The 7 Best Deep Fryers of 2023 | Tested by Food & Wine

We brought 12 of the most popular deep fryers into our testing lab to evaluate how easily they assembled, fried whole turkeys, and more. Read on for our full list of the best deep fryers to learn what we like about our Best Overall, the Breville Smart Fryer , and how other models fared.

When I was a kid, my parents bought one of the earliest home deep fryers on the market. It wasn’t elegant, consisting of little more than a heating element under a vat of fat. But it replaced fry-shaped potatoes baked on a sheet pan with actual French fries. To this day, I maintain that frying falls into the “work smarter, not harder” category. Not to mention, deep fryers have become easier to use than ever: We now have digital displays, timers, baskets, overheating alarms, and more.

This turkey fryer is meant for outdoor use. It’s completely analog, with temperature control achieved by a gas knob and watching a thermometer. Filled halfway with about 5.5 gallons of oil, it reached 350°F in a surprisingly short time, and the powerful burner recovered temperature in an equally surprising amount of time. Setup on this unit was a big drawback, taking about an hour to assemble the burner stand. Understandably, ease of cleanup is not a standout feature of the Big Bird. For an experienced outdoor cook who wants to fry a turkey or 20 pounds of cracklings, the Bayou Classic offers good performance for the dollar.

Cons: This bare-bones outdoor fryer offers no bells and whistles but serves well for turkeys. It may be overkill for smaller items like fries or chips.

The Secura has comparable features to more expensive fryers and comes with three baskets. Two baskets allow you to fry side by side, while the third allows you to utilize the whole fryer at once. Setup could be a bit easier with more straightforward instructions, but it performs at a respectable pace once assembled. As with most of the models reviewed, it puts up a good fight in the temperature-recovery department but doesn’t quite deliver. A rail on the fryer body allows you to hang the baskets to avoid dripping hot grease, and the magnetic power plug provides an extra degree of safety from dragging the fryer.

Easy cleanup is just one of the qualities of the De’Longhi. On top of an easy-to-follow setup, it has one of the better ratings for time to reach the initial temperature. It has a respectable capacity for food and features a special lard setting for those who want to fry with animal fats, like duck or chicken fat. It scored well for cleanup, thanks to an oil spigot that facilitates easy draining and the machine-washability of most of its parts. In terms of safety, it features a magnetic power cord, a thermal switch that prevents overheating, and a lid to minimize splatter.

The All-Clad is a good, medium-capacity fryer for all skill levels. It showed good heat retention and recovery in all of our testing and got top scores for its easy setup. Size-wise, it does not present much of a physical footprint, which can be deceptive, as it easily accommodates enough fries or chicken tenders for four people at a time. For safety features, it has an automatic shutoff if the temperature spikes, and stay-cool handles. Its digital timer is easy to read, and the basket and oil box are dishwasher safe, which saves significantly on cleanup time. Two of the biggest pluses to justify the splurge are a drain and an oil filtering system that make cleaning and storage easy, and our testers found great value in these.

Out of the box, this Hamiliton Beach fryer has straightforward, easy-to-follow directions for initial setup and features three baskets for frying. Like most models reviewed, it faces challenges in reaching and maintaining the desired temperature. There are not a lot of features: A temperature knob and a green light temperature indicator are the extents of the controls. Regarding safety, there’s an automatic shutoff after an hour and stay-cool handles on the fryer and the basket. This model is a well-performing, basic fryer for all skill levels, at a reasonable price.

With the Cuisinart, you get a versatile appliance that also functions as a deep fryer, steamer, and rotisserie fryer. With these features come increased difficulties with the initial setup, but an experienced user won’t have a lot of trouble getting it ready to go. This model struggled a little bit with heat retention and recovery, mainly due to the large oil and food capacities, but it produced crisp, non-greasy fries and chicken tenders. The built-in drain and oil filtration system are a nice feature, minimizing mess and expanding the life of your fryer oil. Overall, it’s a good fryer, probably best reserved for experienced cooks.

Performance-wise the Smart Fryer placed highest in the heat retention category of all the fryers tested. It has a large capacity that should serve a family of four well and good recovery time to return to the desired temperature. In terms of setup, usability, and safety, the Breville took top marks.

