Gear Heads | Which Electric Deep Fryers Make the Crispiest, Gooiest Mozzarella Sticks?
Electric deep-fryers promise to take the fear out of deep frying. They supposedly make frying easier, safer, and less messy than frying in a Dutch oven with a probe thermometer attached, which is how we typically deep-fry foods in the test kitchen. Lisa and Hannah put various models to the test.
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I've had the Delonghi Livenza deep fryer for a couple years, and it has not let me down once. I use peanut oil, because it can take the highest heat and last the longest. I know that everybody else uses an air fryer, but I prefer my deep fryer instead. So my Phillips air fryer stays in its box unused. Thanks, DeLonghi, for making something that works for the long term. 🙂
Terrible 'review' but Hannah is cute.
I'm old enough to remember when the original Fry-Baby and a whole slew of mini deep fryers came out in the seventies; most of them could fry in 2 cups of oil! I was in college then and we Americans didn't pig out like today. These two plump reviewers come across as spoiled, entitled newbies. That Presto has satisfied countless thousands of home cooks, including me back then. I absolutely would not want a deep fryer with those hot wires hanging in the pot to accumulate food, crumbs and general mess. And no, that plastic lid on the Presto, which used to be sized to match a 3# coffee can lid (pre-Starbucks) works perfectly well to seal the oil and place it in the refrigerator. If you don't have that time, just go to Mickey D's like you usually do. Lisa, you used to do these better by yourself.
I don't understand why you don't lift up the baskets, load them, then immerse the entire load. Bizarre.
How long should I deep Fry Nathan's onion rings? 🤔
I bought the Presto FryDaddy Plus which I see Kevin Belton use on his cooking shows. The ThermoPro TP-17 gives me temp and a Bohner mandolin did the thin slicing. My test was potato chips with skin on. One potato was sliced and soaked 2hrs in cold water w/2 water changes. Frying was 2 batches drying on dish towel before frying. Fry basket was loaded with start temp at 385 which fell to 325 for 7 min. Basket was pulled and placed on paper towel covered plate resting for 15min (fryer turned off). Fryer turned on @ 318 and heated to 385. Basket was lowered into oil to cook visually. Agitation was lift and shake basket as well as a wooden spoon. Around 12min later chips were crisp and beautifully shaped with temp at 389. Basket was drained and chips dumped on paper towel then salted with Slap ya Mamma Cajun seasoning. Any splatters were caught with inverted 8" fine mesh strainer. Almost no mess to clean up. Sometimes cheap works well, $39.
I dont know what happened to Chris but I miss him.
Thought that America's 'test' kitchen would provide better testing. Deep fryers need to 1.maintain temperature or come back up to temp quickly- did they?. 2. how much food can be prepared at one time and is the basket large enough for more than a single batch (and can it maintain temp)? 3. Do any of the gimmicks work (such as smell reduction while frying and filtration of oil)? Not happy with this review and was hoping for more.
Very dorky, lazy amateur like review that didn't really justify their bias. Geewhiz!!! if you get a higher end fryer you can expect a little more care and cleanup, dont be so lazy …smh…I'm going with Breville cause of the extra mile technology that went into it which was so under appreciated in this sloppy review.
You didn't rate all of the same models in each test. Disappointing.
What size is the T-fal deep fryer that was used?
What does it mean that the t-fal filters the oil? In what way? Where does the gunk go? Edit: a quick look at the manual makes me think there’s a little filter that lets the oil drain and leaves the gunk in the main pot (which I’d then have to clean out). Doesn’t seem easier than using a mesh strainer and filtering the oil into a container. A mesh strainer’s simple to clean.
in the meanwhile the other mozarella sticks thawed in that bowl and with that said, bad comparison review
I have to say I get fries from my air fryer just as good as if I had fried them.
I grew up with the Fry Daddy and all of its relatives. It was still a safer way to fry at home than in an open pot on the stove especially with kids involved which we were.
Not the greatest test. Missed a few things that could have been tested. Maybe they were just hungry.
How has the ‘Dutch oven’ ever been the preferred method..
I had the Tfal deep fryer until it just died. The internal power switch went first so I just went around that. Then the unit was just dead. It did not power up and the internals were crispy and falling apart. But I really liked this unit. Used it a lot!
For the first time ever I am not recommending anything that filters oil. If they had more time with this, they would realize that the oil leaks when it's hot and warps the reservoir and ruins it all. And you will continuously have leaks once it starts leaking it leaks forever. Try having all of that oil all over your counter… I highly recommend staying away from anything with the reservoir underneath a hot deep fryer unless you want to have regrets
how long can the oil sit in the fryer? say I use it once today and dont fry anything again for 2 months, is that oil still okay? or does that whole amount of oil need to be reused each time I fry something?
You put all Tfal parts except the power in the dishwasher,
Me currently eating mozzarella sticks from sonic 😭 these shits HITTTT
I'd have to say Avantco F100 for the win.
i don't like that they dip that plastic spatula in the oil
Not sure I would make a purchase based on this review. Kind of a review "lite". Accurate temperature sensors will adjust for elevation. Where I live water boils at 208 rather than 212 for instance.
Here's a list that helped me out.
whinyl.com/tbdfrys-guide/
In the end, I went with #9.
"2:36"
how did you get tfal for $108??? amazon has it for 178..
Do you two actually cook meals or do you just rely on this fryer that instant pot the air fryer and or microwave?
Never heard "Dear Liza"…….lol……….New England thing I guess
Thank you so much for this comprehensive video! I didn’t think about the clean up part. I’ll just stick to frying with my frying pan 😉
Had the test kitchen did their due diligence and actually monitor temperatures, like CR and Wirecutter, it would have reveled that the one Achilles heal of the tfal is it's inability to get to true temp and maintain temperatures.
Fine and dandy if you're cooking cheese sticks or one small order of fries. Cook a whole basket and you'll get a bunch of soggy spuds.
This is what was repeated over and over again. I'd avoid it if you plan to cook big batches…
I had a presto like that but it had a little basket. Did they do the Butter Ball Fryer. Also, i think the DeLongi has a drain tube. I wish the T-Fal had a spout, but I guess it's an easy pour. I think you're supposed to leave the oil in the bin though. I guess we've given up on old school style fryers with the round baskets. I hope T-Fal comes out with one with a LCD and about a liter bigger
The women eating mozzarella sticks was not sexual innuendo at all.
I have the Breville and love it. I don't understand them calling the controls finicky, you turn a dial to choose a mode and press start. If you don't like the pre-programmed modes, there's a custom one you can set however you want. The modes also heat a bit past the temp to account for it dropping when you add the food, which is kinda nice. And it has a timer, which a lot of deep fryers don't. They also complained about how small the Breville's basket is, it looks smaller but it's very deep. The Tfal they love has a 2.6lb basket, Breville's is 2.5 so you basically both can make the same amounts.
There was literally no effort put into reading up on on any of these lol.
First dietary mistake = using vegetable oil to deep fry! Beef tallow/lard much healthier as well as better tasting!
Great review. I just bought the T-Fal. I am a Yankee and know nothing of frying but my wife is a Southerner.