Kitchen Gear: T-Fal Ultimate EZ Clean Fryer

Yup, bought myself a fryer.   
"Well you know you can just put oil in a pot and create you're own fryer right...?" Yes while that's very true, it's actually the smell that occurs during frying and how it lingers is what prompt this fryer buying decision.

I like to play with all sorts of cooking methods, including frying but I don't like doing it because it makes the entire house smell like the inside of a greasy restaurant fryer and then the smell lingers for days if you don't have a well ventilated kitchen. My mom actually suggested a pretty good idea, "why don't you just buy one of those single portable stove burners and fry outside?" It was genius except for when I started looking up how much a decent single portable burner costs, the dollars started adding up. Then out of curiosity, I decided to see how much a fryer would cost me and it turns out it didn't cost too much more than the burner. Well I mind as well get something meant for frying instead of taking a dark jab at the single portable burners (a lot of them had temperature control issues, hit and miss according to numerous reviews with numerous versions). So I changed gears, time to look for a decent fryer.

After many, and I mean many, hours of searching, I found the T-Fal fryer.

• Cleaning: The entire thing comes apart and is dishwasher friendly (except the heating element but that can be detached) ... downfall is if you don't have a dishwasher its somewhat painful to wash by hand
• Little mess: the oil sits low enough in the fryer that splashing is minimal. While researching, I saw a video of someone using a different fryer and it made a mess! Oil went all over their counters, nope!
• Size: It's pretty big but the size is for functionality
• Material: Almost completely stainless steel. Oil container is made with quality plastic
• Price: $80 -$120 depending. It's actually cheaper now than when I bought it.... and totally worth it then and even more now... wish I held off and waited
• Reviews: reviews HERE
• Other positives: The frying oil drains and filters into a separate container that comes out and is enclosed so you can reuse the oil up to 10 different frying sessions. It's also pretty lightweight,easy to use, and portable so I can fry foods anywhere I want and not have to worry about it.

Read more HERE
** not an endorsement, these are my own opinion and experiences. 

** Side note: Fried foods are not the greatest health friendly method of cooking BUT when done correctly, fried foods actually don't contain as much oil as one would think. Essentially the hot oil flash cooks the food and when it comes out of the fryer, if the food is properly drained of the residue frying oil (i.e using a paper towel to absorb leftover oil) then the oil won't be absorbed into the food itself making it less fatty.