Can you recommend a good electric deep fryer?

[fzxdoc]

I'm in the market for an electric deep fryer that:

1. Holds a lot
2. Is safe to use
3. Is easy to clean.

What do you do with the oil/grease in the deep fryer when done and it is cooled. Pour and store?

I've fried stuff my whole life, but mostly in CI skillets, other deeper skillets, and my Staub Dutch oven. I'd love a well-functioning, safe, and easy to clean electric model. Does it exist?

Kathryn

[HouseHomey]

Ditto for the CI and pan fry. I love the question and will follow the post.

Yes, pour and store. Run through a cone coffe filter.for that amount you can use a large one (think commercial) and place inside a "coned" strainer or a "Chinois" if it's not too dirty. The regular coned "china cap" works great though and the oil flows quickly while hot.

I would be interested to hear of those that quickly come back up to temp or do not drop too much in temp when adding product. Holding temp is real important which is why CI is awesome.

Thanks Kathyrn for the awesome post. You read my mind.

[Steve B]

Kathryn I have owned many a deep fryer over the years. None are really easy to clean unless you clean it after each use.
The most recent electric fryer I have been using is from Cajun Injector. I’m seeing 30qt sizes on line for about $130. The one I have holds 3 gallons of oil.
Not sure if it’s the same size in a newer version.
My thought when getting this size fryer is it holds a lot of oil so it shouldn’t cool off too much. Which it doesn’t. Seems to keep temps ok. But I have not had a thermometer in it to know for sure

That being said I recently bought a propane deep fryer by R and V Works. That thing kicks butt. But I can only use it in good weather cause it must be outside.

Hope this helps and sorry for not posting links. I do all of this on my iPhone and haven’t been able to figure it out.
Steve.

[HouseHomey]

No excuses Steve.

[ComfortablyNumb]

Electric fryer:
https://www.amazon.com/Cajun-Injecto...ct_top?ie=UTF8 (unavailable)
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Cajun-Inj...Fryer/15042665 ($130)

Propane fryer: https://cajunfryer.com/product-category/cajun-fryer/

[Georgia rookie 903]

Hey fzxdoc not sure this will work but I had a counter top waring TF 250 it held a 16 pound turkey , but gave it away because I got away from fried food

[customtrim]

Domt know if this will help it is what i use, very easy to clean.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NQ7QFGM/ref=asc_df_B00NQ7QFGM5263441/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=394997&creativeASIN=B00NQ7QFGM&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167155690034&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10326597036564783166&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9015401&hvtargid=pla-274115363928

[phrogpilot73]

+1 on this! Everything but the element is dishwasher safe, and it drains and filters the oil into a sealed container below it. It's great, although it's not huge.

[johnec00]

I have a Waring DF200 That has been a serviceable unit (now obsolete, but there are many similar). As to your requirements:
Holds a lot - depends on definition of a lot, but uses 1 gallon of oil, so twice as much as my 5 qt CI dutch oven. Easily does 10 wings in about 10 minutes.
Safe to use - 12 years, no problem.
Easy to clean - No valve to drain oil, but oil container lifts out and can be put in dishwasher. Basket gets nasty with repeated use, and can only be cleaned by replacement.

One caveat - Thermostat was not well calibrated and oil only got to about 350º when set to 375º. Had to remove the cover on the heater to the get at the adjustment.

I dump the oil back into the gallon jar it came in using this funnel. Every few times using paper filter.

[Polarbear777]

Had a small one once. It was awful made a mess and horrible to clean. Now I just use a large Dutch Oven outside on top of the slow n sear in the kettle. Mess stays outside. I like that. If there is a good one for indoors I’d be interested too.

[RonB]

I don't use one 'cause my wife sez we don't need one, but for the fastest recovery, you want one with the heating element in the oil - not under the bottom. For ease of cleaning, the element should either be removable or lift up and out of the way. I really like those gas Cajun fryers though...

[Steve B]

The propane fired Cajun fryers are awesome.
Again the one I have is from "R and V Works".
What RonB mentioned, the heating element of the Cajun Injector is submerged in the oil and does lift out to clean.

[fzxdoc]

Thanks RonB and Steve B.

[Powersmoke_80]

I have the T-fal from SAMs club and like it. Flip a lever and oil is filtered and drains into a sealed container that I store in the freezer. The element is submerged in the oil so it doesn't burn The stuff that settles on the bottom and lifts out to be wiped off the rest goes in the dishwasher.
https://m.samsclub.com/ip/t-fal-deep...n/prod20300346

[fzxdoc]

Powersmoke_80 and customtrim , how many pieces of chicken (not just wings) can you fry at one time in your T-Fal?

johnec00 , does the heating element sit right in the oil on that Waring fryer? And how many pieces of chicken (not wings) can you fry at one time in it?

ComfortablyNumb, I like the size of that Cajun Injector. Ditto for that TF 250 that you recommend, Georgia rookie 903 . 30 quarts of oil though. Yikes. I don't think my husband would want me heating up 30 quarts of oil in the kitchen. I scare him regularly with some of my cooking experiments, so he should be calmer by now after so many years of marriage. Haven't set fire to the house yet, I'm proud to say. Sounds like an outdoors toy--in the neighbor's yard, preferably.

Steve B , I can only find the 30 quart size of the Cajun Injector Fryer for sale, not the 3 gallon size. That 3 gallon size seems to be closer to my needs.

I'm looking for something that will allow me to fry up a mess of chicken, hopefully in the kitchen. By a mess I mean 2 to 3 chickens, cut into pieces, fried up one chicken at a time, or one batch of similar chicken pieces at a time.

Does anyone have the Breville? I like Breville appliances and have a few; but I wonder how much chicken the Breville can fry at one go.

Thanks, everyone, for the great responses!

Kathryn

[Steve B]

ComfortablyNumb that R and V Works fryer is a beast. Although not cheap it turns out restaurant quality fried foods. I got the optional double basket. You can fit a lot more food in it. And the temps don’t drop.

[customtrim]

fzxdoc i honestly could not say on how many pieces you can do it is not spmething i use alot of mostly wings and fries. I dont think you would do 1 complete chicken in it tho, it would be close if it did

[johnec00]

fzxdoc - The heating element is down in the oil. We mostly fry wings, fish and french fries in the fryer, so I can't speak to capacity of other chicken pieces. I would guess that doing all the pieces of one chicken would be pushing it a bit toward boiled in oil rather than frying.

[HouseHomey]

Kathyrn

I think if you find the 3 gallon Steve refenced that's glow going to be about it. Thinking about it, at work I'm dumping 50lbs boxes/jugs (50 I think) into my fryers and then a little more. This is with giant hoods that sound like aircraft.

getting more than three gallons I would imagine that the oils, heat and smoke in the air would be a lot for any home kitchen to handle. 50lbs is 6.25 gallons.

Perhaps some one smarter can weigh in on that.

[fzxdoc]

Thanks, everyone, for the quick response. Sorry, ComfortablyNumb , for misunderstanding your post. Perhaps you'd like to buy a couple fryers, test them, and report back, since you're possibly in the market for one too? Hahaha. Just kidding.

Troutman , I don't need to fry 2-3 chickens at once, rather in batches, hopefully of 6-8 pieces (equivalent of one chicken) at once. It may still take a Cajun Injector to do that job, though.

Thanks, Steve B , for the clarification. Makes sense as you describe it.

You guys are great!

Kathryn

[Steve B]

Kathryn. You can definitely cook in batches like that.
Keep in mind. It will loose some temp but cause of the quantity of oil it is minimal. After all it’s 110volt not 220v
But overall its worth the price.
Good luck and let me know what you wind up getting.
Steve B

[jfmorris]

I make Buffalo wings a lot - mostly in the winter when it really is too cold, windy or rainy to get outside to the grill. A couple of years ago I spent weeks researching deep fryers, looking at models with oil filtration built in, and so on. Ultimately I just went cheap with this model, and have not regretted saving the money. It cost $40 to $50 at Target:

https://www.amazon.com/T-fal-FR1014-...s=p_89%3AT-fal

I bought it at my local Target, and to be honest, its been great. Does not use quite a gallon of oil. I just buy vegetable oil in gallon jugs at Sam's Club, and I let it cool for an hour or two after use, and then setup a "double" filtration system of a wire mesh colander lined with paper towels sitting on top of a large funnel that is holding a #4 cone coffee filter, sitting on top of a gallon pickle jar (clean and empty of pickles!). I can reuse the oil several times before I dump it and start fresh. Cleanup of the machine is easy - just rinse/wash off the element over the sink, keeping water off the electronics, and dry. The rest of it can be scrubbed down in the sink or even put in the dishwasher.

I usually run batches of about 15 chicken wing sections (drumettes and flats) at a time, and do a "par fry" at 300F for about 5 to 8 minutes, go crank it up to its max of about 375 to 400F, and do a final fry on each batch, tossing in sauce and feeding the family as they come out of the 2nd fry.

For cut up fried chicken, I imagine you could fit 5-6 pieces at a time in this size fryer. If you cut up a whole fryer, I think you will need to fry it in two batches in this size fryer. The nice thing about this size though is it does not take up a ton of room on the top shelf of our pantry for the 9 months of the year I'm not using it.

[HouseHomey]

fzxdoc Hero status, party on Garth! I feel you Kathryn.

[Georgia rookie 903]

jfmorris wow thanks for the details on the wings I got rid of mine a few years ago but this makes me want to go buy another on,

[jfmorris]

@georgia-rookie-903 I do most of my wings on the grill now. With Grillgrates. Brush the Buffalo sauce on after they crisp up. Especially good over charcoal but I’ll do gas if in a hurry.

[RonB]

If you are considering a gas model, here's a link to another brand:

https://cajunfryer.com/product-category/cajun-fryer/

They start at 2.5 gal.

Another gas option would be a large CI pot and a propane tank with a single pot burner:

https://smile.amazon.com/High-Pressu...70_&dpSrc=srch

There are a number of these burners with various prices.

[fzxdoc]

Thanks, jfmorris , for the info.

RonB , I'm not interested in gas models but some other folks here are. Thanks for the links.

Kathryn