Fryers: How we test fryers

To test the performance of fryers, we use more than 30 litres of vegetable oil to fry our way through 25kg of Maris Piper potatoes and 6kg of frozen scampi.

We measure how long each fryer takes to heat up

Fryer performance

To ensure chips don’t end up a soggy mess, we test the performance of the fryers by measuring how long it takes to heat the oil up to 170°C and 190°C, and how accurate fryers are at reaching the temperatures.

We also measure how well the temperature is kept at 190°C over 10 minutes.

Cooking fresh chips

To asses how well fryers cope with cooking fresh food, we cook each fryer’s stated maximum capacity of fresh chips and rate the fryers for cooking time, evenness of cooking, overall appeal and quality of the cooked chips.

We cook 200g of frozen scampi in each fryer we test

Cooking frozen scampi

To asses how well the fryers cope with cooking frozen food, we cook a maximum of 200g of frozen scampi and rate the fryers for cooking time, evenness of cooking, overall appeal and quality of the cooked scampi.

How quickly do the fryers cool down?

We measure the time it takes the fryers to cool from 190°C to 50°C.

Quick models will take less than two hours to cool, but more commonly, it will take between two and four hours for a fryer to return to a safe temperature.

Some models take longer and you should never attempt to move a fryer, or change the oil, while it’s still hot.

We test fryers with lockable lids to see if any oil leaks out

Oil leakage

For any models with a locking lid, we filled the fryers will oil and then tipped them over to see if any leaked out.

The best fryers kept the oil inside the fryer or only leaked a very small amount. The worst fryers let the oil spill out.

How convenient are the fryers?

For each machine, we assess how easy they are to use and clean (inside and out) as well as as how difficult it is to change the oil.

We also rate the instructions and the build quality of the appliance.