Thirty minutes outside of Boston, in a town named Framingham, the Chicken Bone was choking.
Nightlife expert Jeff Taffer decided to perform the Heimlich on the Chicken Bone. On an episode of the Spike TV show “Bar Rescue,” which airs September 11, Taffer set out to revive the failing bar through a revitalization in its food options, ambiance, and kitchen equipment. That’s where Henny Penny came in.
Henny Penny, a manufacturer of foodservice equipment, built the industry’s first commercial pressure fryer in 1957. The fryer, around which the company has built its reputation, was installed in the Chicken Bone’s kitchen during its revamp, generating higher production levels and tastier chicken options for the bar.
“[The commercial pressure fryer] became a much bigger focus of the show than what the producers even anticipated,” says Jason Moles, director of marketing for Henny Penny, “just because of the excitement that it generated once they started using it.”
Moles says the fryer is particularly ideal for cooking chicken—a staple bar food. “You can do a lot of other items in the pressure fryer as well, but most of our customers that utilize the pressure fryer, they’re using it for chicken,” he explains.
Restaurants that use an open fryer are wasting time and resources, according to Moles.
To begin with, Henny Penny’s fryer may reduce cooking time up to 40 percent. “Products that might take anywhere from 15 to 18 minutes in an open fryer, you can typically do that in around 10 minutes in a pressure fryer,” Moles says. “You can cook at a lower temperature than open frying because the heat is not escaping through the top.”
With shorter cooking times, restaurants can easily increase profitability and improve customer satisfaction. “Obviously, if you’re able to cook the product faster, your production levels are going to be greater,” Moles says. “There’s always a huge demand on getting products out in a timely manner, making sure customers aren’t having to wait.”
The overall taste factor improves as well with the commercial pressure fryer, Moles explains, because the product’s natural flavors and juices are not escaping through the air.
Chains such as KFC, Wendy’s, and Chick-fil-A also use Henny Penny’s pressure fryer.
Moles says he hopes Henny Penny’s appearance on “Bar Rescue” will open up doors to more casual-dining restaurants and bar locations that have not heard of the company. “There’s still a lot of people out there who still don’t fully understand the benefits of pressure frying, so I think this will give us the opportunity to help relay that information out there.”
The episode of “Bar Rescue” featuring Henny Penny and the Chicken Bone airs on Spike TV on Sunday, September 11, at 10/9C.
By Sonya Chudgar
