Top 10 Best Deep Fryer 2020 Reviews & Buying Guide
A deep fryer is an indispensable part of a serious cook’s repertoire. You can make a batch of crispy fried chicken, French fries, buttered deep fried fish, crispy coated veggies, donuts, and seafood like coconut shrimp and Japanese tempura, and other goodies for your friends and family on special occasions. You can enjoy the juicy, crusty, and tender food with their original flavor. Your food will always be crispy and light and will never be heavy, greasy, and doughy if you fry them freshly.
The fryers maintain stable temperature to match with heating element and cooking oil remains boiling hot. Your food should cook well. However, keep in mind that temperature will drop little bit when you immerse cold or raw foods in hot oil container but it will instantly get back to usual temperature.
We prefer to fry our own food as opposed to buying pre-made fried food as most fast food joints overdo the salt and fat content. This can lead to serious health problems like type 2 diabetes and health disease, according to WebMD.
When buying a deep fryer, fat fryer or fryolator, here are some features to consider –
- Will a knob work well?
- Digital control panel
- Dishwasher safe components
- Timer
- Automatic oil filtration with oil drainage
- What size do you look for?
- A clear lid to see cooking status
- Fryer which can be traditional or professional
- Buzzer or illuminating light to show when food is ready
Here are some of our top picks to choose the best rated deep fryer for your kitchen or in commercial and professional settings like concession stands, snack bars, diners, buffets, canteens, cafeteria and self-service restaurants. Also check the list for best air fryer reviews if you’re looking for a healthier and lighter frying tool.
Best Buy Deep Fryer Reviews 2020
Table of Contents
1. T-fal Oil Filtration Ultimate EZ Clean 3.5-Liter Deep Fryer
Prepare restaurant-worthy and delicious fried food at home without any mess and stress with Ultimate EZ Clean deep fryer from T-fal. Designed for delicious family-size dinners, this deep fryer can hold 3.5 liter oil and 2.65-pound fresh food. You can make the ultimate classics with main courses, appetizers or desserts.
The adjustable thermostat of the efficient 1700W fryer allows users to select the ideal cooking temperature to fry the specific food and its fast-recovery heating to ensure crispy layers with least oil absorption for healthy cooking.
Key features
- Smooth and precise thermostat control
- Removable and dishwasher safe parts
- Great heating elements
- 2-position basket for draining and cooking food
2. Cuisinart CDF-200 4 Qt. Stainless Steel Deep Fryer
The 4 Qt. Deep Fryer from Cuisinart allows you to serve up crispy and hot deep-fried goodies at home. It features effective heating element offering uniform and high heat in cooking and it fries onion rings, potatoes, chicken, seafood, and vegetables. It can hold 4-quart food, i.e. up to 2.3 pounds of food. It has become the best fryer for entertaining and big family meals. The oil container, frying basket and lid are dishwasher safe for easy cleanup.
Key features
- Fries onion rings, potatoes, chicken, seafood, donuts, vegetables and more
- Mesh basket made of stainless steel with cool-touch handle
- Cooks around 2.3 pounds of food
- Removable 1 gallon enameled oil container with pouring spout
- 1800W removable immersion style heating element for heat recovery and quick heat-up
3. Hamilton Beach (35021) Deep Fryer, Cool Touch with Basket
Hamilton Beach Deep Fryers are sized well for improved versatility, and some of them also cooks a whole chicken. In addition, you can fry delicious crispy foods without any mess. You can lower the food in hot oil and lift out when the lid is closed to fry without splatter. The deep fryers from Hamilton Beach also have convenient timers and adjustable heat. This deep fryer is also easy to clean and has non-stick pot which is dishwasher safe. It is also easy to store breakaway cord.
Key features
- Capacity to hold 8 cup oil
- Cooks faster than other deep fryers
- Immersed removable heating element for fast heat-up and frying
- Fry with lid closed to lower splatter
- Cooks 6-cup chicken tenders or French fries
- Viewing window
- Cool-touch sides
- Ready and power on lights
- Adjustable temperature
4. Presto 05442 CoolDaddy Cool-touch Deep Fryer
By choosing the right kitchen tool, you can easily deep fry crisp and delicious food rather than making it soggy and fatty. Presto CoolDaddy is the cool-touch electric deep fryer which has a lot of features to make delicious fried chicken, shrimp, fish, and French fries for around 6 people. The thermostat is adjustable from 250 degrees F to 375 degrees F and it has bright red indicator which signals when oil reaches the desired temperature. It has viewing window to keep track on progress without having to open its cover. It has wire basket with outer handle.
