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Fried onion rings and french fries are piled up in fry baskets. Credit: Getty Images

The Best Deep Fryers of 2024

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Fried onion rings and french fries are piled up in fry baskets. Credit: Getty Images

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Editor's Choice Product image of Breville BDF500XL Smart Fryer
Best Overall

Breville BDF500XL Smart Fryer

Check Price at Amazon

An LCD screen distinguishes this fryer and makes it very convenient to use. When it comes to frying, it cooks quickly and gives crispy results. Read More

Pros

  • Excellent at frying
  • Automatic settings
  • Accurate temperatures
  • LCD Screen

Cons

  • Ready beeps are hard to hear
Editor's Choice Product image of Hamilton Beach Deep Fryer, 4.5 Liter
Best Value

Hamilton Beach Deep Fryer, 4.5 Liter

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Although this model has few frills, it excels at turning out crunchy foods. It’s slow to preheat but always brings oil close to the target temperature. Read More

Pros

  • Holds a lot of food
  • Excellent at frying
  • Accurate temperatures
  • Parts are dishwasher safe

Cons

  • Long preheat times
Product image of Chefman 4.5L Dual-Cook Pro Deep Fryer

Chefman 4.5L Dual-Cook Pro Deep Fryer

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This popular, inexpensive two-sided fryer has plenty of room and some nice features, but many reviewers say the basket’s too flimsy. Read More

Pros

  • 4.5-liter capacity
  • Removable divider
  • Easy controls

Cons

  • Slow to heat up
  • Flimsy basket
Product image of All-Clad EJ814051 Deep Fryer

All-Clad EJ814051 Deep Fryer

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This is a gorgeous appliance that's terrific at deep frying a lot of food at once. Thanks to a feature that makes it easy to strain and pour out the oil and dishwasher-safe parts, it’s easy to clean. Read More

Pros

  • Large capacity
  • Excellent at frying
  • System for draining oil easily
  • Parts are dishwasher safe

Cons

  • Manual isn't thorough
Product image of Cuisinart CDF-200 4 Quart Deep Fryer

Cuisinart CDF-200 4 Quart Deep Fryer

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This model heats up oil relatively quickly and brings it close to the selected temperature. The basket is large enough to hold a half dozen doughnuts or four large chicken pieces at a time. Read More

Pros

  • Holds a lot of food
  • Excellent at frying
  • Accurate temperatures
  • Parts are dishwasher safe

Cons

  • No special features
  • Best Overall Breville the Smart Fryer
  • Best Value Hamilton Beach Professional Grade Electric Deep Fryer
  • Chefman 4.5L Dual-Cook Pro Deep Fryer
  • All-Clad Deep Fryer
  • Cuisinart 4-Quart Deep Fryer
  • Cuisinart Compact Deep Fryer
  • T-Fal Ultimate EZ Clean Fryer
  • Presto Fry Daddy
  • More Articles You Might Enjoy

There’s nothing as delectable as the shatteringly crisp crust on a piece of fried chicken or the crunch on a ring of cornmeal-breaded calamari. And when you’re in the mood to indulge in these incomparably delicious dishes, there’s no way around it: you need a big vat of hot oil.

The easiest way to do that is with an electric deep fryer, which can control the heat while minimizing oil fumes and keeping splatters from covering your kitchen surfaces. Sure, air fryers are great for heating up convenience foods or crisping chicken nuggets, but they won’t envelop your food in a perfectly browned shell while keeping the inside moist and tender.

Editor's Note:

The recommendations in this guide are based on thorough product and market research by our team of expert product reviewers. The picks are based on examining user reviews, product specifications, and, in some limited cases, our experience with the specific products named.

A Breville deep fryer sits on a kitchen counter.
Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

Breville the Smart Fryer is our top pick for the best deep fryers on the market.

Best Overall
Breville the Smart Fryer

The LCD screen on Breville the Smart Fryer distinguishes it from all the other fryers we tested, making it the most convenient model to use. It offers a choice of preprogrammed settings, including fries, donuts, wings, fish, and calamari—as well as the option to specify “fresh” or “frozen” for some of them. You can, of course, also set your own preferred time and temperature.

While it preheats, the fryer displays the temperature as it rises; that will let you gauge when to start dipping your chicken into the batter and have it ready to be placed into the fryer as soon as the oil hits the ideal temperature. When the preheat time is over, the machine beeps. Then the cooking time counts down on the screen and the machine dings again when your food is ready.

We’re happy to say that the preset programs give perfect results. The oil heats to slightly higher than the selected temperature to compensate for the drop when you add cold food. Everything we cooked from frozen mozzarella sticks to Nashville-style chicken cooked at the recommended time and came out brown and crispy.

