Deep Fryers for the Home Kitchen

[Marlene]

Having a partner who loves fried chicken in the mouth when eating and hates it in the nose after eating, I just got a Waring DF200 off eBay for front porch use and will report back.

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Having a partner who loves fried chicken in the mouth when eating and hates it in the nose after eating, I just got a Waring DF200 off eBay for front porch use and will report back.

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I love mine.

Hopefully it's better than the Waring Pro I made the mistake of buying. It barely reaches it's proper temperature before plunging 30 degrees or more once you drop in your food and takes forever to make it back up (if at all, as the sensor seems to shut off prematurely due to poor placement). Not even adequate for donuts let alone heavy hitters like fried chicken. I've since switched to the tried and true pot on the stove and have never looked back.

What I love is that they boldly label it Waring "Pro" and then on the back the usual legalese "about only good for home use". Sort of like the word "artisan" overused and under delivered.

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I'd contact Waring Pro. I have the same model as Chris just bought and one of the things I love about it is it's quick recovery time. I've done fried chicken, battered fish, french fries and all manner of things in it and never had a problem.

[eatrustic]

I'd contact Waring Pro.  I have the same model as Chris just bought and one of the things I love about it is it's quick recovery time.  I've done fried chicken, battered fish, french fries and all manner of things in it and never had a problem.

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Interesting that you say that Marlene as I had read numerous reviews (after the fact) on consumer websites that complain about the problem of poor temperature maintenance and assumed it was an underpowered design. Perhaps its my model, although it looks like yours.

I've had the thing long enough now that it is out of any kind of warranty. (The problem with picking up equipment on sale for future use!) By the time I started using it it was too late to return it.

[Chris Amirault]

Hopefully it's better than the Waring Pro I made the mistake of buying. It barely reaches it's proper temperature before plunging 30 degrees or more once you drop in your food and takes forever to make it back up (if at all, as the sensor seems to shut off prematurely due to poor placement). Not even adequate for donuts let alone heavy hitters like fried chicken. I've since switched to the tried and true pot on the stove and have never looked back.

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I got this on the cheap so if it's not what it should be I'll live. From the many reports I read (including here), the Waring I got was the best of the low end.

Of course, if you dump a pound or two of anything in a few quarts of oil it tends to drop about 30-50F. We're not talking about a home Frialator here with many gallons of oil at temp, after all. There's simple physics that prevent the Waring or any other home machine from maintaining temperature when a bunch of whatever at room temp is tossed into it.

[Marlene]

I'd contact Waring Pro.  I have the same model as Chris just bought and one of the things I love about it is it's quick recovery time.  I've done fried chicken, battered fish, french fries and all manner of things in it and never had a problem.

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Interesting that you say that Marlene as I had read numerous reviews (after the fact) on consumer websites that complain about the problem of poor temperature maintenance and assumed it was an underpowered design. Perhaps its my model, although it looks like yours.

I've had the thing long enough now that it is out of any kind of warranty. (The problem with picking up equipment on sale for future use!) By the time I started using it it was too late to return it.

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The next time I drag it out for fried chicken, I'll time the recovery time and report back. Maybe I just got lucky. I've had mine for I think 3 years. Of course, it is small, so you have to do small batches, but then, we're a family of two or three depending on the week, so I'm not trying to feed an army, although many would say I cook that way anyway.

[JimH]

We have a Nesco Fryer which has been great for over 4 years now.  It's on sale for $50 at the moment, which is hard to beat.  It uses 1800 watts and the recovery time isn't too bad.  We only use it about 4 times a year, but it's nice to have, and the whole thing comes apart for easy cleaning.  In fact, everything but the heater element/thermostat can go in the dishwasher.

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I bought the Nesco on your recommendation. It arrived yesterday and it's a well built fryer. I cleaned it and will be frying onion rings tonight and maybe some mushroom caps or zucchini strips. Everything is better fried.

[Chris Amirault]

Used the Waring DF200 mentioned above tonight for fried chicken. I set it at the max (375F) and kept it there; it got to 365F on my thermometer and so I figured we were ready to go.

I fried four batches of breast meat chicken, about 3/4 lb each batch, in the max amount of oil. The recovery time was outstanding, probably 50% faster than a cast iron dutch oven on the stove. Of course, it was also great for marital relations to have it outside. For what I paid, I couldn't be happier.

[Marlene]

Glad it worked well for you Chris. I've always been pleased with the recovery time on mine.

[gfweb]

I've given up. So far deLonghi, Tfal and waring Pro have all failed to get up to 375 and have lousy recovery time.

I am now completely happy with a big dutch oven, a fast burner and a digital thermometer. Back to the future!

[Chris Amirault]

After ten years of LeCreuset dutch ovens, I have to tell you that the recovery time on the Waring is much, much faster than before. Didn't get to 375F exactly, but if it recovers within a few minutes (instead of 15), then I can live with 368F.

[Chris Amirault]

Just a quick update on the Waring, with which I've been very happy all this time. However, when frying 10# of roots and tubers for chips yesterday in 25F temps outdoors, I noticed that the break-away plug would loosen slightly. I don't know if the temps had something to do with it or not, but it was difficult enough to fry stuff in those temps without losing power now and then.

