Paczki Time!

Recently I decided to delve further into the wonderful world of baking by making traditional paczki (donuts). I asked my mother to borrow her very old, antiquated deep fryer, since I didn't have one and wasn't sure if I wanted to invest. After informing me that my sister had it on permanent loan, mom said that in exchange for some paczki, she would buy me a fryer. Due to a wonderful set of (sales) circumstances, this is the one I got.

First, it's an attractive appliance. I remember mom's old one and it was horrible. After washing all the parts, it filled easily with oil, and heated up quickly. I love the different temperature settings, and the preheat indicator is great. The outside stays relatively cool, so you don't have to worry about bumping it and burning yourself. I didn't notice any spitting oil, because I had dried it thoroughly. Also, the hinged basket allows you to put your food into the basket without dropping it into the oil. I love that feature. I could easily fit four donuts into it, so frying all of them didn't take long at all.

The charcoal filter on the machine is fantastic, because you don't get any of that horrible smell in your house. In very little time, my donuts were done, and we have since used this for so many things. We're trying to figure out how to deep fry everything now.

Emptying the oil is a little challenging. I wish they would have put a pour spout/lip on the bucket so it would be easier to pour through cheesecloth, but that's the only real complaint I have about cleaning it. The rest is really easy. Just wash the bucket and the basket, and wipe off the exterior and the window.

The fryer is a little large and the top would have hit my cabinets if I had put it there. I just used the fryer on an open area in my kitchen and had no trouble at all.

Overall, this was a great machine. This was my first time as an adult using a deep fryer, and there was no learning curve at all. The booklet that comes with it clearly explains how to use the machine not to overheat the oil, and gives approximate frying times for a variety of foods so it's hard to mess it up. I highly recommend this machine for anyone looking to get into the deep frying field.

In response to some of the comments I've received: No, there is no real timer on the unit, but you can tell by looking at the food, or by using the timer guide included with the machine, when the food is done. It doesn't take very long at all, at least for the donuts or french fries. Within two minutes, my donut loads were finished - when they reached a nice golden brown. There is a nice guide for commonly fried foods in the booklet.

The machine heats oil anywhere from 265 degrees to 375 degrees. Most foods are fried at 375. As I mentioned, there is an indicator light to tell you when the oil is heated to the right temperature.

Also, the machine takes up to 64 ounces of oil, or 4 pounds of solid shortening. There is a minimum and a maximum fill line inside the frying drum to tell you when to add more oil. I used about 3/4 of a gallon of oil for my donuts, because I didn't know when I would be using it next. Another feature that would have been nice would have been an airtight lid for the drum to store the oil. Instead, you have to drain it through cheesecloth and put it in a sealable container to store it.