With its sophisticated technology, the Breville is pricey. It’s moderate in size but large enough to accommodate three doughnuts or large pieces of chicken at a time. Vents and a permanent filter in the lid help minimize the amount of steam and odors that escape into the kitchen. The basket and oil container can be cleaned in the dishwasher.

Pros

  • Excellent at frying

  • Automatic settings

  • Accurate temperatures

  • LCD Screen

Cons

  • Ready beeps are hard to hear

$179.95 from Amazon

$179.95 from Abt

$178.95 from Walmart
The Hamilton Beach Professional Grade Deep Fryer filled with fried food sits on a kitchen counter.
Credit: Reviewed / Betsey Goldwasser

The Hamilton Beach Professional Grade Deep Fryer is our best value pick.

Best Value
Hamilton Beach Professional Grade Electric Deep Fryer

Although the Hamilton Beach deep fryer has few frills, it excels at what it’s intended to do: create crunchy foods. It’s slow to preheat the oil, but it always brings it close to the target temperature, so that foods cook up quickly and evenly. With its large wide basket, the Hamilton Beach can fry up a half dozen doughnuts or four to six pieces of chicken at once.

On the control panel, there’s a ready light and dials to select the temperature and set the mechanical timer. Sometimes you have to approximate the temperature as there are settings for 300°F and 340°F but not 325°F and 350°. The oil container is made of enameled metal; it can go in the dishwasher but if you opt for washing it by hand, it’s easier to clean than stainless steel.

Pros

  • Holds a lot of food

  • Excellent at frying

  • Accurate temperatures

  • Parts are dishwasher safe

Cons

  • Long preheat times

$74.99 from Amazon

$108.95 from Walmart
Product image of Chefman 4.5L Dual-Cook Pro Deep Fryer
Chefman 4.5L Dual-Cook Pro Deep Fryer

If you’re looking for a low-cost alternative to our tester’s Best Value pick, this dual-cook model from Chefman is worth a look. Its removable divider makes it easy to cook two separate dishes at the same time, and reviewers say the controls are intuitive and easy to use. Some reviewers aren’t thrilled with the amount of time it takes to heat up, and the basket is apparently pretty flimsy, but the fryer’s backed by a one-year warranty, so it’s a relatively low-risk investment at this price. With its 4.5-liter capacity and straightforward controls, it’s a convenient way to whip up crispy onion rings, homemade donuts, chicken wings, and more right at home.

Pros

  • 4.5-liter capacity

  • Removable divider

  • Easy controls

Cons

  • Slow to heat up

  • Flimsy basket

$53.96 from Amazon

$69.98 from Home Depot

$69.99 from Walmart
Product image of All-Clad EJ814051 Deep Fryer
All-Clad Deep Fryer

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.

Pros

  • Large capacity

  • Excellent at frying

  • System for draining oil easily

  • Parts are dishwasher safe

Cons

  • Manual isn't thorough

$209.95 from Amazon

$209.99 from Walmart
Product image of Cuisinart CDF-200 4 Quart Deep Fryer
Cuisinart 4-Quart Deep Fryer

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

Pros

  • Holds a lot of food

  • Excellent at frying

  • Accurate temperatures

  • Parts are dishwasher safe

Cons

  • No special features

$85.85 from Amazon

$109.95 from Walmart

Product image of Cuisinart CDF-100 Compact Deep Fryer

Cuisinart Compact Deep Fryer

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.

Pros

  • Easy to read fill lines

  • nonstick interior

  • Includes charcoal filter

  • Parts are dishwasher safe

Cons

  • Inaccurate temperatures

$64.95 from Walmart

Product image of T-Fal Ultimate EZ Clean Fryer
T-Fal Ultimate EZ Clean Fryer

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.

Pros

  • Holds a lot of food

  • System for draining oil

  • Parts are dishwasher safe

Cons

  • Inaccurate temperatures

  • No timer

$115.69 from Amazon

$165.44 from Walmart
Product image of Presto FryDaddy
Presto Fry Daddy

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.

Pros

  • Easy to use

  • Includes storage lid

  • Space-saving

Cons

  • No temperature control

  • Doesn't hold a lot of food

$37.21 from Amazon

$39.99 from Home Depot

$37.21 from Walmart

Meet the tester

Sharon Franke

Sharon Franke

Contributor

Sharon has tested and reviewed kitchen equipment for over 30 years. Before becoming a cooking tools maven, she worked as a professional chef in New York City restaurants.

See all of Sharon Franke's reviews

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