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Deep Fryers for the Home Kitchen


Neitsdelf

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My Costco  store has the Waring Pro fryer for $36 after a $10 discount. I haven't seen them online for that price.

I just bought that one - Waring WPF500. I'm returning it today because when set to max. 375˚, it won't even get to 325˚. Other than that, I really liked it - it heats/reheats quickly. I'll stick to my wok and propane burner (I deep fry outdoors because of lack of ventilation in the kitchen).

Monterey Bay area

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Does anyone have any experience with the Euro Pro Fryer?  I got a refurbished one recently and I keep having problems with it.  Customer service was of little help.  It shuts off and has to be reset - which can only be done after the oil cools down.  Very frustrating in the middle of frying.

Also, anymore feedback on the Waring?

I bought one of those used for a small commercial kitchen, paid 30 bucks for it almost new. It lasted about a month and started doing the same thing. I've got a suspicion that the temperature probe is getting gunked up and causing it to shut down and/or give readings that are WAY off.

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  • 1 month later...
If the Waring Professional is the best one under $100, that begs the question of what is the best fryer period? 

True commercial fryers tend to be way too big for a home kitchen, irrespective of budget.  Besides the physical size, they typically are meant for gallons of oil and huge batches.  So unfortunately the commercial units are not very practical.  Is there anything worthwhile above the Waring that is worth considering?

Accuracy of the temperature is important.  Heating capacity is important too, because once cold food goes into the oil you want the heater to bring the temperature back up and do so fairly quickly.  However, you need a good thermostatic controller otherwise the temperature will overshoot.  High quality tempertaure controllers are usually more than $100 by themselves, so I am a bit skeptical that the Waring has one.

Nathan

I don't think they exist yet. Sous vide and deep frying have a lot in common and it seems like the ideal deep fryer could also double as a sous vide machine. Something based on induction heating perhaps for very rapid response and high heat output. There's no reason why it couldn't be done, it's just a matter of doing it.

PS: I am a guy.

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  • 1 month later...

I've bought 2 consumer style fryers and neither has the oil volume or power to fry a decent batch of french fries (say a full-sized russet potato's worth) and maintain temperature.

I tried the Dutch oven on the range method and my quite decent Vulcan range can't get a gallon of oil to 375 in decent time either.

So what commercial grade counter top unit should I get?

Help!!!

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Which consumer ones did you buy? I have the waring pro which is 1800 watts and heats to 375. I make french fries in it all the time, as well as potato chips, and fried chicken and have never had a problem with it and temp recovery is lightning fast. Yes, you have to do them in batches, but you do with a dutch oven as well.

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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A delonghi and a Tfal. Both are pretty big capacity and neither can reliably get to 375. Both often quit at 360.

Thanks for the tip on the Waring!

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A delonghi and a Tfal.  Both are pretty big capacity and neither can reliably get to 375.  Both often quit at 360.

Thanks for the tip on the Waring!

The waring pro replaced a dismal T-fal fryer. Few of the home fryers I've seen can make it to 375 which is one of the reasons the Waring was attractive to me.

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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A delonghi and a Tfal.  Both are pretty big capacity and neither can reliably get to 375.  Both often quit at 360.

Thanks for the tip on the Waring!

The waring pro replaced a dismal T-fal fryer. Few of the home fryers I've seen can make it to 375 which is one of the reasons the Waring was attractive to me.

Sounds like the Waring is the thing. Thanks! Have you confirmed the temp with a candy thermometer?

Edited by gfweb (log)
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A delonghi and a Tfal.  Both are pretty big capacity and neither can reliably get to 375.  Both often quit at 360.

Thanks for the tip on the Waring!

The waring pro replaced a dismal T-fal fryer. Few of the home fryers I've seen can make it to 375 which is one of the reasons the Waring was attractive to me.

Sounds like the Waring is the thing. Thanks! Have you confirmed the temp with a candy thermometer?

I have. And I really like the recovery time.

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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Oster 0DF540 Classic Stainless-Steel Immersion Deep Fryer is the one that America's Test Kitchen liked most recently.

-- Jeff

"I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members." -- Groucho Marx

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Hope I did all these calculations right.

