Megan CurtinEveryone knows Friday’s in Wisconsin means one thing, fish fry! A fish fry is more than just a meal. It’s about an experience, old fashions, traditions and taking time to be together as a family.
While everyone has their favorite fish fry spot, sometimes after a long week of work you just want to go home. Lucky for you, deep fryers exist! Owning one gives you the ability to make fish fry in the comfort of your own home.
Below are the best deep fryers to use for your next at-home fish fry! Kick back, relax, and start planning your next at-home Friday fish fry!
Contents
What is a deep fryer?
Deep frying (also referred to as deep fat frying) is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot fat, most commonly oil, rather than the shallow oil used in conventional frying, done in a pan. Normally, a deep fryer or chip pan is used for this; industrially, a pressure fryer or vacuum fryer may be used.
What type of oil is used in a deep fryer?
Comes down to personal preference. You can use vegetable, canola, sunflower, and rice bran oil are all good, as they can be heated to high temperatures without burning. Their neutral flavors also won’t affect the taste of the food.
Things to consider before buying a deep fryer aka fish fryer
How much food do you plan on making?
They come in different shapes and sizes. If you typically have smaller get-togethers you can purchase a smaller deep fryer, vs larger get-togethers will benefit from making food in a larger deep dryer.
If you plan on deep frying multiple foods at once such as fish and fries, you might want to consider buying a deep fryer with multiple baskets.
How much time do you want to spend on clean up?
As with any cooking, when you make food there’s going to be a cleanup process. If you want a faster clean up time you might want to choose to get a deep fryer with a lid to prevent spills and splashing.
Safety
When choosing between different types it is important to note that an electric or air product is going to be much safer to use compared to the propane deep fryer since it has helped control features, like an automatic shut off switch. If you have kids or often get distracted, I suggest going with a deep fryer with an automatic shut off or it can be very dangerous.
Is deep frying healthy?
This is a loaded question. Deep frying can be both bad and good, depending on the type of oil you use, the food you are cooking, the product you pick to use and how often you clean it. Obviously, you don’t want to use these daily, unless you want to end up in cardiac arrest in about a year.
If you want a healthier route, you might want to consider purchasing an air fryer. While it is no doubt healthier, there are pros to using both options
Pros of using an air fryer :
- Reduces the amount of fat, calories and potentially harmful compounds in your food
- Cost saving – use little or no oil to cook your food
- Overall safer to use ( no oil splatter or spillage)
- Can be used to cook different types of foods through baking, roasting, frying and even grilling
- Easier to clean
Pros of using a deep fryer:
- Food comes out more moist, tender and juicy
- Cooks food faster
- More affordable
What is the best oil to deep fry fish?
When deep-frying fish, choose an oil with a high smoke point (peanut, grapeseed, safflower, soybean, sunflower, canola, and extra light olive oil are all good choices) and a flavor that is either neutral or appropriate to the type of food you’re cooking.
What should the oil temperature be for frying fish?
Temperature is very important. You’ll need a deep-fry or candy thermometer. Bring the heat up slowly until the oil is between 350 and 375 degrees F — too low and you’ll get greasy food, too high and it’ll burn. Cook the chips until golden brown.
Ideal temperature range for most fish is between 360 and 380 degrees. If you’re doing multiple batches of fish you will want to adjust your oil temperature accordingly.
Do you have to batter fish before you fry it?
Duh, that is the whole point of a fish fry. If you weren’t using batter it would be called a fish bake or a fish grill, not a fish fry. The batter will protect the fish from the hot oil and seal all the moisture inside the fish, ensuring that you have a perfectly cooked and moist cut of fish.
Different types of batter include:
- Fish beer batter
- Cornmeal fish batter
- Pancake fish batter
- Panko batter
- Flour and water batter
- Hidden Valley Ranch batter
- Homemade batter
Secura 1700-Watt Stainless-Steel Triple Basket Electric Deep Fryer
This is one of the most versatile products out there.
Equipped with three baskets, you can cook two foods at once with its smaller side by side baskets or fry a whole bunch of your favorite food with its extra large basket.
