A wing restaurant is built around its fryers: you need enough fry capacity for your busiest hour, a hood over every fryer, cold and frozen storage that keeps raw chicken apart from everything else, a way to hold sauces at the right temperature, and the sinks every food business needs. Plan the fry line first, because it decides your hood size, gas line and floor plan.
Shop the equipment in this article: commercial deep fryers, reach-in refrigerators and hand sinks. Freight is included on every order.
For a small shop, a 40 lb floor fryer such as the Cookline CF40LP fryer is a common starting point. Its page lists a 40 lb oil capacity, three cast iron tube burners at 30,000 BTU each for 90,000 BTU in total, a millivolt thermostat that needs no electrical connection, and propane gas (the CF40-NG is the natural gas version). Most wing shops run more than one fryer so wings, fries and breaded items do not all share the same oil.
1. Fryers
Count fryers from your peak hour, not your average day. As common practice, operators separate fryers by product: one or more for wings, one for fries, and a separate one for anything breaded or for allergen-free orders. Things to check on each fryer page:
- Oil capacity in pounds and the number of baskets.
- Gas type, natural gas or propane, and the total BTU, which your gas line has to supply.
- Whether it needs electricity. Millivolt fryers like the CF40-LP do not.
The CF40-LP page also states plainly that fryers must go under a hood and that a licensed gas installer should make the connection. Talk to your hood installer and fire department about the full fry line before you sign a lease, since the hood is often the largest single cost of the build-out.
2. Cold and frozen storage for chicken
Wings arrive raw or frozen in bulk, so storage fills quickly. Plan:
- A reach-in or walk-in freezer for frozen cases.
- Refrigeration for thawing and for raw wings waiting to be fried, holding 41 F or below.
- A separate place for raw chicken. The FDA Food Code calls for raw animal foods to be kept separate from ready-to-eat food in storage (section 3-302.11); putting raw chicken on the lowest shelf is the common way to do that in a shared unit.
Thaw frozen wings in the refrigerator, under cold running water, or as part of cooking, as the Food Code allows (section 3-501.13); not on the counter. Browse reach-in refrigerators and reach-in freezers for one, two and three door sizes.
3. Cooking to temperature
Poultry has to reach 165 F under the Food Code (section 3-401.11). Keep a calibrated probe thermometer at the fry station and check wings from each new batch or new product. Write your fry times and oil temperature on a card at the station so every cook works the same way.
4. Sauce and hot holding
Sauces and cooked wings held for service must stay at 135 F or above, and cold dips such as ranch and blue cheese at 41 F or below (section 3-501.16). A countertop bain marie food warmer holds sauces in pans at the toss station, and a refrigerated prep table keeps dips, celery and carrots cold within reach. See sandwich and salad prep tables for rail sizes.
5. Prep and toss station
Wings are usually tossed in sauce in bowls right after frying, so put a stainless work table beside the fryers with room for bowls, sauce pans and to-go containers. A wall shelf above it keeps containers and lids off the table.
6. Sinks
- Hand sinks at the fry line, prep area and dish area. The Food Code requires hand sinks to be easy to reach for staff in food preparation and ware washing areas (section 5-204.11). See hand sinks.
- A three compartment sink for washing, rinsing and sanitizing bowls, baskets and pans (section 4-301.12). See 3 compartment sinks.
- A mop sink for floor cleaning, which matters in a kitchen with this much oil.
7. Fryer care
Oil quality decides how your wings taste and how often you buy oil. Filter and top up oil on a schedule and boil out the fryers as the manual directs. Our guide on how to filter fryer oil and when to change it walks through it.
Quick checklist
- Fryers sized for the peak hour, with a hood over all of them
- Gas line sized for the total BTU of the fry line
- Freezer and refrigeration with a separate place for raw chicken
- Probe thermometer at the fry station
- Sauce warmer and cold rail for dips
- Work table and wall shelf for tossing and packing
- Hand sinks, three compartment sink and mop sink
What to buy
Start with commercial deep fryers and size the rest of the kitchen around the fry line. Freight to the 48 contiguous states is included in every price, powered equipment has a 7-day return window and non-powered items 14 days. Your local health department has the final say on your layout, so take your equipment list to plan review before you order.