Automatic fryer for breaded products

In frying apparatus of the type including a console and a fry pot mounted on said console having an open mouth for receiving portions of food, the combination with said frying apparatus of a frying rack assembly having portions for maintaining food portions in separate vertical layers and a rack support assembly movably suspended with respect to the open mouth of said fry pot, said rack support assembly and said frying rack assembly having mutually engageable portions permitting detachable coupling engagement of said frying rack assembly to said rack support assembly, and guiding means coupled to said rack support assembly for guiding said frying rack assembly for movement from an elevated position above the open mouth of said fry pot wherein the frying rack assembly may be engaged or disengaged from said rack support assembly prior to or after completion of a cooking cycle, respectively, to a position inside of said fry pot wherein food portions contained within the frying rack assembly may be fried during a cooking cycle, a fry pot cover carried by said rack support assembly for partially sealing the open mouth of said fry pot when said rack support assembly is fully inserted into said fry pot, said fry pot cover defining a thermal barrier and maintaining a steam layer over a pool of cooking oil in the fry pot as portions of food are fried thereby preventing rapid release of heat and steam vapor to the atmosphere, said fry pot cover comprising a main body portion and a portion pivotally connected to the main body portion which can be rotated to a position overlying the main body portion of the cover to increase access to the rack support assembly during engagement or disengagement of said frying rack assembly.

In frying apparatus of the type including a console and a fry pot mounted on said console having an open mouth for receiving portions of food, the combination with said frying apparatus of a frying rack assembly including a plurality of separable frying racks each having top and bottom grills for maintaining food pieces in a horizontal layer and basket means for supporting a vertical stack of frying racks, a rack support assembly movably suspended with respect to the open mouth of said fry pot, said rack support assembly and frying rack assembly having mutually engagable portions permitting detachable coupling engagement of said frying rack assembly to said rack support assembly, and guiding means coupled to said rack support assembly for guiding said frying rack assembly for movement from an elevated position above the open mouth of said fry pot wherein the frying rack assembly may be engaged or disengaged from said rack support assembly prior to or after completion of a cooking cycle, respectively, to a position inside of said fry pot wherein food portions contained within the frying rack assembly may be fried during a cooking cycle, said guiding means comprising an elongated support bar having a first end portion pivotally coupled to said console about a fixed axis of rotation and a second end portion pivotally coupled to said rack support assembly, and drive means coupled to said support bar for causing said support bar to rotate about its fixed axis through a vertical plane relative to said console as said frying rack assembly is inserted into or withdrawn out of said fry pot.

Frying apparatus comprising

• a console;
• a fry pot housed in said console and having an open top;
• frying rack assembly means lowerable into the fry pot;
• support means for detachably engaging and supporting the frying rack assembly means, the frying rack assembly means being disengagable from the support means by horizontal movement from over the fry pot;
• means for moving the support means between (a) a raised position where the frying rack assembly means when supported by the support means is disposed above the fry pot and can be moved to disengage from the support means, and (b) a lowered position where the frying rack assembly means suspended from the support means is disposed in the fry pot;
• the frying rack assembly means comprising a plurality of frying racks each separable one from the other, each frying rack including bottom and top grills and means spacing the grills a distance apart to accommodate only a layer of food pieces, and basket frame means supporting a plurality of said vertically stacked frying racks, the basket frame means being disengagably suspended from the support means;
• and
• cart means for transporting a frying rack assembly, the cart means including secondary support means movable from a transport position on the cart to an extended position in which said secondary support means is adjacent the bottom of a frying rack assembly means when said frying rack assembly means is in the raised position, such that as the frying rack assembly means is moved to disengage from the first mentioned support means, it can be moved onto and supported by the secondary support means.