BSR No 8-B 10 1/4 IN (7) Chicken Fryer No Heat Ring?

[Valerie Johnson]

Ok...so I have not been here for a long time...Life has a way of throwing obstacles in our path, just finally got over one and now another.
Anyway I picked up what I believe is a later Century Series BSR chicken Fryer, It is marked on the bottom
Made in USA

NO. 8 - B
10 1/4 IN.
(7)

It is a deep fryer and has no heat ring, Am I correct in understanding that the regular skillet marked this way had a heat ring but the deep fryers did not

And is it actually a No 8 or really a NO 7 or is the (7) a pattern or mold mark

[Will Person]

I'm not really up on BS&R but most chicken (deep skillet) fryers are 3"deep. Regular skillets are 2.5

I do not know about heat ring or not for the BS&R but for like Wagner and Griswold they had it both ways.

[Russell Ware]

You can call it a "new" #8. Originally, #8s were 10 1/2 inches, but if they reduced the diameter to 10 1/4, they could mold 2 at a time instead of only one. that doubled their production ability. What was a #7 became a #8.
Pretty much the same thing happened at Lodge. That is why old Lodge lids don't quite fit new Lodge skillets.

[Valerie Johnson]

I read somewhere that the size change was also to standardize the skillets for the glass lid manufacturers.

Hi Will, Yes I know the size difference between the deep fryer and the reg skillet, this is def a chicken fryer

[Cheryl Watson]

In 1978-79, sizes changed with the installation of the Newest DISA Matic equipment, so patterns were changed with downsized pieces to allow the same number of pieces to fit one pattern.
(at least that is what I remember from Hugh Rushing).

This 1978/79 price list from Hugh, reflects the raw changes on the pricelist itself:
http://www.wagnerandgriswold.org/BSRboard/Catalogs/1978-79%20Century%20Pricelist%20pub.pdf

This price list shows the #7 Chicken Fryer with glass lid (10 1/8), and the #8 Chicken Fryer with Iron Cover.
http://www.wagnerandgriswold.org/BSRboard/Catalogs/AtlantaStoveWorks1966%20S.pdf

So, your Chicken Fryer is 1979 forward. :)