Review of DeLonghi D24527DZ Dual Zone 3-Pound-Capacity Deep Fryer

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List Price: $182.00
Sale Price: $90.49
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I bought this fryer mainly because of its capacity, we're a family of 4, and because I heard good things about it. I am so glad I did! This fryer cooks 3 pounds of food perfectly! I made a ton of homemade potato chips tonight. This fryer is easy to use and easy to clean, and, as a bonus, it's easy to drain so you can save your oil.

When I was a teenager I worked at Burger King, and cooking with this fryer made me feel like I was at the fry station again (not that I want to relive that feeling). But, really, it has an actual basket that lowers into the hot oil and it has a place to set the basket so when your food is done it drains properly.

My Chinese chicken and broccoli has never tasted so good! This fryer is a gem.

If you like to cook and want to cut down your cooking time on foods such as french fries, chicken, fish for tacos etc..., then this is definitely a purchase to make. Amazon has free shipping on this fryer which is why I bought it from them.

We had a Fry Daddy years ago, and there is absolutely no comparison whatsoever between the Fry Daddy and this Delonghi fryer. Delonghi is light years ahead.

This deep fryer won't disappoint!

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My family and I celebrate Thanksgiving with a large seafood feast. Much of it is fried, and we need a LOT because everyone loves it. Traditionally, I have been the one camped outside in whatever weather happened to be around that year, frying up the large batches in my turkey fryer. While the adventure was always fun, monitoring temperature through multiple batches was difficult, and cleanup was always a nightmare. This year, we decided to try something that would keep me inside and possibly ease the cleanup effort. This fryer seems to be the answer.

First, I should say that I only give 5 stars when I can't think of a way to improve a product, so don't let the 4 stars color your impression. This fryer did everything I needed with no hassle. We were able to to fry up over 4 lbs of shrimp, 1 pint and a half of oysters, over 2 lbs of scallops, 4 soft shell crabs, and 3 large catfish fillets. I used smaller batches since this was my first time using the fryer, so it took a little longer, but I'm totally comfortable using larger batches next time around.

Once the oil reached temperature the first time, the unit had no problem maintaining the temperature. I probably ran about 15 batches through this fryer before I was done, and could have gone longer but would have had to change the oil. After we ate and relaxed for a bit, the oil was cool enough to drain for disposal. The best part was, after I drained the oil, my wife cleaned the fryer since it looked so easy to her (this is usually my job, also). She said the cleanup was a breeze. I've only had it about a week, so I'll update this review if durability becomes a problem. I expect we'll be using this unit rather often based on our experience. I should also point out that I never used the cover during the entire process, and did not notice much splatter around the unit. I probably would have used the cover (which has a metal, washable air filter) if I was using longer cooking times.

Since seafood fries quickly, I decided to set the time for 12 minutes, so I could manually control the start and stop of the heating element. So after first setting up the time and temperature my process was:

1) Press the on/off button with the food ready to go. When the green light comes on, drop the food and press on/off to start the timer (and keep the element going it shuts off if you don't press on/off when it reaches temperature).

2) After the proper frying time, press the on/off button to shut off the element, then pull the basket and dump the food.

3) Get the next batch ready, then press on/off to start the oil heating again. It usually only took a minute or two to get back to temperature, then drop the food and press on/off again to start the timer and cook the next batch.

Here's what I think could be better:

1) Operation can be confusing because it shuts off at each step in the process for safety reasons. They try to explain this in the instructions, but it's not real clear how to handle multiple batches. I described my solution above for anyone else who may have to do multiple batches. The trick is to set the time much longer than you expect a batch to take and shut it off manually. Otherwise, you have to reset the time for each batch (if you let the timer reach zero).

2) The digital display could use more information. At times it shows a temperature, but you don't know if it's showing you the actual temperature of the oil (which it does during the heating process), or the temperature you set. It would be nice if there was an indicator of which temperature is being displayed.