Assume you want to raise the temperature in 1 pound of potatoes from 62F to 212F: That takes 200 BTUs. Then, you want to vaporize 0.5 pounds of water from the potatoes: That takes 485 BTUs. So, how long to get 685 BTUs from a 110V, 15 Amp electrical outlet? That's 1650W, so over one hour you can draw 1650*3.412=5629 BTUs. (So the best you can do with a home deep fryer using a 15 Amp circuit is 5629 BTU/hr. Typical gas burners on a home range are about 10,000 BTU/hr. Comercial gas-fired deep fryers are up to 160,000 BTU/hr.)

So with perfect efficiency, the potatoes cook in 685/5629 hours, or about 7.3 minutes. Probably fine for cooking a pound of potatoes, but probably not good for cooking 2+ pounds at once.

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I picked up the Waring Pro at Costco for a song and absolutley love it!

Now that I've heard of one that can hit proper temps and has decent recovery time, one more question.

I've been wanting one but the cleanup spooks me. How much of a hassle is it?

Filters needed? How much can go into a dishwasher?

I have no burning desire to wash up lots of gunky deepfryer parts by hand.

If it's a real pain, I'd end up throwing the fyer in the trash as well as the old oil.

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Everything except the element itself, is dishwasher safe, and it's not that hard to clean the element. The pan comes out for easy pouring out of the grease, and goes into the dishwasher as does the basket and the lid. I think there's a filter in the lid, but I put the lid in the dishwasher and have never had to replace the filter.

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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Another vote for the Waring Pro. I bought two at Costco for a very reasonable price -- under fifty bucks apiece, for sure. They work great. As with all home deep fryers, you just have to work in small batches. That's why I bought two!

Don Moore

Nashville, TN

Peace on Earth

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  • 6 months later...
THIS ONE is the one I'm curious about. I've seen it elsewhere for ~$85 less, I'm just wondering if it's actually worth double the price of the usual suspects you find at department stores, etc. Temperature stability/recovery is my main concern. This is going to be a gift. My gf wants a fryer so I'll get to use it occasionally as well. I don't care about all of the "easy to clean", "auto timer", "safety lid with viewer window", etc. stuff they use to make people buy the fryers that do everything except fry well. I don't know if she cares about those features or not but I'm used to commercial fryers so I'll teach her how to deal with that type and (most likely) end up doing most of the serious cleaning and oil changing myself anyway.

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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$459.00 wow that's £230

I bought an equivalent many years ago in the UK for £99 and it fries brilliantly something like this:-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Magimix-Profession...5074529&sr=8-11

seems to be a equivalent (try looking at other countries with 120v and get it shipped as the UK is 240v so will not work over there - you may not find one, I look at the price of dehydrators over here and frown).

Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.

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What do you expect to accomplish at $459 that a $45 fryer can't do in the home? Seriously, I paid about $45 for mine and it is all electronic controlled temperature and timer and has lasted me two years worth of home use. What I am saying is I can abuse and buy 10 of them for the equivalent of $459.

Philips_HD6161.jpg

DeepFryer.jpg

Davydd

It is just an Anglicized Welsh spelling for David to celebrate my English/Welsh ancestry. The Welsh have no "v" in their alphabet or it would be spelled Dafydd.

I must warn you. My passion is the Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwich

Now blogging: Pork Tenderloin Sandwich Blog

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  • 3 months later...

hello i am looking for a deep fryer as well, but living in the uk my options are limited compared to what previous topics have suggested (i ve spent the last hour reading about deep fryers in here, i just bumped this topic as it was the most recent one)

so what should i get, i am around the £40 mark

was thinking either for the above philips one , or maybe a Tefal Mechanical 4 Litre Stainless Steel Professional Fryer ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tefal-Mechanical-L...05109035&sr=8-2 )

how is the temprature range on the philips? is the heating element inside the oil?

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  • 2 weeks later...

I just purchased the Aroma Deep Fryer model ADF212 from Target for $70.

It was just reviewed in Food & Wine as the top performer among several, beating out some at more than twice the price.

It performed very well for me in its first time out. The exterior does get fairly hot, but the digital display/ thermostat is great.

I must say I usually go all out when I'm spending on kitchen equipment, but I went with this one due to the fact that I don't deep fry that much, and it sounded like a good deal for the price. I'm sure it will last me a fairly long time.

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try2cook what did you end up buying I wonder?

I use a big heavy pot and a thermometer so I know nothing about electric DFers but would love to know how this ended up

did you spend the big bucks? is it worth it?

Edited by hummingbirdkiss (log)
why am I always at the bottom and why is everything so high? 

why must there be so little me and so much sky?

Piglet 

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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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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.

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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