Cuisinart CDF-170 3.4-Quart Deep Fryer, Stainless Steel

I FOUND THIS FRYER FOR UNDER $100.00, "THIS ONE IS A WINNER"TEMP IS WHERE YOU SET IT AND IT WORKS.EASY CLEAN AND DRAIN.PERFECT SIZE FOR SMALL/MEDIUM QUICK MEALSSUPER DEEP "REAL" STAINLESS STEEL UNIT, OIL TANK AND FRYER BASKETSSPLATTER PROOF FRYER LID/COVERLARGE BASKET WILL MAKE FRENCH FRY'S FOR 4 PEOPLE, PIZZA ROLLS, MUSHROOMS, NUGGET'S OR FINGERS. FISH OR CHICKEN PATTIES,ONION RINGS, HASH BROWN PATTY'S AND SO ON... QUICK COOK TIMES 5 MIN IN MOST CASES.BEWARE!!! NOTE: AFTER 5 FAILED ATTEMPTS FROM DIFFERENT MANUFACTURES THAT ALL ENDED IN RETURNS.ISSUE: ENAMELED OIL TANK LEACHED TOXIC PAINT INTO HOT OILISSUE:THERMOSTAT/TEMP CONTROL WOULD NOT GIVE TRUTHFUL OIL TEMPISSUE:THERMOSTAT/TEMP CONTROL WOULD NOT SHUT OFF, WENT TO HIGH AND OIL STARTED TO SMOKEISSUE: HARD TO CLEAN AND DRAINISSUE: OUT SIDE OF FRYER GOT SO HOT YOU COULD NOT TOUCH (POSSIBLE FIRE ISSUES)ISSUE: OIL TANK LEAKSISSUE: ROUND FRYERS WERE NOT STABLE AND COULD EASILY BE BUMPED AND SPILL HOT OIL OVER USER

It works great! The fried food is delicious. It is easy to clean.

Temp control lets you set the correct temperature for each food, from barely bubble to smokin' hot. Stainless steel makes for easy cleaning and the lift-out oil reservoir lets you save the oil after cooking your fries and okra. We prepare a lot of fish and chicken and the heating element keeps the oil hot from batch to batch. The deep frier is a good size and I like the way the basket sits in the oil and then can be raised to drain the food. I knocked off one star because this is my second Cuisinart cooker because the heating element failed on the first one after a year. It worked so well that straight away I ordered the same unit again. I hope this isn't an issue with this one. I recommend this product for its ease of use and the superior way it heats the oil. If a year from now this one fails I will probably buy another.

I love these. They hold their heat very well, are easy to clean, have a heating element that is above the bottom so the corn meal does not burn and hold up for many years. Be carefull when wiping down the control because within the first year I could not read the temp numbers or any other print that was on the control panel. I think 409 was what I was using that was too strong. Get one and be happy you don't have to use those crummy, little, round fry daddy things any more. LOL

Have only used this fryer a few times but find it to be a purchase worth it's value. I bought the 2 quart size, overall footprint is about the size of a toaster but It holds more than I thought! The onion rings in the photo were all cooked in one batch and are sitting on a 10-1/4 inch paper plate. Verified the temperature settings with a separate oil thermometer -- oil temp was the temperature set on the controller. And the controller has a "stand by" setting you can use to keep the oil hot but not actively heating if you need time to prep another batch of food to fry. The removeable oil pan has a pour spout for easy draining. Cleaning was pretty easy -- I started with Ajax dish soap and hot water, but components still felt a little greasy so I sprayed with Dawn Powerwash and that did the job. Used a water-dampened microfiber cloth on black controller box as recommended in owner's manual and it did remove the oil splatters. As others have mentioned, cleaning the heating elements themselves is a little tricky as you have to be careful not to bend/damage anything and you can't immerse because of the controller unit, but, again, some Dawn Powerwash spray and a dishcloth did the job. Be careful cleaning the outside unit housing -- the bottom inside edges are sharp. Overall, I feel this fryer is worth the purchase price and do recommend it.

Wow, I was so excited to finally own my first deep fryer and to cook up some wings at home without settling for baked wings only (sorry if you love your wings baked).The fryer was fairly easy to set up although it took my husband's gadget smarts to figure out the proper way to attach the handle to the basket (instruction manual was not too clear for me). The basket is decent sized but the oil depth for about a gallon does not come up very high when food is immersed with the basket. So essentially you should only do a single layer of wings for example which for me was about 8 wingettes. The oil heated up in about 10 or so mins to the 375, I dropped my wings in and this first batch of wings came out nice and crispy after about 12mins.Unfortunately this device proved to be a one hit wonder. I dropped my next batch of wings in and I noticed after about 3mins, that the oil was kinda simmering. I decided to let it keep going and then by the 10min, you could tell the oil had totally cooled off and my wings were just taking a cold swim in oil. After an hour of research (because the manual did not indicate anything about this design disaster!), I got to learn about the dumb "reset" issue with this thing. I managed to reset it to finish cooking my 2nd batch of wings. Guess what? The stupid thing reset again with my 3rd batch of wings in the process of cooking but ofcourse, this time I couldn't reset immediately and had to unplug, disassemble the control unit, let it cool off for about 20mins and then reset again to get my oil back up to 375!. At this point(2hrs into my wings dinner prep) my family gave up on dinner and ate left overs.How in the world did this pass design review??? A basket too small to make enough food for a mid size family in one batch of cooking, yet a heating element that won't allow you cook more than one batch of food within 45 mins...huh??? All I can say is for now, I have been put off shopping for any more deep fryers.