Each basket comes with an easy to use handles that aids in lifting the food in and out of the oil. Inside this, you will find markings that help you indicate cup levels and amount full.
Frying basket and oil containers are dishwasher safe, aiding an easy cleanup. 1700 Watt Immersion Element Preheats And Recovers Oil Temperature Fast. This comes with extra order filters, an oil ready light and a power on light. Safety features on this bad boy are rounded out with a magnetic breakaway cord.
Product Details:
- 4.2-Liter removable oil tank for easy cleanup
- Heat control – 250Degree-375 DegreeF
- Odor filter and see-thru lid included
- Automatic timer with 60 min shut down to the heating element
- Adjustable knobs for temperature and timer feature (separate so you can use one or the other if wanted)
- Dimensions: 17 X 16.5 X 11 in
- 4.2L oil tank capacity
Tiluxury Air Fyer
The air fryer with no oil needed can cook almost anything with up to 80% less fat. Great for your body and the air you have to breathe in.
No oil means no gross leftover smell. With this link, you can get this Tiluxury air fryer with a free 1-year warranty. It circulates extremely hot air and flows heat currents around food, delivering the fast and precise results.
Someone call the fire department, this little buddy can get up to 400 DegreeF cooking food in under 2 minutes. With up to date technology, you will find an LCD Touchscreen and smart timer buttons that are easy to access and convenient for cooking.
Fry, bake, grill or roast all your favorite foods in this. Wash it out with soap and water or join the 21st century and put the basket in the dishwasher. Parts included with this product include a pizza pan, a standard easy load basket with non-stick coating and a BBQ rack with skewers.
Product Details:
- 5.8 QT
- Digital touchscreen control
- Timer with automatic shut off
- 1400 Watt power
- Cool touch handle and housing
- Dimensions- 9.84 x 12.6 x 12.2 in
- Temperature Range: 175 to 400 F degree
- No assembly required
- Volts: 110-120V, 50Hz
- NO OIL NEEDED
Oil Filtration Deep Fryer
Say hello to your new favorite easy to clean up deep fryer!
This is one of the few on the market that features a unique oil filtration system which automatically drains and filters oil for future use. Draining takes around 10 minutes from start until the end.
This comes with an easy to use, 2 position basket for cooking and draining your fish. Dishwasher safe parts and easy to use handles are both found on this product.
Comes with a lid and a see-thru viewing window to keep an eye on your food as it cooks.
A temperature modulator is located in the drain just in case you hit the switch to drain the oil while you are using the fryer, it won’t allow you to drain. This prevents you from losing oil from the module into the reservoir. A magnetic plug connects it to its power source.
Writers tip: I do not recommend using a hardening oil like Crisco because once it hardens it will not pass through the filtration system.
Product Details:
- 1700-watt
- 3.5-liter oil capacity and 2.65-pound food capacity
- Power on and off switch
- One-step oil drainage and filtration system
- Precise thermostat control
- Non-stick interior
- Dimensions- 18.3 x 13.7 x 14.8 in
XL Air Fyer
This air fryer is great for those of you with families you need to cook for, or if you often have a large group of friends over!
The Cozyna air product can hold up to 50% more food items than your typical product. What’s even better than that? This product saves you up to 70% less fat than standard deep fryer because you only need a tablespoon of oil or less.
This product works with any type of oil and I suggest using grapeseed oil because it leaves no trace of a taste.
Cozyna allows you the option of air frying, grilling, baking, and roasting any fish or vegetable of your choice. If you’re not sure what you would use in this besides fish you are in luck. With this link you not only get the product but you get two cookbooks with tons of recipes you can try out.
Additionally, this product comes with a basket divider so you can cook multiple foods at once and not get food crossover. I’m pretty sure I just made that term up, but some people are really picky and don’t want their food to touch aka food crossover.
To adjust temperature just simply spin the temperature dial. Make sure to check if you are using Celsius or Fahrenheit otherwise your food won’t turn out how you want it too. Stupid metric system. Why isn’t the world universal with that?
Basket material is coated with a non-stick thin layer so I would still suggest using some sort of cooking spray. Better be safe than sorry, unless you really enjoy doing dishes.
Megan Curtin
