The Best Electric Deep Fryer

If you’ve tried to make fried chicken, shrimp or even French fries at home, you’ve likely found pan frying doesn’t quite do the trick. Frying pans are shallow, not allowing you to completely immerse food in oil. You’ll also deal with grease spatter all over your stove unless you’re careful, which means extra cleanup time after dinner.

An electric deep fryer is a great way to fry the foods you love in the comfort of your home. Simply fill it up with oil, wait for it to heat and insert your items. In a matter of minutes, you’ll have a tasty snack or a great side item for your meal. Since many electric deep fryers have lids and other safety mechanisms, you’ll also have protection from dangerous, not to mention messy, spatters.

Before you buy, you’ll want to decide the capacity you’ll need. If you plan to deep fry the occasional turkey or hold parties where you’ll fry up large quantities of food, you’ll need a larger capacity fryer.  But keep in mind these come at a price. The bigger size means you’ll need to find somewhere in your kitchen to store your fryer. But the smaller-sized fryers limit the food you’ll be able to cook.

Clean-up is also an important factor. Some fryers feature removable parts that you can simply slip into the dishwasher, while many others require each part to be hand washed after use. You’ll also have oil to discard after each use, so make sure you have a plan for taking care of that. Some fryers even let you save the oil to use next time.

Of course, in the end, it’s all about cooking. Some fryers have temperature controls, which makes it easier to cook a wide variety of food. You’ll also find that an indicator light can come in handy. These lights let you know when your oil is hot and ready for you to begin inserting food.

• One very important thing to look at when shopping for a deep fryer is capacity. If you plan to hold big parties or you have a big family, you may want to consider a deep fryer with a larger capacity. The T-Fal Deep Fryer 3.5 liters of oil, while the Cuisinart Deep Fryer has models with capacities of 1.1 liter, 2 quarts, 3.4 quarts, 4 quarts and 5 liters. The 5-liter version is perfect for deep frying large food items like turkeys.
• For smaller households or just cooking up some side dishes, though, consider the Presto CoolDaddy Cool-touch Deep Fryer, which holds only 1.9 liters. You’ll have all the capacity you need without taking up excessive counter space.
• Temperature accuracy is important when you’re inserting food and trusting a device to cook it as needed. The Cuisinart Deep Fryer sustains heat better than other deep fryers, even remaining hot as you add food directly from the freezer. The Presto GranPappy Electric Deep Fryer, on the other hand, has only one temperature, which doesn’t work for all foods.
• Cooking with oil can be messy, as you’ve likely found if you’ve fried foods on the stove. After you’ve finished cooking, you’ll want cleanup to be as quick and painless as possible. The T-Fal Deep Fryer has easily detachable, dishwasher-safe parts. Although it isn’t dishwasher safe, the Presto GranPappy Electric Deep Fryer has a nonstick finish to make it easy to scrub clean.
• You can’t start frying without filling your fryer with oil, and all of that has to go somewhere once you’re finished. The T-Fal Deep Fryer stores all that oil in a container that you can then save for future use. That means every time you’re ready to start cooking, you’ll have the oil from your previous session, saving you the trouble of disposing of oil afterward. Best of all, the oil is automatically strained into a separate tank, so you won’t get larger food particles in your reusable oil.
• The Cuisinart Deep Fryer also collects oil in a container, which is removable and has a pouring spout.
• One concern with household deep frying is odor. You likely don’t want your home to smell like a hamburger joint for the next few days. The Presto CoolDaddy Cool-touch Deep Fryer is built to cut down on those scents to keep your home smelling great.
• The Presto CoolDaddy Cool-touch Deep Fryer builds in an indicator light that lets you know when the oil is at the perfect temperature for adding food.
• Safety is an important feature in a deep fryer. This starts with the lid. The T-Fal Deep Fryer has a sealed cooking lid that will lock your contents inside to avoid grease spatter. It also has a magnetic attachment on the power cord that will ensure that the power shuts off immediately if the fryer tips over.
• One benefit of the Presto CoolDaddy Cool-touch Deep Fryer is that it has a viewing window that lets you keep an eye on your food without lifting the lid.
• Deep fryers can vary dramatically in size, so measure your available space before you buy. The high capacity of the T-Fal Deep Fryer and the larger Cuisinart Deep Fryer will make them tough to tuck into a corner or squeeze into a cabinet. The Presto CoolDaddy Cool-touch Deep Fryer and Presto GranPappy Electric Deep Fryer are both smaller in size, so you won’t have as much difficulty storing them.
• Deep fryers are relatively affordable, with even the highest-priced model retailing for less than $100. The T-Fal Deep Fryer is the most expensive, followed by the Cuisinart Deep Fryer. You’ll find that the smaller fryers, the Presto CoolDaddy Cool-touch Deep Fryer and Presto GranPappy Electric Deep Fryer, are the cheapest, retailing for less than $50.