New versions of electric deep fryers have been elbowing their way onto our kitchen counters, enabling us to drop anything edible into hot oil.
Some fryers are compact, for quick, easy crisping of small ingredients. Other, bigger models are billed as "professional" in style and seem geared to quantities that would allow a home cook to set up a drive-by window for, say, the neighborhood football team.
I recently tested several new deep fryers. They range in price from $20 to $130.
I assessed the machines based on the quality of fried food each made, the ease of use and cleanup, safety, whether special features were useful and effective and whether the fryer was a good value. I put the fryers to work on batter-coated zucchini sticks, using canola oil.
My favorite fryer was one of the mid-size, mid-price models, the Presto Professional CoolDaddy Cool Touch Deep Fryer. Zucchini fried in it for two minutes was tender and moist, tucked inside a light, crispy crust.
Emily Dwass wrote this article for the Los Angeles Times.
BEST FRYER
PRESTO PROFESSIONAL COOLDADDY COOL TOUCH DEEP FRYER
Price: About $52 at chefscorner.com
What we thought: A clever mechanism allows an exterior handle to lower the basket into the oil when the fryer lid is closed, to prevent splattering. When the cooking is done, the handle raises the basket back up so the excess oil can drain off. The best of the bunch, it's a well-designed machine that is easy to operate and gives good results.
RUNNER UP
CUISINART COMPACT DEEP FRYER
Price: About $50 at bedbathandbeyond.com and cuisinart.com
What we thought: Because it's not much bigger than a toddler's shoe box, this machine takes up very little counter space. And it gives great results. A nice design feature allows the oil to drain from the elevated basket before it is removed. One caveat: Be careful to touch only the handles; other surfaces get hot enough to burn a finger.
ALSO TESTED
WARING DEEP FRYER
Price: About $130 at williams-sonoma.com
What we thought: Waring's all-business, large machine can fry more than 2 pounds of food in its 1-gallon removable stainless-steel oil container. If your goal is to fry large quantities of food, then this machine gets the job done. The immersion-style heating element makes for quick oil-temperature recovery time, a good feature if you're cooking for a crowd. But you can't wash the heating element.
T-FAL FAMILY DEEP FRYER
Price: About $50 at bedbathandbeyond.com
What we thought: This is a mid-size machine, but it can handle as much food as some larger models. It has the same clever basket-lowering and-raising mechanism as the Presto. Smooth operation and easy cleanup. The only drawback was that when the lid was popped open after cooking, the steam that had collected on the inside splattered into the oil below.