Oil quality sensor and adapter for deep fryers

A system for measuring the state of degradation of cooking oil in a deep fryer comprising:

• at least one fryer pot;
• a conduit fluidly connected to said at least one fryer pot for carrying cooking oil from said at least one fryer pot through a filtration unit back to said at least one fryer pot;
• a sensor disposed between said filtration unit and said at least one fryer pot for measuring filtered cooking oil;
• said sensor being in fluid communication with said conduit for measuring a dielectric constant that is indicative of total polar materials of the filtered cooking oil, as the cooking oil is pumped between said at least one fryer pot and through said filtration unit;
• and
• a controller and measurement electronics in electrical communication with said sensor that computes the dielectric constant of the cooking oil for communication to a display or an alarm;
• wherein said conduit comprises a drain pipe that transports oil from said at least one fryer pot and a return pipe that returns oil to said at least one fryer pot, and
• wherein said sensor is disposed in either said drain pipe or said return pipe.

A device for installation in a deep fryer for measuring the state of degradation of cooking oil in a fryer pot comprising:

• a sensor disposed in a conduit with flowing cooking oil to measure and sample an electrical property of the cooking oil that is indicative of total polar materials of the cooking oil;
• and
• a controller and measurement electronics operatively connected to said sensor to provide measurements and to calculate and average total polar material values during cooking oil return to the fryer pot;
• wherein said conduit comprises a drain pipe that transports oil from said at least one fryer pot and a return pipe that returns oil to said at least one fryer pot, and
• wherein said sensor is disposed in either said drain pipe or said return pipe.

A system for measuring the state of degradation of cooking oils or fats in a deep fryer comprising:

• a plurality of fryer pots,
• a filtration loop comprising a filter pan and drain plumbing that collects used cooking oil from said plurality of fryer pots and a return conduit that returns filtered cooking oil to each of said plurality of fryer pots;
• a pump for re-circulating said cooking oil through said filtration loop to and from said plurality of fryer pots;
• and
• a sensor external to said plurality of fryer pots and disposed in fluid communication with said cooking oil to measure an electrical property that is indicative of total polar materials of said cooking oil as the cooking oil flows past said sensor and is returned to said plurality of fryer pots;
• wherein said drain plumbing comprises at least one drain pipe associated with each said fryer pots, wherein said drain pipe transports oil from said fryer pot, and said return conduit that returns oil to each of said plurality of fryer pots, and
• wherein said sensor is disposed in said return pipe.

A system for measuring the state of degradation of cooking oils or fats in a deep fryer comprising:

• at least one fryer pot;
• a conduit fluidly connected to said at least one fryer pot for transporting cooking oil from said at least one fryer pot and returning the cooking oil back to said at least one fryer pot;
• a pump for re-circulating said cooking oil to and from said fryer pot;
• a sensor external to said at least one fryer pot and disposed in fluid communication with said conduit to measure an electrical property that is indicative of total polar materials of said cooking oil as the cooking oil flows past said sensor and through said pump;
• wherein said conduit comprises a drain pipe that transports oil from said at least one fryer pot and a return pipe that returns oil to said at least one fryer pot, and
• wherein said sensor is disposed in either said drain pipe or said return pipe.