Key features
- Ideal for shrimp, chicken, French fries and other treats.
- Capacity to hold 6 cups of oil in compact size
- Adjustable thermostat
- Exterior basket handle to lower food in oil
- Removable air filter to absorb odors
5. Presto Stainless Steel Dual Basket Pro Fry Immersion Element Deep Fryer
Presto 05466 stainless steel dual basket pro fry is a professional style deep fryer that comes with dual baskets. Get the smoky restaurant taste in your home-cooked good with this convenient deep fryer with 12-cup food capacity to fry family-sized meals instantly.
It has oblong-shaped baskets which are best to cook large pieces of fish or chicken. It has 1800W immersion element offers fast oil temperature recovery and quick preheating. You can easily choose different frying temperatures with adjustable thermostat. You can know when oil is ready to fry with signal light. It helps reduce odor and spattering with lid having charcoal air filter.
Key features
- Built well according to North American electrical norms
- Dual basket, stainless steel professional style deep fryer
- Quick pre-heating and fast recovery of oil temperature
- 12-cup food capacity
6. Proctor Silex 35041 Professional Grade Stainless Steel Deep Fryer with Basket
With Proctor Silex 35041 professional grade deep fryer, you can make delicious and crisp pickle chips, fries, and golden brown chicken. It adds convenience and best results to prepare homemade doughnuts or mozzarella sticks. This deep fryer is made with heating element in this pot. With its direct contact, oil can heat faster both before use and between the batches.
You should keep the oil at right temperature for use. It also has indicator light to achieve best results every time. It is also easy to adjust the temperature to cater it to your favorite foods. It has compact design to own a deep fryer even though there is lack of space. It is great to cook up to four servings or for single portions.
Key features
- 5 L oil capacity
- Space-efficient design
- Fast heat-up and frying
- Easy to adjust temperature
- Ideal for 1-4 servings or single portions
7. Cuisinart CDF-100 Compact 1.1-Liter Deep Fryer
Cuisinart CDF-100 compact deep fryer is really space-efficient. It can fry up to ¾ of a pound within 1.1 liter of oil. This deep fryer is great even for spur-of-moment meals and snacks. It has compact design to prepare salad toppings or fried calamari with ease or even fry up mozzarella sticks for Sunday brunch.
Die-cast frying bowl maintains desired oil temperatures up to 375F for restaurant-worthy meals. It is easy to clean up, easy to use and easy to store. You can easily deep fry your favorite meals in day-to-day life.
Key features
- Holds up to ¾ pound in fry basket and 1.1 liter oil capacity
- Removable charcoal filter to remove odor
- Non-stick die-cast bowl for great heating with heating element
- Up to 375F of adjustable thermostat
8. T-fal Adjustable Temperature Mini Deep Fryer with Removable Lid
With T-fal FF492D deep fryer, you can easily prepare delicious fried food in small batches with basket. It is ideal for one to two servings of food. It has great cooking possibilities and it takes less space on countertop. It can make onion rings, donuts, French fries and even more. It has capacity of 1.2 liters and around 0.66 pounds of fresh food.
Key features
- One touch operation
- Ready and on indicator lights
- Compact size
- Removable frying basket
- Removable lid
9. Cuisinart CDF-130 2-quart Compact Deep Fryer
Cuisinart CDF-130 Compact 2-quart deep fryer is ideal for cooking for two or for small batches for deep frying at home quick and easy. With its heating element of 1500W, it heats up in a hurry and offers even high heat.
Key features
- Fries onion rings, potatoes, seafood, tempura, chicken etc.
- 2-quart oil capacity to fry up to 1.3 pounds of food
- Temperature control dial makes it easy to operate
- Easy to clean up
10. VonShef Deep Fryer with Viewing Window and Basket
VonShef Deep Fryer with basket is designed well to make your own popcorn chicken, chocolate bars, fritters, fried doughnuts, spring rolls etc. with ease. It is temperature controlled and easy to use.
