Pitco Fry Guy Focus: Introducing Andy Schlag

Growing up in the foodservice industry helped Andy Schlag fall in love with being in a kitchen. Today, as the Director of Culinary Innovation-General Market at Chrane Foodservice, Chef Andy gets to work directly with operators and their staff to ensure they have the best equipment. We sat down with him to learn a little more about his background and the knowledge that makes him a Pitco Fry Guy.

How did you land in foodservice?

I started as a food runner at a mom-and-pop restaurant in my hometown when I was 16. It was a two-story seafood restaurant right on the water in the harbor of a little fishing town in Massachusetts. I’d run food in the evenings after high school, and during the summers, I’d get to work on the line and start learning to cook. I couldn’t wait for the summers to come back around each year so I could get back to doing the real work. I cooked through college and found myself apprenticing as a butcher soon after graduating.

A few years later, I moved to Houston, Texas. That was almost ten years ago, and I’ve bounced back and forth between meat processing and running kitchens, gaining lots of operational knowledge and joining up on a handful of opening teams for restaurants and retail outlets. I found my current position as a manufacturer’s rep and couldn’t be happier sharing and educating people about how to improve their operations!

What are the most common questions you get about fryers?

“Is on-board filtration worth the investment?”

Let’s talk oil. Why do you think operators think oil filtration is a waste?

Manually filtering oil is a time-consuming process with lots of opportunities for mishaps and also a potential for injury. When that little paper cone folds over, and the dirty oil fills up the stock pot on the floor, and you’ve got to (pick it up and) dump it back in and start over, you’re killing time, and people’s time costs money. Let’s be real, cooks want to bust down and go home after service, not do two or even three rounds of filtering a fryer until it’s done right. If people are cutting corners, then they’re sacrificing quality in the same motion.

I feel like some operators don’t look too deep into the nuance of frying to understand that the flavor transfer and particulate matter from using dirty oil can really change how a dish tastes and presents to their customers and will ultimately impact their entire experience. Imagine the most amazing burger you’ve ever had with some awful, awful french fries on the side. That’s going to sour your experience no matter how nice the burger was. It’ll be remembered as the burger with the terrible fries on the side.

What are the key factors to consider when choosing the right fryer for a commercial kitchen?

First and foremost, the volume and variety of products. Tank style, along with the type of fried items (breading/battering/pre-prepared items), also plays a big role. Always plan for your highest-volume service period and season, and you can always work back from there.

What are common frying mistakes that you see?

Not accounting for the moisture and fat content in proteins or wet mixes that cause the batter to separate from the product during cooking. That, or not accounting for the fats that come along with frying in a finished product and the need to balance salinity so the food hits your palate correctly.

How would you recommend fixing those mistakes?

Testing and training with staff on proper seasoning and process. Explaining the why, not just the what. I find the best way to show a team why you’re asking for a dish to be prepared a certain way is to demonstrate the difference between the desired method and the simplest straight line from A (raw product) to B (plated dish). A chef is only as good as the cooks putting their food out of the kitchen when they’re not in the building.

What’s the most important accessory to have for fryers?

Onboard filtration makes an absolute world of difference. Having a variety of basket sizes available will also help you better manage your station to accommodate the volume of business and menu variety.

What’s the best advice you’d give to someone who wants to add fried food to a menu?

Work on your breading mix and process. Do what seems like too much testing before you put the dish on the menu. Just because it’s a fried item doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve the attention you put into the rest of your menu. Also, taste and test your product 5-10-15 minutes after it’s on the plate. If it’s only good for the first few minutes on the plate then your diners won’t be getting the best experience once it hits the table.

And how do you ensure the safety and efficiency of your frying station during peak restaurant hours?

Good practices with loading baskets, ensuring there isn’t too much moisture in the product that’s being dropped to prevent popping and boiling in the oil and keeping batter/breading stations in close proximity to the fryers themselves to avoid slip hazards and cross-contamination are a few that come to mind quickly.

Do you have a favorite fried food?

A current favorite is the Mississippi Hot Catfish Nuggets with pickles and collard green slaw at Josephine’s Gulf Coast Tradition here in Houston.

My all-time favorite would have to be a fried clam roll from any little seafood shack along the New England coast; it’s a buttery toasted bun stacked high with crispy strings of clams fresh out of the oil with a nice bright tartar sauce on the side for dipping.

What are your three best pieces of advice for a restaurant trying to make more money with fried food?

1) Offering modifiers on the same product, e.g., different sauces on the same fried wings, will allow you to purchase in bulk for a possible price break from your distributors, leading to a better margin. You can also have a larger menu offering without bogging down your prep with too many items, and batch cooking can maximize efficiency.

2) Depending on the menu offerings and kitchen setup, having dedicated fry tanks for certain items to minimize flavor transfer and/or prepare different items at different temperatures for best results.

3) Choose the right delivery for your dish. Perception of value is everything to the customer. It doesn’t matter if they get a half-full basket of fries or an overflowing paper cone. If both have 6oz of product in them, the customer will be happier with the latter every time.

What innovative frying techniques or trends have you noticed in the industry lately?

Large format dishes are trending in my neck of the woods and have been for a little while now. Whole fried fish with lots of garnishes for sharing, fried chicken platters with all the fixings on board etc., etc. They present so well and create a fun, communal experience at the table for guests. I personally love family-style service in a restaurant. I always want to try everything on the table so having sharable portions is great in my book.

Karaage style breading is definitely having a moment right now, as well. It brings so much texture and opportunity for sauces or seasoning to get caught up in all of that extra surface area compared to a wet batter or flour dredge.

Ready to find out how your fried wing program stacks up? We’ve got a quick, free quiz to find out: