Deep Fryer recommedations

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IffyG

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Does anyone have a counter top deep fryer that they would recommend for infrequent use? I attempted to deep fry on my electric range and the results were far less than adequate (controlling the temperature was a nightmare).

Alternatively, if anyone has tips for using a dutch oven on an electric range for deep frying, I'd gladly accept those as well.
 
I have a deep fryer in our kitchen. I am not sure of the brand but it was around $80 and I love it. Fish and chips, french fries, hot wings, poppers, fried chicken, etc. I could go on and on. Just check out amazon and find something that works for you. Ours is around 12 inches by 12 inches and about 8 inch's deep. It came with three baskets and heats up quick.
 
I'm using a relatively cheap Presto ProFry with two baskets. I'm a fan of simple electro-mechanical thermostat controls rather than fancy electronic (digital) ones. Since this can also be used as a steamer it will also work as a sous vide cooker with an external PID control. The ones with electronic controls have a problem if you cut the power off and on.

If it's only for occasional use you should be certain to store the oil in an air tight container away from light and temperature extremes.
 
I don't use mine for much, french fries and chicken wings is bout it and all I have is a cheap Presto Fry Daddy. Works perfectly for what I use it for
 
I'm using a relatively cheap Presto ProFry with two baskets. I'm a fan of simple electro-mechanical thermostat controls rather than fancy electronic (digital) ones. Since this can also be used as a steamer it will also work as a sous vide cooker with an external PID control. The ones with electronic controls have a problem if you cut the power off and on.

If it's only for occasional use you should be certain to store the oil in an air tight container away from light and temperature extremes.

Do you have something similar to this one?
http://www.sears.com/presto-stainle...p-00802755000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1
 
I have friends who use and love the Fry Daddy. I've used it and it works great. But, nothing beats a cast iron frying pan, the key is you need to monitor the fry oil temperature. Each chicken wing cools the oil lowering the temp, giving soggy oily food. When your just above frying temperature add each chicken wing not letting the oil temp drop. Then when all food is in the oil and frying at temp start to lower the heat to maintain. Also it helps to take foods out of the fridge and let warm to room temperature, then fry.
 
I've tried using my stove top and the temperature control is terrible with an electric burner. The problem is I end up overshooting my target temperature when adding food to the mix. Unless I can come up with a reliable way to prevent this overshoot all I'm ending up with is overcooked on the outside and undercooked inside...
 
A cast iron dutch oven. As best as I can tell the problem is the burner doesn't respond anywhere near as fast as I would like (compared to a gas burner).
 
A cast iron dutch oven. As best as I can tell the problem is the burner doesn't respond anywhere near as fast as I would like (compared to a gas burner).

Make sure you have enough headspace, if you're getting too hot you can add more oil that will cool down the oil temperature quickly.
 
I've tried using my stove top and the temperature control is terrible with an electric burner. The problem is I end up overshooting my target temperature when adding food to the mix. Unless I can come up with a reliable way to prevent this overshoot all I'm ending up with is overcooked on the outside and undercooked inside...

Sounds like you have the burner turned up too high. Heat it up slower and it shouldn't keep climbing as much.

Make sure you have enough headspace, if you're getting too hot you can add more oil that will cool down the oil temperature quickly.

This too.
 
Make sure you have enough headspace, if you're getting too hot you can add more oil that will cool down the oil temperature quickly.

That's a great idea. Thanks.

Sounds like you have the burner turned up too high. Heat it up slower and it shouldn't keep climbing as much.

The problem isn't the initial heating. I can get to whatever temp I want with little difficulty. The issue is the recovery period after adding food to the oil. I have to bump up the heat on the burner to maintain the heat. Maybe I'm being too anal about it, but everyone seem to stress make sure you keep the oil temp high enough or you get greasy food.

How long is too long for the recovery time of the oil temp? The only deep drying I had done in the past was with a gas range at my parents house and I never had this problem because the flame immediately responds to the temp input whereas the electric burner stays hot for some period of time.

For every other cooking method, I have no problem moving the pot off the burner to let it cool for a minute, but I really don't want to be moving a pot of hot oil around...
 
The problem isn't the initial heating. I can get to whatever temp I want with little difficulty. The issue is the recovery period after adding food to the oil. I have to bump up the heat on the burner to maintain the heat. Maybe I'm being too anal about it, but everyone seem to stress make sure you keep the oil temp high enough or you get greasy food.

How long is too long for the recovery time of the oil temp? The only deep drying I had done in the past was with a gas range at my parents house and I never had this problem because the flame immediately responds to the temp input whereas the electric burner stays hot for some period of time.

For every other cooking method, I have no problem moving the pot off the burner to let it cool for a minute, but I really don't want to be moving a pot of hot oil around...

I use an electrical burner and there is absolutely a difference. I dont' think it's massive but there sure is one.

As far as recovery goes, I usually just leave it. if it takes 10 seconds longer to bounce back then so what. Or you can keep playing. I'm sure there's a way you can bump the heat up and then walk it back before hitting the perfect temp.

Honestly I'm a touch of a crazy person when it comes to frying, no thermometers, everything I do is based on look and smell. But I've yet to have a real issue with anything. Everyone loves my fries, chicken, etc.

Another thing you can try doing is using less food in the fryer at once. That will cause less of a drop i ntemp so you should have to do less playing.
 
How about setting the heat once and not touching it again. If your cook-top over shoots temp, you could use a bigger heavy cast iron pan with more oil; then get that oil up to temp and keep it there. The idea being the thermal mass is so great, the slight temp drop from the food entering the oil will not change the temperature much. For example, set your stove to medium heat then let it heat up for 30 min and see what the temp is, if it's 375 after 1/2hr and leveled out, your heat will not be touched for the rest of the frying. The bigger heavy pan filled with more oil with greater thermal mass will maintain the heat as you add the food.
 
The idea being the thermal mass is so great, the slight temp drop from the food entering the oil will not change the temperature much. For example, set your stove to medium heat then let it heat up for 30 min and see what the temp is, if it's 375 after 1/2hr and leveled out, your heat will not be touched for the rest of the frying. The bigger heavy pan filled with more oil with greater thermal mass will maintain the heat as you add the food.

That's a great idea. I'll give this a shot next time and see how it goes. Thanks for the advice.
 
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