Hamilton Beach 12 Cup Deep Fryer

I'm not exactly sure why I bought this deep fryer because I am not really much of a deep fried food type of girl. It was last Christmas season, the price was phenomenal at everyone's favorite big box discount store, and i was going to make Italian Sugar Bows for the gift baskets. O.K., all were good reasons to buy this. I get a little jumpy when working with hot oil. This seemed like a very good reason if the other reasons weren't good enough.The deal here is that the heating element needs to be submerged in the unit. Fill it to capacity with oil. Set the temp. Wait for the unit to sound off to let you know that the oil has reached the desired temp. Load whatever you are cooking into the basket and lower. Cover with the lid. Remove after the desired cooking time has been reached. Scoop out any random pieces of food that may have fallen through the basket. Repeat the process until everything has been fried and then drained. When the oil has cooled, either dump or drain for future use.Actually, the cooking part is pretty easy and produces good results. It is the cleanup that is a pain.The pros:- the results are consistent and good.- using the top does not appear to create so much condensation that renders the food soggy or unevenly cooked.- the heat element appears to be accurate and reaches the desired temperature quickly- has a cute little window that eliminates guessing.- decidedly safer than cooking on a stove top with a dutch oven and thermometer.The negatives:- decidedly not splatter free- clean-up is a cumbersome process. There are a lot of parts that are not submersible and hard to clean.- the long and narrow body may not be convenient when cooking some foods- the interior is black and it is difficult to retrieve particles of food from oil. Not doing so will leave the oil with a burned taste.Overall construction seems good. Since I've used this only a few times for things like the cookies and cocoanut shrimp, I'm not sure this appliance made sense for me given the clean-up which I really don't care for. Truthfully, many of these deep fryers seem similar in function and construction so they are all probably somewhat the same in terms of mess and clean-up.Bottom line. If you deep fry with any frequency this is probably something you are going to like and need. If you don't like heavy duty clean-up, consider how often you'll use it and possible alternatives that might be less complicated. I am not tossing this, but i definitely don't use it that much.

I've had mine for a couple of years now and use it regularly. I, too, experienced the heat settings coming off immediately. I first solved this by putting a dot of red fingernail polish at the 350 degree mark. Just recently I drilled a hole in the top and inserted an analog long stem meat thermometer thru it so that I could monitor the temp as it came up. It takes just over 10 minutes to come to full temp. And, I bought it somewhere else for about the $ 40 amount. The embossed "full" oil level in the oil pan is nearly impossible to read. Since I added the analog thermometer I can see the heat drop when you add cold foods. Its not an extreme drop but I'd like to see someone make a single basket fryer that holds maybe 16 or 18 cups. With more oil capacity you shouldn't get much, if any, drop in temp when cold food is added. I've considered getting the double fryer but it's just too wide to fit into the appliance garage where I keep it. The magnetic appliance cord had such a weak magnet that it was nearly impossible to keep it plugged in. I have another appliance that uses a magnetic cord and it's strong enough that it works fine. I solved this problem by opening it up and hard wiring a cord to it. And, no, the other magnetic cord would not fit the fryer. For safety purposes I set the fryer in the DRY side of the sink when I use it.. This eliminates the possibility of a dangerous spill. The removable oil pan makes clean up a breeze,so I've not experienced a problem with cleaning. Lastly, I'd like to see them add a digital temp gauge to it so that I could monitor the cooking temp as I go.

Sorry, bought it (same product) on the "Walmart site" for under $40 bucks. Great product cooks evenly, heats up quickly and cooks really well, than cooking your frying foods in a regular skillet! Love deep frying, fries, fish, chicken and other frying foods. Cleaning, is way easier than frying on the stove/range or even frying in the oven. Also, accumulates less heat to, in these summer months. I recommend this product!!!

It is very easy to use and everything is automatic, which takes out all the guesswork - love being able to cover it to prevent grease from popping out on me