Decent Deep Fryer for the Money

This is about my fourth deep fryer in as many years. I have been impressed with its ability to heat the oil, but not impressed when it comes to the speed of the oil returning to the correct temperature.

This is a larger (as far as home use) deep fryer with a good capacity for a family. I have not experienced the problems the other reviewers have with the heating element quitting. I've used mine probably 40 times and have not had a problem.

As far as clean up goes, it is difficult and messy, but what deep fryer is easy to clean?? I do like that the entire heating element and electrical panel unit is completely removable from the unit, allowing you to soak the oil container and deep fryer basket separately...and soak you will want to do.

The deep fryer basket is a great addition to the deep fryer, but will never be "clean" no matter how hard I try. The mesh of the basket bunches up at the edges and this creates teeny, tiny holes where food and grease get stuck, never to come out. I've tried soaking, putting it in the dishwasher, using scrub brushes, toothpicks...I give up.

The heating element/electrical panel unit is also hard to clean and cannot be soaked in the sink for obvious reasons, so that remains a cleaning problem as well.

My other complaint about this unit would be it's annoyingly LOUD beep. You hear this beep any time you plug the unit in or you press any button. It is LOUD, do not underestimate this, and there is no way to turn it off. So, that being said, don't try to deep fry while others are sleeping.

The heating element does a decent job heating up the oil, but as stated before does not return to the temperature as quickly as I would like. This does delay the frying process and can be annoying.

Overall it is a decent "starter" deep fryer. If only for occasional use (like mine is) it's not bad to keep around for those big fry sessions.