The Breville Smart Fryer rated high for safety features and usability, which includes an LCD control panel with six presets. The display shows the current temperature and the remaining time to reach the target. There’s an emergency shutoff in case of dry-heating the fryer, and an error message warns of critical temperature above 410 degrees Fahrenheit.

Courtesy of Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore

Our Favorite

The Breville Smart Fryer is our standout choice for its capacity, heat retention, and ease of use, thanks to presets and customizable programming. If you’re looking for a no-frills workhorse fryer under $100, the Hamilton Beach Professional-Style Deep Fryer is an excellent option for cooks of all skill levels for its even heating and easy setup.

Courtesy of Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore

Factors to Consider

Safety

Frying will always come with some risk. Hot oil is no joke in the kitchen, and you want to be sure that you are set up for maximum personal protection. Cords that attach with magnets so that they automatically disengage if they get caught on something can help prevent accidental tip over. Handles and exteriors made with materials that regulate temperature can prevent burning if touched, and some allow you to carefully shift the unit while in use. A clear lid lets you see how your food is browning without risking spatter, and automatic temperature regulators will prevent the oil from getting so hot that it ignites.

Functionality

It’s always important to think about how you intend to use the fryer when deciding between units. If you fry frequently, and for a crowd, you might want a larger unit with more bells and whistles. If you have limited storage, a compact unit might be a better fit for you. If you are not an intuitive fryer, one that has presets for different foods or a digital display and a built-in timer might up your confidence. And if you have some picky eaters in your house, multiple baskets mean that the fish folks and chicken folks don’t have to have their proteins mingling.

Cleanup

Working with oil is always going to be messy, so finding a unit that helps to mitigate the excessive cleanup is always something to look at when choosing a deep fryer. Features like a spatter lid or screen, removable oil containers, and dishwasher-safe parts will all make frying the focus, not the aftermath.

The Tests

We researched the best deep fryers on the market to select 15 indoor deep fryers and six turkey fryers to test. Our product testers assessed the indoor deep fryers based on temperature control and retention before using them to fry potato chips, frozen chicken fingers, and French fries. Likewise, they evaluated the turkey fryers on temperature as well as the time it took for the turkey to reach an internal temperature of 165°F. Finally, they considered how each appliance cleaned up.

Courtesy of Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore

What Didn’t Make the List

Strong Contenders

Presto Dual Basket ProFry ($69 at Amazon)

This decent fryer for under $100 isn’t a “mini” fryer as many of its similarly priced counterparts are. The presto rates as average in time to reach temperature. To its credit, in our testing, it never took a dramatic dive in temperature after adding food to the oil, but it never quite returned to temperature in any test. The two baskets that allow you to fry different foods simultaneously are the strongest feature of this model, as the safety features are pretty standard, with an emergency temperature cutoff and the requisite magnetic power cord. It scored low on cleanup ratings, primarily due to none of the pieces being machine-washable.

• Dimensions: 14 x 15 x 11 inches
• Capacity: 12 cups
• Temperature range: Up to 375°F

Presto FryDaddy Deep Fryer ($43 at Amazon)

The FryDaddy has been around since 1977, and there have been few design changes since then. There are no bells and whistles with this small-capacity fryer. It stands out, though, in quick heating, recovery, and overall heat retention. There is no temperature gauge, so a thermometer is a necessary piece of extra equipment for this fryer. It doesn’t give much of a showing in safety features, either. Cleaning is also not a high-rating category. It fries well and is easy to set up; just take it out of the packaging, and it’s ready to go. Some better temperature control and perhaps a pour spout to drain the oil would make this rank higher. It’s a basic model that makes good fried food.

• Dimensions: 17 x 20 x 8 inches
• Capacity: 4 cups
• Temperature range: Up to 360°F

Results Still Simmering

Cuisinart 4-Quart Deep Fryer ($100 at Amazon)

Heat retention is the main issue with this Cuisinart appliance. Where many of the models fought to maintain or recover temperature, this model possibly retains heat too well, racing past the desired temperature in many of our tests. An experienced cook with an accurate thermometer would have no problems adjusting to the temperature variations, but it would prove difficult for a beginner. It has a deceptively high capacity, compared to its physical footprint, holding enough food for three to four people at a time. With the correction of the temperature variations, this would be worth every bit of the price.

