Good metabolism is a beautiful thing. Especially when you own a Presto FryDaddy deep fryer. You'll be frying every other day when you discover how easy it is make super tasty fast food in the comfort of your own kitchen. And somehow it seems less caloric when you do it yourself - maybe because you can complement it with red wine and it feels like you're cancelling out the heart attack?

There's not much to the FryDaddy, which is what makes it so easy to use. You simply prepare your batters and dips, then pour about 4 cups of oil into the Daddy, plug it in and wait about five minutes for the oil to heat up. You drop in the battered/breaded food and just take it out with the included slotted scoop when it's golden. Meats take about 10 minutes per batch, and fries or onion rings about 6-8 minutes.

Some fryers have a temperature gauge, which you may want if you're getting schmancy, but the constant 360 degrees or so that the Fry Daddy keeps works fabulously for most foods.

The FryDaddy can hold about 8 chicken wings or about 1/2 a potato (2 fry servings) at a time; if you have more than two people, I'd advise going for the big guns - the Presto GranPappy. Don't kid yourself into thinking you only need the smaller version - the FryBaby - as soon as you tell your friends about your awesome frying ability, they'll be inviting themselves over, especially on Sunday afternoons during football season.

Cleaning is tricky. Going against everything I learned about hair dryers in the bathtub, I throw mine in the sink and wash it with soap and water. But officially I have to recommend that you just wipe the inside with a clean towel (ew). You can put the lid on the fryer and store the leftover oil in the fridge, but since oil's so cheap, I dump it all out and start anew each time.

I buy a vat of generic cooking oil at about $4.00/gallon, which lasts me about a month. Peanut oil tastes really good for french fries, but it's more expensive and doesn't add anything to stronger foods like wings or mozzarella sticks. Olive oil isn't good because it burns at too low a temperature, which funks up the delicate inside/outside crispy/tender balance.



Recommended: Yes