Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I confessed I read the 1 star reviews first, and had some reservations, but tried it anyway. First things first. My initial experience with deep fryers are with restaurant-grade fryers, at an uncle's restaurant when I was a kid. I thought: if the oil is so hot, let's throw something so cold into it and see what happens. So I tried an ice cube. You all know what happens next. Don't do it. Still, I had a chance to see how that thing worked. For those who are complaining about this heavily scaled down version, you have to remember that's just what this is. The filter in the lid (removable and washable) is greatly appreciated. In the past, my husband got annoyed when the air in our home smells greasy, even with all the fans running. This unit greatly reduces the odor of cooking oil frying. We use either peanut oil, soy, and safflower. Much less odor than corn or vegetable, but the filter helps even more! Remember to read the instructions and squeeze the basket handle in and release inside the "ring" for a proper stiff handle. The tininess of the unit is the real draw of this appliance. With the bigger deep fryers, you are left with tons of oil with nowhere to go. Those units (my neighbors have the larger ones) take up counter space, even if you decide to keep the oil in the fryer. Now, the gripes: Some people said it takes progressively longer to heat each time. I wonder if they are starting with fresh oil. The more you use the same batch of oil, the "dirtier" it becomes. Subsequently, it takes longer to heat. Alton Brown mentioned this on his special on frying. That dastardly magnetic power cord that is long enough to stretch across a nail head : It's a pain, but the designers are trying to look after you. The shorter the cord, the closer you will keep it to the wall, the more out of reach from children the unit is. It is magnetic for a reason. Have you tried pulling something towards you with the cord still attached near the base? It tips over. IN YOUR DIRECTION. I first thought it didn't make a difference whether it was plugged on unplugged. Hot oil still burns. (Trust me, I learned young!) But the magnetic attachment is there for a purely physical reason. If you pull it towards you, it releases from the base and keeps the unit from pivoting on your fingers and dumping the contents onto you. Having said that, we cheated with a short industrial grade extension so I can get the unit directly underneath the hood vent. I have to stress "industrial grade" extension, because the point of connection does heat up fast if you use a household extension...which the instructions warn against. As for cooking. It does fine. Not equal to a restaurant deep fryer, I can vouch for that. But apply some common sense. 1. Julia Child always said Crank it up higher than your recipe calls for, if you are dropping in frozen items. The coldness of the item will drastically reduce the temperature and kick it immediately from green (ready) into orange light again (heating up). 2. Watch the light carefully. The moment it switches to orange, lift up the basket and set it on the rim (great feature) and STOP YOUR TIMER. Once it turns green again, lower the basket and restart your timer. This doesn't hurt the cooked items in anyway. This deeper fryer isn't Marcel Proust. It won't recall the down time. If anything, it aerates the surface and makes it that much crispier. 3. Frying something with the lid close may have different results compared to doing it open, depending on what you are cooking. 4. Never cool your fried items on paper napkins. Do it on a mesh grill (cooling rack) to let air circulate underneath and around your food. Paper napkins just soak up the grease drippings and your food sits in that saturated paper and loses its crispiness. That's it. We're happy with the product. Go forth, and may the grease be with you!