Key features
- Large 3 liter deep fryer
- High-grade, contemporary stainless steel construction
- Temperature controlled deep fryer from 250F to 370F
Deep Fryer Buyer’s Guide Clean and Care Instructions
How to select the deep fryer?
A commercial deep fryer can be chosen on the basis of factors like temperature, time taken for cooling, sediment zone, tank capacity, frying area, fryer battery, output, flue deflector, flue, and drain boards.
- Temperature range is an important factor to choose the best commercial deep fryer since if temperature ranges are time taking to control, the quality of food might changes and fries might not come out crisp and sometimes consumption of gas and oil will be higher. This might run you into losses.
- Flue and flue deflector are terms to be observed in gas fryers. These determine the consumption of fuel to make the food in right time. The output is defined based on time taken to produce certain quantity of food. For examples, the quantity of French fries the machine can produce in an hour.
- Frying area is an important factor to determine the efficiency of the product since more frying area supports you to produce more output in less time.
- The tank capacity and fryer battery are the factors that determine fuel consumption and help you to determine how can the user can save the fuel.
Cleaning instructions
The clean and care instructions for deep oil fryers come different with different manufacturers. But the basic precautions to handle deep oil fryer that use electricity are the same. Generally, many of the restaurants use electric oil deep fryers for supplying bulk orders. But handling and cleaning electric deep fryers is not an easy task since they are operated on high temperature and cleaning them might be tough and might lead to dangerous situations if proper precautions are not taken.
Here are some of the deep fryers clean and care instructions useful for all kinds of manufacturers.
Firstly, you need to remove all the oil and baskets before cleaning. Generally most of us use excess oils for deep frying and if you don’t empty the oil before cleaning, oil gets wasted. It is recommendable to empty and save the oil before you clean the deep fryer unless you need to cook fish or sea food using the deep fryer.
Things to keep handy before cleaning up the deep fryer
Take things like vinegar, paper towel, cloth to clean up and wipe, dish washer solution, soap, spatula, and scrubber handy before you begin to clean the deep fryer. You need to empty the device and unplug it before you begin the cleaning and take care that you never use sharp spatula or scrub to clean up the deep fryer.
Unplug the deep fryer if the machine is empty
You need to unplug the deep fryer if the machine is empty since you might burn your hands if the device is plugged while cleaning. A deep fryer might accumulate many dust particles and residues of oil and the stuff and you need to scrape them using a spatula or a comfortable utensil before cleaning them. For this, you need to unplug the deep fryer for removing all the residues and grease particles around the deep fryer.
Then place the detergent solution or dishwasher solution in correct amounts in the deep fryer and then add sufficient amount of water. Boil the solution for a while and unplug the fryer again. Allow it to cool for some time and then clean the deep fryer. Take care that you unplugged the device before you clean it up using your hands or brush.
Never immerse the deep fryer in water
Never immerse the deep fryer in water as no electronic device can be immersed in water. After scraping the residue and cleaning up the device, you can rinse the deep fryer gently but never immerse the device in water. You can dilute the vinegar solution in 1/10 proportion and clean up the deep fryer and then clean it with a cleaning solution. Then, wipe the device with a clean cloth or a paper towel after rinsing the device with clean water. There is an electrical hazard if you do not dry the device properly before plugging it in.
After completion of cleaning up the device, you can finally wipe it with a degreasing solution and then wipe it with a clean cloth or a paper towel. A deep fryer comes with an instruction manual for cleaning and care and hence you can follow the instructions before heading to clean it up.
How to Use a Deep Fryer?
If you do not know how to use a deep fryer then do not worry and follow the steps listed below. You will be able to use the deep fryer with perfection by just reading this guide once. So, here are the steps of using the deep fryer.
Fill Oil in Deep Fryer – The first step is to fill the oil in the deep fryer. Ensure that you are using good healthy oil and there is no carbon content in the oil. If you are reusing the oil then ensure that you have filtered the oil at least once.
