Presto 05462 Digital ProFry Immersion-Element 9-Cup Deep Fryer
From Presto
Professional style deep fryer in a handy at home size. Oblong shaped basket has a 9 cup food capacity.
Amazon Sales Rank: #9217 in Kitchen & Housewares Brand: Presto Model: 05462 Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, 10.85 pounds
Decent replacement for my old fryer I love to deep fry food using canola oil. It's actually healthier and more certain than pan frying, especially when dealing with food that needs to be cooked thoroughly before eating, like poultry and fish. I have a small round fryer that does a good job but it's a NIGHTMARE to clean. The oil reservoir is gritty, so everything sticks to it very well - a major annoyance. It's also difficult to dump the oil without spilling. Enter this deep fryer. So far I've got no complaints, it's very easy to fry the food, and the basket is a very nice touch that my old fryer doesn't have. One minor nitpick is the basket I just raved about; I wish it were more "mesh" than "fence". Meaning I wish the holes were a lot smaller, so it would act as an effective crumb catcher. That would make the unit a lot easier to clean, and I can see how that might get to be a problem in time. But again, it's a nitpick of mine. Update 12/28: Ok, I've got complaints. First, the filtering is poor. It will leave the smell of fried-whatever all throughout your place. I've got an el-cheapo $40 fryer that I replaced with this, and the cheap one does a better job of containing that odor. I know this is like some industrial-type stuff so it's to be expected, but I can't keep buying Oust like this. Secondly, I was right about wanting the mesh. I've fried a couple of times and already there's a nice brown coating on the bottom. IT bothers me, because if they just went with a mesh-style basket I wouldn't have this problem. Third, it takes WAY too long to heat up. I'd say plan on about 10-15 minutes prep time. Hate to beat a dead horse, but el-cheapo was hot in a matter of 3-5 minutes tops. Dishwasher Disaster I was initially quite impressed with this unit. Since I have experience using commercial deep fryers, I recognized the nice features built into this unit. 1800 watts of heating power will bring the oil up to temperature in about 15 minutes, and should be big enough to recover quickly after you slowly drop a basket of raw material into the oil. That, however, was not my experience. After cooking two small batches of battered tenderloin nuggets, I allowed the oil to get back up to temperature, which took about eight minutes, and then dropped a basket load of steak fries. In a matter of moments the "ready" light went off, and the oil never did get back up to temperature. By the time the fries were browned enough to lift, they were pretty oily. The real bummer, though, was after straining the oil and storing it away, I broke down the unit and placed everything except the heating unit into the dishwasher. At that point, I was satisfied enough with the performance of the fryer I would have kept it and figured a way to get around the slow recovery time on the fries. But, later, when I opened the dishwasher to take the clean unit out and reassemble it for storage, the basket was completely rusted over! All of the other parts were just fine, but the basket was a great disappointment. So, I have returned that otherwise nice unit, and am now back on the market. A great home fryer for a new cook I've been using this fryer for about six months and so far it has worked very well. I have no other experience with fryers like this so nothing to compare it to but I do have a lot of small appliances and as far as cleaning and maintenance and storage this unit is better than most. It is easy to disassemble, clean, and to pour the oil out if you like to filter and reuse. The basket is serviceable but I've noticed some rust forming on the handle screws despite that I hand wash everything. It may not fare well in the dishwasher even though it says you can put it in there (another reviewed had a bad experience--I haven't tried it). The handle is a tad flimsy but mainly because it folds in, a nice feature, so I'm okay with that. Other than that everything is solid and well built. The basket hooks onto the rim to allow the food to drain but the bottom can still touch the oil if the unit is at the MAX oil mark. I like the fact that it holds exactly the amount of oil in a typical large jug (1 gallon) you find in the grocery store. Features: Digital temperature control sets one of 4 fixed temperatures: 300, 325, 350, 375. A (loud) beep lets you know when preheating is done. Magnetic power plug easily detaches from back to avoid yanking on unit if something snags the cord. Built-in 30 minutes timer--just a timer--it doesn't shut off the unit or anything like that. Basket folds up for easy storage inside fryer. Easily disassembles for cleaning. Vented lid to prevent oil splatter. Cooking: Oil heats up in a reasonable time (10-15 minutes) and allows you to prepare the food while waiting. It seems to maintain temperature well based on its own internal thermometer. I'm learning that deep frying is a bit of an art so you may have to experiment before you get that perfect, golden brown, cooked throughout result. One final note--this unit pulls down a lot of energy so you may not be able to use other high-energy devices while this one is on (electric skillet, rice cooker, or basically anything that heats) as it will overload the breaker. Of course this will depend on your individual kitchen and, if you have this same issue, you can always work around this by using a plug on a separate circuit.
