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In light of Shelley Ryan's excellent report on the problem she had with her Presto fryer, I thought I should report my own experience. I filled my fryer with oil and let it come up to temperature on the highest setting. I checked the temperature with my own thermometer when the light went out, and indeed the temperature was only around 340 degrees rather than 375 as it should be. But, after simply mixing the oil around a bit with the drip baskets, I found that within a few minutes the temperature rose right up to 375 degrees, as it was supposed to be. The heating elements are very close to the unit's internal thermostat, and I think that you need to get the oil moving a bit in order for all of the oil to heat uniformly up to the correct temperature.
Of course, once the food gets frying there is plenty of movement in the oil to even out the temperature. And given the substantial amount of oil and the amount of power supplied by the unit's heating elements, I find that it does a much better, cleaner, and safer job of frying than I'd been experiencing on my gas stovetop with a deep pot. My experience has been that the temperature comes back up to the right level very quickly. The french fries, empanadas, and fried chicken I've cooked in it so far have come out great.
As some others have posted in reply to her review, it's possible that the thermostat in Ryan's unit was simply defective. For mine, it seems to be just right.
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When I decided to purchase a fryer, I started by first doing research; reading online reviews(like this)and reading consumer publication reviews. Next I go to the manufacturer's website of the fryers that look good and download the instruction manuals for the model I am interested in. This allows me to really get a feel for the products features and find out if there are any drawbacks.Last,I went to some local stores to get a hands on look at fryers with similar capacities and features as the one(s)I am considering. This gave me a real since of how much food I could fry in these machines. So, having done all this I decided to go with the Presto ProFry(05466).I have used the Presto Profry 3 times, frying shrimp, mushrooms, and sweet potatoes. Everything has cooked up nice and crisp with very little oily feeling or taste. This fryer comes with two half size baskets(about the same size as a basket in the smaller machines), but by going to the Presto web site I found out I could get a full size basket for it as well. I used the large basket when I fried the sweet potato fries and it allowed me to cook them without crowding them. The two smaller baskets allowed me to fry shrimp at the same time as mushrooms and bring them to the table at the same time.
I was little concerned about the size of this appliance, but it does not take up much more space than other smaller capacity fryers. Based on how I will use this, I decided larger would be better. I will not be frying all that often, it will be mostly be used when I have the family over for get-togethers. When I looked at the smaller fryers it was clear that they just would not hold enough to be efficient for a group(4-6 people). And if I am going to all the trouble of frying, I don't want to just fry a little bit(for just my husband and I). And as far as the "trouble" of frying goes, this machine is pretty easy. It holds a gallon of oil which is exactly the large size container the grocery store sells of veg. and peanut oil. I consider frying as something that should only be done outside, never in my kitchen. So, I just set up a table on my back patio next to the electric outlets and fry away. When I finish frying, cleanup is a matter of letting the oil cool and then pouring it through a strainer into a tight sealing container. I do not have a good filter/container system for this yet but I think a trip to the discount store will provide me with what I need. So far I have had my husband hold a tea strainer over the mouth of the container the oil came in and I carefully pour the oil in. I know there are one or two modes of fryers out there that are designed to streamline this process but the potential of the system failing and ending up with oil(maybe very hot!)leaking out and going everywhere makes me happy to just pour it out myself.
One other thing, I read on one of these reviews that since this is a large volume of oil, the heat sensor may register that it has reached the correct temp. but the oil closer to the surface my still be too cool to fry correctly. So, after the light goes out, indicating that it is up to temp. I take a long pair of tongs and gently stir the oil around and allow it to heat up a little more.
Finally, this a great machine, a good price, and I recommend it 100%.
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I got this fryer from my dad.He bought it because it was dirt cheap and looked great.At first, even at the 375F setting this frier would not get any hotter than 360F, so I decided to sell it on Ebay, and get another one, since Im starting to do some experiments for a Burger Franchise @Burgerhaus.I had a burger fest on a weekend so I decided to try frying about 10 KG of fries on a Sunday.
The frier worked great, but sometimes the temperature was not enough when frying 1KG at once on the 2 baskets.
After looking on how the temperature sensors are secured, I decided to try modifying the fryer.
It seems that the sensors are perfectly calibrated for the temperatures on the dial. However, this sensors are attached with a metal plate directly to the heating element, so what the fryer actually reads its an average from the Oil temp and the heating element temp.
Removing the supporting plate and 2 screws that hold the sensors, allows the fryer to correctly read the Oil's Temp.
After doing this, the Presto Profry will get up to 390F as peaking point, and work at an average of 370F on the 375 on the Dial. 365 Peak and 350F average on the 350F ,and so on. The fryer will work perfectly after that. (Look at the pictures with the Thermometer @Customer Images)
I rate the fryer a 4, since this is a little design flaw, and also because it does not have an oil filtering system like other fryers.
Other than that, and after the mod, this is a SUPERB Fryer for only $69.99
I higly recommend using Palm Oil, High Smoke Point Peanut Oil, Soy Oil+Palm Olein. Do not use Canola, Olive, Sunflower or other Higly Monosaturated oils as this have low smoke points and will be health dangerous at any temp higher than 350F.
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According to my wife, It:1) Looks Good: She says it's a bit big for the kitchen counter but since it looks good so thats okay. (I guess she was expecting a smaller one from me but this is the one I picked based on ratings).
2) Works Well: She was very excited the day she made chicken wings and fries in it together. She said the fries came out crisp and were done in less than 2 minutes. There was no excess oil on fries either. The chicken wings took abot 8 minutes but they were some of the best chicken wings we've had. They were crisp and not oily.
3) Power cord is too short (2 ft): It might be an issue for some people but it wasn't a big deal for her because we have plenty of power outlets around the kitchen counters but she still mentioned it anyway.
Personally, I loved the price. I was expecting to pay a couple of hundred for something like this but for $70 it's a bargain.
This unit cleans easily. You can put the oil pan, the lid, the heating element and the baskets in the dishwasher, if your dishwasher is big enough. Otherwise you will have to wash the oil pan yourself.
The lid allows you lower and raise the baskets with the lid closed. This helps keep hot oil from getting splattered when you are moving the baskets or lowering something wet into the oil.
This was a very decent buy. I'm hoping to get many years of good use out of it.
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I can't seem to re-rate this review, but having had the thing for several months now, I've run across the same problem Shelley Ryan had with it: it doesn't actually get the oil hot enough!!! As it comes without a thermometer, you have to check the temps yourself, and I guess I'm going to have to try "Closer"'s approach of stirring the oil. As pointed out elsewhere, 375F is the recommended temp for frying, and some recipes call for a first fry at a lower temperature, which is VERY DIFFICULT with the ProFry's trial-and-error setting.The Presto Profry requires a gallon of oil in it's square, removable reservoir. It comes with two mesh fry-baskets that fold up for easy storage. They'll sit side-by-side within the reservoir which is VERY convenient for, say, leaving the battered chicken to fry for 18 minutes while frying the onion rings for 5 and switching 'em out for some broccoli.
The temperature guage is indeed not accurate and one annoying note is that when it reaches its target heat the LED turns off, so at a casual glance you wouldn't know the fryer was on, containing oil at a temperature of 3??F. Once the oil has cooled it is RELATIVELY easy to lift the reservoir out of its housing and pour off the reusable portion of the oil. It has a lid with slots to accomodate the basket-handles when the lid is on the fryer.
I find the ProFry a LOT more convenient to use than the old deep fry pot on the stovetop, but obviously it takes up some counter space. If it turns out that there is some way of increasing the fry temperature, I'd rate it highly.
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