3) The plastic tab used as a safety interlock (pointed out by a previous reviewer) is a bit obscure and not called out by any of the instructions or enclosed warnings. Mine did not break, but I can see if you didn't know it was there, you might try to push down on the main unit to get it seated and end up breaking the tab. The main unit seats very easily when the tab is aligned with the proper hole, so don't press or you'll risk breaking the tab.

4) It's called a "dual zone" fryer, but the "cool zone" below the element is only about an inch deep. I have trouble believing that zone is much cooler than the oil an inch higher. I did find the food droppings were not as dark as when I used the turkey fryer, but that might be more related to my ability to use a slightly lower frying temperature with the smaller batches and not having the constant heat applied.

5) The drain spout could be a little longer to make it easier to put a container underneath while the unit is still on a counter. This is a convenience comment because the drain spout worked fine when we emptied the fryer, it was just hard to keep the container aligned with the spout.

5) It would be nice to have a little more room to shake the basket while frying, without hitting the element.

So to conclude, 4 stars means "very good" in my reviews. Between the way it performed, the easy cleanup, and the fact that all the parts store inside the unit for storage, I have no trouble recommending this fryer. I hope it is as durable as it was convenient.

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Received this as a gift for Christmas '08. Have used it at least 8 times so far, and have had no problems with the function or electronics or anything. It does cook well, and it is nice and easy to clean once you have the oil drained (just throw most of it into the dishwasher!). However, one of the reasons that I requested this fryer was for the draining system, and I am pretty disappointed in it. I was hoping for something a little more sophisticated then just a simple valve that opens, like maybe a built-in filter and a reservoir to hold the oil.

If you want to drain the oil, you have to first find a nice container to use to store the oil in. Then you have to try and hold this container up to the valve, along with a strainer or other filter to keep the oil clean, and I found you also need a funnel to keep the oil from running all over the place. While holding all of these items under the valve, you then have to try and open the valve. Once most of the oil has drained into the container (hopefully!), then you need to try and tip the fryer forward to get the rest of it through the valve. This task is obviously a little easier with 2 people, but would have been a lot easier if they had designed the unit better and made it so you only had to open the valve and it just filtered into an attached reservoir (or even a detachable container of some sort).

Another thing I don't like is the fact that you have to set the timer before it will even start heating the oil. I'm not sure why, but once you select the temperature, it won't start heating until you set how long you will be cooking the food for. I have yet to even actually use the timer, since I usually need to cook several batches, so I just set the timer to something like 10 minutes, but then when the oil reaches the right temperature, I just cook the food and keep track of the cooking time myself.

Overall, it is a good fryer that does a good job of cooking the food, but I don't think it is worth the price until the draining system and electronic timer is improved.

Honest reviews on DeLonghi D24527DZ Dual Zone 3-Pound-Capacity Deep Fryer

This is the far best fryer I have ever owned.

Took some getting use to with the magnet plug. Once I learned how to use the plug everything was and is great with the fryer. Cooks fast and even.

You must have all items ready to go when using this product. I can have supper cooked less then 10 mins.

I love that I'm able to save oil, since all I use is peanut oil.

Looks great on the counter. Very easy to clean, everything goes into the dishwasher execpt heating element, which all you have to do with it is rinse with scolding hot water and a little soap and comes very clean.

I love it!!! Makes frying foods fun and not a job.

I cooked fried chicken in it and it came out crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside. I have not fried chicken in years due to huge mess it makes, but this fryer made it easier.

If you are looking for a good looking and great fryer this is the one you should buy.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for DeLonghi D24527DZ Dual Zone 3-Pound-Capacity Deep Fryer

I purchased this product after months of research and reading prior customer reviews. I have made homemade chicken nuggets, onion rings and French fries and can't say enough good things about the results. One: Easy to operate; Two: Easy to clean; Three and most important: fabulous tasting fried foods! The only thing I want to leave you with is to buy enough oil---takes almost a gallon to get to the minimum fill level.