Still, the damned thing maintained temps even in the frigid tundra of my porch.

[Chris Amirault]

Just an update: the effect was definitely related to the cold. Something was shrinking in the frigid air, making it more likely to fall out of the coupling. Made some fried chicken last week in 45F weather and all was fine.

[CavePullum]

Here I was all set to buy a Waring Pro after reading through this thread... it is now on amazon for $80, which seems like a good price when I decided to go and browse through Williams Sonoma's site and came across the "Krups High Performance Deep Fryer" priced at almost $400.

This thing looks almost identical to the Waring Pro in its specs (1750 watts, nearly the same advertised capacity, a little lighter, etc.) So I can't help but wonder why it is > 4X the price. I know that the advertised wattage of an appliance does not necessarily correlate to its power, so maybe the two really aren't comparable? Could it be that much better?

Don't know what to do, so I turn to you, fellow e-gulleteers... anyone own one of these "Krups High Performance Deep Fryer"? Any thoughts?

[mgaretz]

I've seen a demo of the Krups - its "claim to fame" is that it has a fan that forces its exhaust steam (and fried food smell) through a carbon filter. In the store I could still smell the fried food, so I assume it will be stronger in a average kitchen. Worth it? Not in my opinion! I'll stick with the Tfal that drains, filters and stores the oil conveniently for one third the money!

[Chris Amirault]

The Waring is now dead, utterly dead. Doesn't turn on. Not sure what's happening here; trying to contact the folks at Waring to find out.

ETA: Sounds like that model is no longer made or supported and had that problem throughout it's lifespan. Argh.

So: Does anyone have any experience with the T-Fal T-Fal Ultimate EZ Clean? U gotta luv the EZ!

Edited December 8, 2010 by Chris Amirault (log)

[ScoopKW]

After reading the thread, I noticed only two people in the "gas and a wok/double boiler" camp. I'll pitch my tent with them.

I wouldn't own an electric fryer any more than I'd own an electric water heater (and for exactly the same reason -- electric elements are too inefficient to get the job done right).

I fry chicken at home every Sunday (during football season, at least), and it's a big cast iron pot, a good thermometer and a big portable burner for me. That way I can cook outside without smelling up the house. The cast iron has the best heat retention. And the burner is one one of those "Asian street vendor" burners that throws some serious heat.

Short of a Hobart or a Frymaster in the house (that'll be the day), that is the only option I'd consider.

Edited December 8, 2010 by ScoopKW (log)

[Marlene]

Really? I still have mine and it's still going strong. I did recently buy a Krupps for the cottage, but haven't had a chance to use it yet.

[mgaretz]

So: Does anyone have any experience with the T-Fal T-Fal Ultimate EZ Clean? U gotta luv the EZ!

We have the Emeril equivalent (got it used) and it's been great for us. I love being able to have it auto-filter the oil and the fact that the oil stores in a dedicated container. It heats quickly and does a great job as long as you don't overload it. I also like the fact that it comes apart for easy cleaning and each piece doesn't weigh very much.

[Chris Amirault]

Marlene, have you ever had the power cord issues I'm describing? ScoopKW is sounding pretty compelling, given what I already have....

[Marlene]

Marlene, have you ever had the power cord issues I'm describing? ScoopKW is sounding pretty compelling, given what I already have....

No I haven't. I've never had a problem with this fryer and I've had it for what, 4 or 5 years now?

[Chris Amirault]

I loved it while it worked.... Based on this evidence (see video 3), the guys over at Modernist Cuisine like it too!

[Marlene]

But then I don' t use mine outside in cold temps either!

[Chris Amirault]

Not sure why that would affect the power cord; perhaps someone with more knowledge can weigh in here. Having said that, it's out in the toasty kitchen, too.

[CtznCane]

I'm on my 3rd deep fryer. They seem to last 2-3 years at most. My first one was good but I forget the brand, the second was the t-fal emeril. The oil drainage was nice but not without its own hassles of sort. After awhile the knob for each setting for the reservoir became flimsy. All in all though it was pretty decent.

I just recently replaced it with a Presto Pro Fry. I only bought this because the price (on sale at Sears) was under 60 bucks. Figured if it got me through the holidays I'd be pleased. I've actually been more than happily surprised. It has 2 baskets which makes it nice for cooking fries and fish at the same time. In fact I have the oil heating now for fries for lunch. I just checked and when it just clicked as up to temp (375) I checked the temp and it is registering 370 on my thermapen. Right after the fries went in it still only went down to 330 and was starting to climb back up slightly in temp within 45 seconds. I have no clue how long this will work for but it seems like a good value. As for cleaning, it isn't all that bad to just run the oil back into its container with a good size funnel and several layers of cheesecloth.

[Chris Amirault]

Is it this guy? A bit smaller than the Waring that broke -- 16 cups to 12 cups....

[CtznCane]

Is it this guy? A bit smaller than the Waring that broke -- 16 cups to 12 cups....

That's the one. I came across it purely by chance but again, so far I've been pleasantly surprised and quite satisfied to say the least. I was getting a new Cuisinart coffee maker and found it on sale. Almost wish I'd picked up a seoond one.