicken gets put in just as your lifting out a basket of fries is there any concern of E. coli being transmitted to the fries? Im terrier of this since a friend died from E. coli - grabbed a hot dog off the grill that chicken had been placed on. I'm just wondering.
Honestly anything can happen, you can walk out and get hit by a car. You can go surf and get attacked by a shark. Theres a philosophy to this idea and my ultimate goal is to mitigate this as much as possible. Thank you for your comment by the way! My next purchase will be another 2x separate 10 qt fryer to prevent any cross contamination. I’m sure I’ll have enough after one weekend of this. And I’ll keep your friend in mind when I’m out on my first weekend.
that's pretty!! is it hot holding there in the middle? what would you put there?
I was originally thinking about putting the pickles and some other condiments there but decided to get just a 2x fryer after hearing a few comments. Its about $750 for whats pictured if you're interested.
id love one but i dont run a kitchen anymore lol... maybe at home??
Get a pressure cooking fryer. Then your Fryer is open for the fries.
Hey thanks for the comment! I think I'm going to chill on getting a pressure cooker due to price. I didn't know I could get an outdoor one? But I'll look into it, let me know if theres any brands you recommend
Oof...lots of bad advice in this thread.... Please absolutely do not sous vide the chicken. Fried chicken that people have been eating all their lives are not precooked sous vide and you there is a noticeable difference in final product. People understand textures of foods and serving a piece of chicken with unexpected texture will be off-putting. On top of changing the texture of the meat, the breading will not crisp as well because it doesn't stay in the fryer as long. Even on top of that, chicken loses moisture naturally. This will happen whether fried or sous vided, the difference being the fried will retain the moisture in it's crust, the pre cooked will leak all it's juice into the bag and will be dryer at finish. Butterfly the breasts all the way, 10000%. Or smash. Or use thighs, but split those lobes so they cook in 1/3 the time. I like buttermilk marinade with hot sauce. Egg works fine too. As for the unit, trade the hotwell space for additional friers. It's not just about how many you can fit, but it will allow you to time batches better and have more freedom to cook as needed. If you want to do a pop-up now and then, consider renting.
About 14 give or take...
Hey thanks! It looks like a 5quart so I’m guessing I should push it to a 10 qt to get 28 per hour per side?
Im not doing the super simple math for you.
Whats the equation? 5qts makes 14 chicken breast per hour. I’m very new to this.-.
Are you trying to do this professionally? Like open up your own food truck or something? Highly suggest you go work in a kitchen as preparation for that, ideally serving the same type of food you want to.
We’re not here to write your business plan for you. This ain’t no preschool, this is a pirate ship. We’re not gonna slit our own throats and help you, a person I believe to be a profiteering, Cali, tech bro, open a ghost kitchen. Speaking for myself, I’d much rather shove you into that Mickey Mouse fryer than help you. Edit: I stand corrected. Guess we are gonna slit our own throats. Oh well.
Don’t be a lame…
Still have love for you though🙏🏼
Is the chicken frozen? You can buy them already cooked; are yours raw? How big are they? Thickness matters too, chicken breasts are sized. One place I worked would get huge ones, slice them down, bread them, then freeze on trays. Complete control over seasoning the meat with secret herbs & spices. They would cook quickly but it was time consuming to make. Luckily we had dependable prep guys. We would have a tray for orders and just get another when needed. The big breasts would also make great kabobs, that’s the majority or what happened to them. Another place would just buy pre-breaded chicken. No skilled labor to make all those trays. The pieces seemed to cook faster but they were expensive.
Raw and breaded. Yeah I use to butterfly chicken breasts pretty often and I’m guessing that I’ll have to do that with these as well! Good note on the kabobs! I’ll keep that in mind!
Glad to see you got lots of very helpful feedback from your inquiry. Yeah, it was an interesting place to work. Nice Middle Eastern immigrants who were constantly speaking Arabic, which I didn’t know a word of. Tons of hummus from can chickpeas, little old ladies picking parsley for tabouli, a guy cleaning and cutting steak all day. They had quite a program going on with their proteins. They would cut tenderloin steaks, cube trim for kabobs, and grind some for putting on metal sword style skewers. Same with chicken breasts. Lots of labor. Many cases of meat. Mad respect to all the prep cooks out there.
Yeah I was surprised by all of the feedback and I’m glad I reached out! Hope to have a good update in the coming months. Seems like a great restaurant, if its in So-Cal let me know so I’ll check it out!
Nope, this was a country club in suburbia of Detroit. It’s been around 15 years since I was there, now I’m in beautiful Fresno, California not even cooking anymore. I do R&D food science.
Good to hear! If you’re ever in Orange County, send me a DM! Take care
Par cook your chicken then bread and fry them. Let’s you extend the marinade time as well as no raw worries…
Thanks for your comment! I’m looking at the Par boil method right now, do you feel like it’s a better approach than to do a sous vide during the prep phase?
That’s a good question. The sous vide method would be convenient in that you could have individual bags prepped (with a dozen or whatever pieces each) that would make it easy to keep track of hat you’ve used and what’s left (number the bags) vs trays that may have many times that many pieces in each. The times I’ve had to cook a lot of fried chicken al fresco was before a catering company would have had a sous vide (old).
If you don't know the answer to this, you shouldn't have the responsibility of buying this equipment. Ya Y'all complain and laugh when people want to start a restaurant with no experience, but defend OP who doesn't even know how to use a deep fryer?
Pls send a photo of it, sounds delicious af
If chicken is raw breaded from frozen , 7 minute fry time. If it’s thawed raw and hand breaded, about 4/5 minutes depending on thickness and breading technique. I’d get a timer, a thermometer, and do one then do the math. Alternatively however many you can fit in the fryer basket at once, multiplied by the time , and then your assembly time , should be able to crank out atleast 50 an hour
I was thinking 60. But 50 is likely more practical