Fry Die

The idea of a deep-fat fryer is good. No spatter, and no oil popping up to make the cook jump. The truth however, is that it is an oil guzzler and quite a pain to upkeep. We bought one because Kit had fond memories of his in Ireland. I liked the idea of throwing frozen food in and getting lots of fried stuff with little effort. Very little of either is realistic.

The fact is that these fryers take up to three litres of oil to operate. The oil then sits in the fryer until one needs to use the machine again, in which case the economic minded will just reheat the oil, and the more health conscious would need to dump the old oil, wash out the container and begin again with a fresh three litres.

We bought the fryer in 2007 and used it perhaps twice when we were in rented premises. When we bought our house, the fryer came with us and was used once. Last week I got rid of the oil that was still in it from the last use and found out that it ceased to work properly. Or at least that is what Kit said. I'm just way too tired from other more pressing things to bother with a machine when I can just ask the husband to fry whatever needs to be fried.

And so, it is now packed away and ready to be put into the recycle bins. Five years old, four uses. About ten litres of oil. All in all, no notable meals from it and a lot of storage space utilized. I think it will not be an item we will be replacing.

We would have had more fun with an R2 unit.

A fryer may cut down on oil splatter but takes up a lot of space.

Not to mention being completely oil hungry.