Some small kitchen appliances are worth the space they take up in the kitchen and that’s true with deep fryers. We all know we should avoid fried foods and too much fried food is not a good thing. But sometimes, nothing quite beats the taste of fried onion rings, home-made French fries and fried chicken or chicken wings.

What I like about using a deep fryer is that you can achieve restaurant-quality fried foods at home, with little mess and clean up. You can also re-use the oil as long as you strain it between uses. Today’s home deep fryers perform almost as well as the professional models used in restaurants and there’s a big selection that come in affordable prices.

Things to look for when purchasing an at home deep fryers are:

• easy to use and clean
• heat to the right temperature quickly
• re-heat to the right temperature quickly after food is lowered into the oil

Types of deep fryers

Electric deep fryers are a great alternative to using a large pot filled with oil on the stovetop. For one reason, they contain that “fried oil” smell inside the fryer so your whole kitchen doesn’t smell like your local burger joint. There is less chance of creating a mess and getting burns since many models come equipped with enclosed heating elements and lids.

Propane deep fryers are good for outdoors, but not indoors. These typically aren’t much more than large stockpots with fryer kits — usually a thermometer, poultry rack and lid.

Oil-less deep fryers is designed to produce the same restaurant-style fried taste without the hassle, expense and mess of dealing with large amounts of cooking oil. Many of these also steam or perform other cooking tasks, like stir-frying.

Baskets – some fryers come equipped with an easy to lower basket. This takes away the danger of splattering and spills if you’re worried about that. Some fryers even come with two baskets side by side which is a great choice if you plan on frying more than one item at a time.

Deep fryer sizes

Home deep fryers come in all different sizes, so when purchasing one consider what you’ll be using it for. If you don’t have a lot of kitchen countertop or cabinet space and don’t need to fry large quantities at a time, the Presto FryDaddy has been one of the top sellers for a long time.

Reasonably priced, the FryDaddy, has a built in thermostat to regulate temperature and is coated on the inside with a non-stick surface for easy clean up. This model doesn’t give you a basket to lower food, so if that’s important to you, you might want to pass this one up and go for a bigger, more substantial fryer.

If you have a larger family or plan on using the fryer for large parties, the Waring Pro DF280 Professional Deep is a great choice. It has a 12-cup capacity and a three-basket design that allows you to cook two smaller quantities of different foods or a larger quantity of one type of food.

No matter what size you need, Amazon has a huge selection. Here are some of Amazon’s top sellers. Make sure you read through the reviews to see which features are important to you.

Best Rated Home Deep Fryers from Amazon