With energy costs continuing their upward rise, Infinity Fryers will be displaying its line of ENERGY STAR^®-certified fryers at the 2006 National Restaurant Association Show.

ENERGY STAR certification confirms that a product has met stringent efficiency standards set by the EPA and the Department of Energy. Infinity is one of only four makers of gas-fired fryers whose products have earned this certification.

That does not mean, though, that all ENERGY STAR fryers are identical, noted Mitch Cohen, director of cooking system sales for Aga Foodservice Equipment. "The point to remember is that just because a fryer is ENERGY STAR doesn't mean it will save operators the same amount of money as other such models."

Cohen pointed out that what separates one ENERGY STAR-certified fryer from another is whether they meet or exceed the program's minimum requirements. Infinity fryers, according to objective tests, far exceed the program's minimum energy-efficiency standard, making them among the most cost-effective gas-fired fryers on the market today.

The key to Infinity fryers' high level of energy efficiency lies in how successfully they extract energy from heated gas. "The travel path of the heat in an Infinity fryer allows to wrap it twice around the pot and then out the flue," explained Cohen. "What we've done is taken every bit of hot air that burns and wrap it all the way around the fry-pot. It's like taking the whole pot and putting it in a gentle heat blanket."

Using natural gas sparingly and effectively, as Infinity does, should be a goal of operators, said, Cohen. Some of the chains he works with have seen their natural gas costs rise by as much as 60% over the past several months, and that figure looks likely to grow even further in the months ahead.

Beyond energy savings, Infinity fryers' use of heating oil offers benefits that reduce operators' costs in other ways. First, off, Infinity fryers use only 35 lbs. of oil to produce the same amount of fried items as competitors' 50-lbs. machines, reducing oil requirements by almost 40%. Because Infinity cooking pots are surrounded by heated air, heating elements don't need to reach extreme temperatures to heat all the contained oil, unlike competing fryers that rely solely on heating elements to bring oil to cooking temperature. This is significant because cooking oil breaks down more quickly when exposed to extreme temperatures. Since Infinity avoids those temperatures, its oil will typically last longer.

According to Cohen, a fryer's oil's life can be extended by up to two days, depending on how much the unit is used. Multiplied over a year, this can result in drastically reduced oil costs. In addition, longer oil life also means that staff spend less time changing the frying liquid, leaving them more time for cooking food or serving customers, activities that actually add to operators' bottom line.

All these features, combined with ENERGY STAR-certified energy savings, make Infinity fryers the best investment operators and specifiers can make in the gas-fired fryer category.

For more information, visit Infinity Fryer's web site at www.infinityfryers.com