• Dimensions: 13 x 18 x 13 inches
• Capacity: 2.3 pounds
• Temperature Range: 275 – 375°F

T-fal Deep Fryer ($130 at Amazon)

The strongest feature of the T-fal is the automatic oil filtering and storage that adds safety and convenience and extends the life of the oil. Setup instructions could use some improvement, but overall assembly is intuitive. Its major downfall is the thermostat calibration; testing with a thermometer versus the control settings showed that it is necessary to set the thermostat higher than the desired temperature. Recovery times were, unfortunately, slow for its medium capacity. It comes with the standard safety features, including an automatic shutoff and magnetic power cord. Resolution of the temperature issues would significantly improve this fryer’s performance and overall ratings.

• Dimensions: 18 x 15 x 14 inches
• Capacity: 2.6 pounds
• Temperature Range: Up to 374°F

Low Performers

Cuisinart Compact Deep Fryer ($93 at Amazon)

This Cuisinart reached its initial temperature quickly. After that, it didn’t fare well in our testing. Although it’s essentially a ready-to-wear unit, requiring almost no effort to set up, the controls’ composition is rather flimsy plastic with a short life expectancy. Temperature recovery and heat retention scored pretty low, dropping temperature and never quite returning to the set temperature after adding food. The lid is problematic. Steam is produced from water vapor leaving food as it fries. Water leaving hot oil is good; water entering is dangerous. Lacking good venting, the lid collects steam, which is prone to dripping back into the hot oil, causing spatters and pops.

• Dimensions: 13 x 9 x 8.5 inches
• Capacity: 0.7 pounds
• Temperature Range: Up to 375°F

Courtesy of Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore

Frequently Asked Questions

• How long should you cook food in a deep fryer?

  “How long you fry depends on the temperature of the oil and the weight of the food,” says Gabrielle Littleton, a fourth-generation restaurateur and the director of operations for Urbanspace Chicago. “The sweet spot for frying most foods is typically between 350 and 375 degrees. Some foods should be blanched at a lower temp and fried at a higher temp. French fries are typically blanched low, at like 250 degrees, and then cranked to 375 degrees, or in some instances higher. A good rule of thumb is looking for crispy golden brown. The minute black edges start forming you should pull the food and take its temperature; you can always finish in the oven if need be. It’s very important for meats like chicken that the internal temp is 165 degrees, and it should be measured with a meat thermometer.”

• How do you clean a deep fryer?

  You need to be careful about keeping your fryer clean, according to Littleton. “One of the keys to protecting the internal components of the fryer is to use as little water as possible when cleaning. A quick Google search will tell you to fill the fryer with water and let it boil to clean, but this is a bad idea for the longevity of the fryer. Dawn soap is always best – it’s a supreme degreaser and more food safe than caustic degreasers. The more frequently you clean your fryer, the easier it is to clean, and the more protected and in working order your heating elements, thermostats, thermopiles, and pilots remain.”

• What kind of oil should you use in a deep fryer?

  “I am a big fan of using tallow. Animal fats that come in a solid state are easy to use and are more stable at high heat. Commercial blended fry oils like clear liquid shortening, soybean oil, canola oil, corn oil, or other high-performance oils are full of trans fat or polyunsaturated fats, which can oxidize and create harmful compounds in a fryer. Olive oil has a low smoke point and is not recommended for a deep fryer. It is important to note that the longer oil stays in the fryer, the more unstable and less healthy it becomes, so oil should be filtered when the fryer is cleaned and replaced every two to three days (or sooner!), depending on the amount of frying you are doing,” says Littleton. If you don’t want to use animal fats, look for an oil with a high smoke point like peanut oil, grapeseed oil, or avocado oil.

Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore

Our Expertise

Greg Baker is an award-winning chef, restaurateur, and food writer with decades of experience in the food industry. His written work appears in Food & Wine, Food Republic, and other publications.

This piece was also updated by Stacey Ballis, a freelance writer, recipe developer, and product reviewer. Stacey has been published on Food & Wine, Eating Well, Allrecipes, MyRecipes, Delish, and more.