If your restaurant serves up delicious fried foods, you probably rely on a deep fryer to help you prepare it. Although deep fryers can be the best for turning out delicious fried food every time, they can also be dangerous. Luckily, if you follow a few tips, you can help prevent deep frying accidents from occurring in your restaurant. Then, you can feel good in knowing that you are keeping yourself and your employees safe while you're still turning out fabulous fried food. 

1. Keep Your Deep Fryer Well-Maintained

A deep fryer that isn't properly maintained can become unreliable, so it's important to keep your equipment in good shape. Follow the owner's manual and maintenance instructions, and make sure that you have your equipment worked on by a certified professional (such as one from K & D Factory Service Inc) who uses manufacturer's parts.

2. Keep the Surrounding Area Clean

It's natural for grease to pop and splatter a little bit when you are deep frying, or you and your employees might drip a little bit on the counters or floor surrounding your fryer when you are busy serving food. Make it a point to wipe up this grease as soon as you spot it, however. Hot grease can cause burns for those who don't know that it's there, and spills on the floor can cause slips and falls. Plus, grease that isn't cleaned up properly can put your restaurant at a greater risk of a fire.

3. Keep a Fire Extinguisher Nearby

No matter how careful you and your employees might be when using the deep fryer, you never know when an accident could happen. This is why it's important to keep a fire extinguisher within close reach. Make sure that you choose a Class K fire extinguisher, which is marked with a black hexagon. This is the best type of fire extinguisher for commercial kitchens because it can be used to combat fires that are started due to cooking oil.

4. Fill Your Fryer Properly

Make sure that you fill your fryer with clean oil -- if you are reusing your cooking oil, make sure that you strain it to get rid of any food particles. Not only will this help prevent fires, but it will also help improve the quality of your food. You should also make sure that you do not go past the fill line when adding oil to your fryer; otherwise, you could increase the risk of grease splatters. 

Using a deep fryer can make it easy for you and your employees to turn out tasty deep fried foods. Just make sure that you follow these simple tips so that you can keep everyone in the kitchen as safe as possible.