The Best Deep Fryers of 2022

The All-Clad Deep Fryer is a gorgeous gleaming stainless-steel appliance that does a terrific job at frying. However, it comes with a very steep price tag. If the way your appliance looks is one of your top priorities, you might find it worth the splurge. It requires less oil than some of the other models we tested and has a fry basket large enough to hold a half dozen doughnuts or four chicken pieces.

The appliance can preheat in under 10 minutes, but its ready light goes off before reaching the set temperature and it takes a few minutes longer to cook your food than the recommended frying times. However, this deep fryer will perfectly brown and evenly crisp food.

Surprisingly for such an expensive model, the temperatures are set with a dial rather than an electronic control. There are no settings for the most commonly used temperatures—325°F, 350°F, and 375°F—so you have to approximate them. While there is a digital timer on the fryer, there’s no mention of how to set it in the owner’s manual and it’s hard to see the numbers on the display. We found it easier to just use our own timer.

The All-Clad has a feature that makes it convenient to strain and pour off the oil. After the oil cools down, turn a lever and it will dispense through a small sieve into a plastic container that sits below the fryer. Another flip of the lever will then allow you to slide the container out of the appliance. There's a small pour spout inside the container that will then make it easy to discard the oil.

This system adds about 3 inches of height to the fryer. All of the removable parts except the heating element are dishwasher safe, too. On either side of the fryer, there are large handles that make it easy to move.

The Cuisinart 4-quart Deep Fryer is a large and dependable appliance. It heats oil up fairly quickly and brings it close to the selected temperature.

The rectangular fry basket can cook a half dozen doughnuts or four large chicken pieces at a time. It sports a ready light, a temperature dial, and a mechanical timer. Our only reservation is that it’s pricey for a model with no special features.

As it always does, Cuisinart includes an exceptionally helpful manual with enticing recipes.

Considerably smaller than the others we tested, the Cuisinart Compact Deep Fryer won’t hog counter space or in your cabinet. And since it uses less oil, that means a faster preheat time. In spite of its petite size, it can fry up a pound of French fries and three chicken legs. Unfortunately, the ready light consistently turned on when the oil was below the selected temperature. This resulted in longer cooking times than specified in recipes and less crispy results.

The minimum and maximum fill lines are exceptionally easy to see. The lid includes a removable charcoal filter to help trap odors. The oil container is not removable from the housing so it can’t be popped in the dishwasher. However, it has a nonstick coating that makes cleaning by hand very easy. And unlike on most fryers, the heating element is concealed so there’s one less part to remove, clean, and assemble.

Like the All-Clad, the T-Fal Ultimate EZ Clean Fryer has a system for straining and pouring off the oil. By turning a lever, the oil is strained into a plastic container sitting below the fryer. To slide out the container, just flip the lever to another position and then pour out the oil through a small spout.

However, the ease of draining the oil doesn’t make up for the fact that the T-Fal deep fryer heats oil below the selected temperature. Because of that, you have to cook foods longer and get less crispy results. French fries in particular came out paler and less crisp than from fryers with more accurate temperatures.

The fry basket is large enough for six doughnuts and a dozen shrimp. On this model, there’s no ready light or beep. Instead, you have to watch closely to see when the red “on” light goes off. In addition, there’s no timer on board.

The Presto Fry Daddy is a small bucket with a heating element that holds four cups of oil. There’s no fry basket, temperature setting, ready light, or timer. To figure out when the oil has reached your desired temperature, we suggest using a thermometer.

It’s also a good idea to have your food ready to hit the oil as soon as it reaches temperature as the oil continues to get hotter. As the temperature climbs, the food becomes way too browned and in the case of chicken, which takes a long time to cook, almost burnt.

In spite of its small size, we were able to cook a pound of French fries but only three doughnuts and two pieces of chicken.

The Fry Daddy includes a plastic slotted scoop and a plastic storage lid that lets you store oil in the fryer to use again. The bucket is coated on both sides with a nonstick finish which makes it easy to clean. Variations on the Fry Daddy that hold six and eight cups of oil are also available.