Turn on and Set Temperature – Once you have poured the oil, turn on the deep fryer and set the temperature to the desired temperature. You might want to set it to high for a few seconds before turning it back to normal temperature. Some of the fryers have a digital temperature display for the oil. They can make the cooking a loteasier for you.
Dry the Food – Now, before you put the food in the deep fryer, ensure that you dry the food properly. It is really very important because the water on the surface of the food can be a fire hazard. It can also lead to oil being splattered across the area and causing injuries. Do not put the food directly in but arrange the food on the steel mesh that comes with the fryer.
Slowly lower the Food – Now lower the food into the fryer and wait for it to fry. You can also set the timer. Again, there are some fryers with a timer which can prove to be really great. You can also go ahead and shake the food slowly after a couple of seconds to ensure even cooking. It depends on the type of food you are cooking and keep a check so that you do not overcook or burn the food.
Remove the Food and let Oil Drain – In this step, you need to lift the fryer basket and wait for a couple of seconds. This will help you in draining the oil from the food. In the meantime, spread a tissue on the plate. Take out the food from the basket and put it on the plate. You can now enjoy the food but do not forget to turn off the fryer.
Remove the Oil – Once the oil is cool, you can filter it and store it back in the container. We recommend you to avoid storing the oil in the deep fryer as this can lead to contamination. Always ensure that the oil has cooled down before storing it back.
These are some of the steps that you need to follow in order to use a deep fryer properly. Ensure that there is no water content on the food or else it can lead to fire and cause severe burn injuries. All the utensils you are using in the deep fryer should be free from water. Also, your hands should be totally dry.
Deep Fryer Vs. Pan-frying: Which Is Best?
Frying is the method of preparing food items using a fat or oil until the food is soft or crispy for consumption. There are two common methods to cook your foods are deep-frying and pan-frying. In both methods, oil is heated to a certain temperature to cook the food. Here we will discuss the difference between deep fryer and pan-frying.
Amount of Oil
It is a well-known fact that the deep fryer consumes much oil to cook the food items when compared to pan-frying with a carbon steel pan or a saucepan. Pan-frying food consumes a small amount of oil compared to deep frying food. But with the deep fryer, the oil it takes is almost equal to covering half of the food. So the food is completely submerged in the oil that requires a lot of oil for deep frying. But the advantage is that the food will get cooked faster in the deep fryer as the pan-frying allows the food to expose air.
Temperatures
In a deep fryer, the temperature of the oil is maintained around 350 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. So it is a known fact that the food absorbs much oil in the deep frying method. It is necessary to remove the excess oil present in the food, using the right procedure. One can use a slotted spoon or a basket with grids or holes that drain the excess oil present in it. Thus, before serving the food, you can reduce the excess soil in it using this method.
When you consider frying in a pan, the temperature maintained here is 350 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that the oil is preheated to such a temperature range. It is not easy to cook in a pan, as it will contain a thin layer of the oil. So, you need some excess time to pay fry the food.
Results of cooked food:
Deep fryer gives you food that is much crispier and juicy-rich. But pan-frying will just brown the food by cooking the outer layer of the food. So, there is a lot of chance to lose moisture in pan-fried food due to open exposure to air, whereas the food in deep fryer doesn’t lose moisture due to complete-covered oil cooking. When you cook the food in a deep fryer, the moisture in the food repels the grease. But when you pan fry the food, the temperature is not enough for the food that attracts the grease and giving you a greasy taste.
Which is best?
When you want to prepare some crispy snacks such as cheese sticks, French fries, onion rings, cutlets, chicken nuggets, and doughnuts, etc. you need a deep fryer to get a good result. For all such snacks preparation, deep frying is the best method of cooking. But when you want to cook light food items such as bacon, pork chops, and pancakes, then you can go with the pan-frying method. Based on your food items, choose the right method of frying that yields the best result.
Summary
Whether you choose dual basket or single basket deep fryers, you need to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. So we wish you happy shopping, eating and preparing your favorite crispy fried foods!
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Madison
Thanks for stopping at my blog. I'm Madison, a mother and a wife who loves to cook. I've also worked as a professional sous chef at Florida Grill. The concept of this blog is to share the best kitchen and cooking accessories without any bias. I wish my reviews and guide will help you to make a good decision in picking your ideal kitchenware.