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Does an LPG Fryer Need a Plate Between the Burners and the Basket?

by nick
(lincolnshire)

Teal twin-axle fish and chip trailer serving a lunchtime queue at a Lincolnshire market town

Teal twin-axle fish and chip trailer serving a lunchtime queue at a Lincolnshire market town

I have bought a lpg fryer second hand .should there be a plate between the burner and the chip basket ? if not how do I stop the fish sticking to the burners.

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Nov 12, 2026
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by: MobCater

Nick, the fish isn't actually touching the burners, even though it can look that way. On most LPG fryers you'll find in a catering van, the flames fire through steel tubes that run across the pan and sit in the oil. Those heat tubes are what your fish is sticking to. Below them is the cool zone, where crumbs and bits of batter sink and settle without burning, which keeps your oil cleaner for longer.

So should there be something between the tubes and the basket? Yes. A tube fired fryer normally comes with a mesh grid, sometimes called a basket rest, that sits on top of the tubes. The basket sits on that, and anything you drop in loose, like battered fish, lands on the grid rather than the hot tubes. Second hand fryers lose these all the time, because they come out for cleaning and never go back in. Find the make and model on the data plate, usually on the back or inside the door, and order the correct grid from the manufacturer or a catering spares supplier. It's normally a cheap part. Don't make one up yourself or lay a bit of flat metal across the tubes, as it can upset the way the fryer heats and how the thermostat reads.

If yours turns out to be an open pan fryer, with the burner underneath the pan rather than tubes through the oil, there's no plate needed because the pan base is the barrier. In that case sticking is almost always down to technique.

Technique matters either way. Battered fish sticks when the oil isn't hot enough or when it goes in too fast. Get the oil up to around 175 to 180°C, then hold the fish by the tail and lower it in slowly, drawing it along the surface for a few seconds so the batter sets before you let go. That little swim is what chip shops have done for generations, and it stops most sticking. Don't overload the pan either, because every cold fillet drags the temperature down.

Because the fryer is second hand, I'd also get your Gas Safe registered engineer to look it over before you trade with it. They'll check the flame failure device, the thermostat and the high limit safety cut out, which stops the oil overheating if the thermostat fails, and then add it to your gas safety certificate. A pan full of hot oil is the one appliance in the van I'd never cut corners on. If you end up replacing it, we stock commercial LPG fryers at mobcater.com.

Good luck with it

David

Disclaimer: Gas installation and maintenance must be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Never attempt gas work yourself. Check gassaferegister.co.uk for qualified engineers in your area.

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