T-fal 3.5L Stainless Steel Deep Fryer with Basket, 1700W, Oil Filtration, Temp Control, Digital Timer, Dishwasher Safe Parts

I'm a Senior. I use to own a Snack Food Manufacturing Company. I made Potato Chips and Fried Pork Rinds just for 2 items. As a teenager (so many years ago) I worked for several major Fast Food restaurants who made fries and learned the best way to make them. Therefore with this experience I know exactly how to make good fried foods. Fries, Fried Chicken, Shrimp Fritters, Fried Shrimp, Fried Okra, Fried Zucchini, etc.This Fryer works great. What I mean is that it holds the proper temperature during frying. When any food is to be fried and goes in either frozen or at room temperature.. it will immediately drop the temperature of the oil. This fryer has a fast recovery. That means it's thermostat is excellent and as it sees a drop in temperature it immediately turns on the element(s) to keep the temperature where it should be.I also like the method T-Fal has invented to clean the fryer. It's easy to drain and strain the oil and clean the frying bowl. The fry basket is large and I can get two potatoes worth of fries in one basket. For these reasons I highly recommend this fryer. Below is some info for a novice in the proper way to fry fries and other items.Fries:» Use a high quality potato slicer which you can purchase here on Amazon. Otherwise cut your peeled potatoes 1/4" thick. Wash them in cold water and agitate the slices until you see the water turn milky. This is taking the potato starch out of them.» Dry the fries on a baking sheet lined with paper towels. I actually have a small fan that I use just like we did in the fast food restaurants in the old days. This reduces FOAMING and even loss of oil. When wet products are placed into the hot oil you'll see foaming as oil and water don't mix. In fact, as the water turns to steam it drops the temperature of the oil which means a longer frying time and makes the fryer work harder to keep the temperature up to the correct frying temperature. Note also as the water turns to steam tiny (micro) drops of oil cling to it and you'll have a 1% or 2% drop of oil each time. And where does that oil go? Into the atmosphere and it will cling to your filter or wall or anything else. Dry your fries as much as possible.» Fries should be fried twice. Bring your oil up to 350f for the 1st frying. Place a basket full of dried fries into the oil for 3 to 5 minutes. Your NOT going to cook them all the way through. This is a BLANCHING method. This will drive most of the moisture out of the fries and make them crispy for the 2nd frying.» After blanching for a few minutes bring the fries up out of the oil and let them cool down to room temperature. I spread mine on a bakers rack which sits on a big baking sheet (found here on Amazon).» Bring the oil up to 375f for the 2nd frying and fry them for 2 or 3 minutes until they turn golden brown. They will be nice and crispy.» There are 2 Secret Ingredients that makes my fries taste so good... Lawry's Seasoned Salt! Yes, it's much better than plain salt and can be found here on Amazon. The 2nd ingredient is TALLOW. Lard is rendered pig fat. Tallow is rendered Beef fat. It has no smell and is pure white. It almost lasts forever! You can purchase it here on Amazon in buckets. For the average fryer you'll need 2.5 lbs to 3 lbs. It's pricey but for a reason. It's EXCELLENT and it's healthy. And here's a secret from the old days. That restaurant with the Golden Arches.. you know the ones.. Before the mid-80's - they use to fry their fries in TALLOW and 7% Peanut Oil. I do too! You need the peanut oil to just cover the heating elements at the bottom of the pan. Why? Tallow is kind of like lard in that it is soft white but not an oil UNTIL it gets hot. So if it's directly on the heating elements it will smoke! Don't do it! Put in the Peanut Oil first then put in the Tallow until the oil rises up to the Max line inside the frying bowl. For several years I've been purchasing the Peanut Oil in 1 Gallon containers from Amazon. It's an excellent product and arrives fast. This is what made our Fries so tasty back in the day. If you study Tallow many doctors will even tell you how healthy it is. There are video's about it on the internet.How about frying Shrimp, Okra and Zucchini or Chicken? Here's a great product also found here on Amazon. It's called Louisiana Shrimp Fry. Actually the Louisiana Chicken Fry also seems to be the same ingredients.. just a change in the package labeling.» Take 5 tablespoons of the Louisiana Shrimp or Chicken Fry and mix with 1/2 cup of water. Place your Shrimp or Okra or Zucchini or piece of Chicken into this mixture.» Next place the rest of the dry ingredients (Shrimp or Chicken Fry) into a breading bowl or 1-gallon plastic bag. Remove your whatever you're going to fry from the liquid mixture and place into the breading bowl or bag and shake vigorously to coat the item.» Bring the temperature of your oil up to 350f. Fry the shrimp for 2.5 minutes (not to exceed 3 minutes) and 3 minutes for Okra or Zucchini till golden brown. For chicken it will take longer depending on what part of the bird you're cooking. Use an instant read thermometer.This will give you some of the best Southern style food you've ever tried.

Takes a bit to heat up. I'd recommend stirring the oil with a clean serving spoon one it reaches the cutoff temperature. It will cycle again. Maybe do this once more. After that, I used a non-contact temperature sensor and found the temperature to match the set temp. (If you're baking in your oven, particularly something sensitive like cake, it's a good idea to make it cycle once or twice too.)The cord is very short and connected to the body magnetically. This is a very important safety feature. If something snagged the cord when the fryer is hot, there would be a very dangerous hot mess of oil. That much hot oil spilling on a person would do a lot of damage. Since the cord disconnects with very little force, the chance a snagged cord would cause the fryer to fall off of the counter is greatly reduced. The plug does not get excessively hot and there is no indication of excess heat due to a poor connection.The oil drain feature work like a liquid cooled engine thermostat. Once you're done cooking, go ahead and flip the lever to drain. When the oil cools enough the valve will open and slowly drain the oil. (This the "automatic" drain mentioned in the manual.)DO NOT fill above the max line. While the fryer may be able to hold more, the drain pan is completely full when draining the oil up to the top of the max line. Also, any fuller, the oil will splash out of the fryer. For a home fryer this is also an important safety feature. Also, use the lid.With the lid on, just watch the steam coming out of it. When the stream slows down, most of the water is cooked out of the food and it will start to float. (I'm sure the filter in the lid is catching alot of the grease) Typically you fry food until it floats then add a minute or two.There is safety switch in the heating unit. I haven't tested it, but my guess is that the unit will not turn on if the heating unit isn't properly seated.This is a very well thought out appliance. Something like this, with almost a gallon of burn your skin right off oil in it, has some well thought out safety features that make it safe for indoor household use.

The lid and the vent on the back were the main selling point for me at the time. We have had this fryer for a while now and it has put the work in. It has nice features magnetic plug, vent with fan, lid that is attached on a hing, timer, temp adjust, green ready light and a red power light. It has a nice sized basket and holds a good amount of oil or you cooking choice. When using it I set it under the stove hood vent and turn it on causing the vent on the fryer to blow all the fryer venting out the stove vent.

Heats up in a reasonible time. Fries just fine. Cleanup is fairly easy, especially if you have a dishwasher. Best feature is the oil drain container. Just wish the fryer had a lille deeper pool of oil. Did two chicken thighs and they fit fine in the basket but when I set them down in the oil I still had about a one or one and a half inch wide patch that was above the oil and not frying. I had to flip them a couple times to get it all cooked. Didn't have any splatter to clean up and there was very little steam coming out. Watching through the window, I could see the oil wasn't coming up very close to the top of the bin at all. Gonna maybe try adding an extra volume meaasured half inch or so of oil and when it's all done, ladle out that quantity into a separate container to store.it. Wish all brands listed oil's depth from basket bottom in their specs.