Commonly Asked Questions: Gas Fryers, NSF Certified & Thermometers

At Tundra Restaurant Supply we not only specialize in selling everything for the restaurant (like parts, equipment and more), but we are also staffed with a large, knowledgeable customer service department. We’re here to help you with your restaurant needs, so be sure to call us at 888-388-6372, live chat with us on the website, or contact us via email at https://www.etundra.com/about/contact-us/.

Read below to check out some common questions we receive in our customer service department and through our social media channels. Some of these may sound familiar!

Question #1 – Gas fryer lighting woes
“I have an Imperial Elite 40 propane gas fryer. It ran out of propane the other day so I filled the bottle. But now gas won’t come through to pilot when depressed to light. I gave it plenty of time to clear line, but it seems like no gas is being allowed through? I took off supply from the fryer and I’m getting gas through the regulator at the tank to the fryer. It is only one year old, but could it be the gas valve? Nothing in trouble shooting to deal with this other than turning on gas tank or depressing pilot long enough which I have. Any help is appreciated.” – Bobby

Answer: Keep it clean
It could be that when you filled the tank that some debris got into the pilot orifice. Disconnect the gas tube from the bottom of the pilot and drop out the orifice and make sure the hole is not blocked. This sometimes happens because most gas line have some debris in them. For more info, check out our Commercial Deep Fryer Buying & Maintenance Guide with videos to help you clean a fryer, boil out a deep fryer, filter fry oil and more.

Question #2 – NSF Certified
“Must the equipment be NSF certified to be used in America? For example, a bakery oven. Thanks!” – Anthony

Answer: Better safe than sorry
Equipment is not required to be NSF certified but we would definitely recommend that you buy NSF certified equipment since that will help you with the health inspector and improve your kitchen’s food safety. To be absolutely sure for the rules and regulations in your area, call your local health department and ask them.

Question #3 – Thermometer Readings
“I have this thermometer for my grill station. My cooks complain that it’s broken. It reads the temp at the tip, unlike other cheap instant-reads that usually read somewhere in the center of the probe. Why doesn’t this thermometer indicate where it reads the temp in a busy-line-cook-proof way? The cheap ones have a little dimple in the probe to indicate where the temperature is being taken from.

This is an irrelevant problem if you are temping a sixth pan of gravy (over 140? OK!). But it becomes pretty important when a few undercooked or overcooked steaks get comped every night because the thermometer isn’t idiot-proof.” – Dan

Answer: Check the spec sheet for your specific thermometer
Be sure to check spec sheet for your specific thermometer. In your case, it states that the PDT-300 reads at the tip. When we show this thermometer to our customers, we clearly tell them that it reads at the tip, making it ideal for thin foods. That said, it can also be used for thick foods, like the gravy you mentioned. Just make sure the thin tip is in the “geometric center” of the product (using the FDA language), which is more commonly referred to as the thickest part of the product.

Also, the dimple on the probe of dial stem thermometers does not indicate the point of temperature measurement. The area between the dimple to the end of the probe (~ 2 inches) is the distance along which the temperature is averaged. It is the average temperature that shows on the dial. That is the reason dial stem thermometers cannot accurately measure the temperature of foods that are less than 2 inches thick.

For more information about thermometers, check out our Kitchen Thermometer Buying Guide that covers the different types of thermometers out there.