Best deep fat fryers 2024: when the chips are down, you batter be ready

The best deep fat fryers aren't just for your local fast food restaurant or takeaway anymore. Having one of these in your kitchen will help you make delicious crispy chips with soft fluffy centres, perfect French fries, breaded prawns, donuts and other fine delicacies. 

We all know deep fried food is no friend to the arteries, but when it comes to making home-made chips, French fries and other desirable naughties, there's simply no more authentic way than to use the best deep fat fryer. True, oven-made chips and the new generation of the best air fryers are much more healthy than their deep-fried counterparts, but the chips they produce are often a bit dry and lack pukka texture and, to some degree, flavour.

For the best – and safest – results, we’d recommend a dedicated deep fat fryer like one of the dandy models on this page. Now, pass us those Mars Bars and a big bucket of batter…

Best deep fat fryers 2024 ranking

Deep fat fryers produce the best chips of all but they’re a right pain in the bottom to clean. The problem is that every time you fry something, it leaves behind a load of burnt crumbs that sit there waiting to be added to the next fry-up. The situation is even worse when you fry chips one day and breadcrumbed Chinese butterfly prawns the next. You not only end up with a tankful of crumby oil with a hint of fish that you feel the urge to take a fishing net to, but those crumbs also darken the oil and drastically shorten its lifespan.

This large 3.5-litre Tefal model features a unique cleaning system that rids the used oil of crumbs and other post-fry detritus after every meal. It’s a bloody ingenious and really simple twin-reservoir filter system that works brilliantly well. 

When you’ve finished frying, simply flick the dial below the main oil container to the filter icon and, when the oil’s cooled down, it will automatically filter into a sealed plastic tank below, where it’ll sit safe and sound until your next frying session (Tefal recommends changing the oil every 10 to 12 uses). 

To clean the now empty aluminium oil container, simply remove it and rinse the crumbs away under a hot tap or use a kitchen towel to wipe it clean. And that’s all there is to it. The whole system is now safe to carry without spilling oil all over the shop. Next time you use it, simply unlock the plastic oil reservoir, pull it out, unscrew the plastic cap and pour the clean oil back into the main tank.

This model has one of the largest footprints of those tested and is capable of accommodating up to 1.2kgs of food: its basket is deep and wide enough to swallow a whole fish and its size also provides more space for chips, prawns and calamari to receive a right proper frying. To use it, simply turn the dial to the required temperature – full whack at 190˚C for frozen fries – set the simple LCD timer and retreat until you hear the admittedly very quiet beep.

At 40cm x 30cm, the Oleoclean isn’t the most practical size for storage – there’s a compact 2-litre model available for that – but if you’re looking for a large fat fryer that is very keenly priced, an absolute doddle to keep clean and really easy to use, then this is far and away the finest model out there. Oh, and did I mention it makes an astonishingly good batch of crispy chips?

De’Longhi ditched its slightly healthier Rotofry model a few years ago – the chips moved in and out of the oil in a circular motion – but this standard fryer bears a lot of resemblance and features a very similar cleaning method. When the oil’s at the end of its life (usually after about 10 uses), unlatch the front panel, pull out the rubber tube and hang it over a suitably sized receptacle. Now pull out the stopper on the end to let the dirty oil flow out, ready for careful disposal. 

Granted, it’s a pretty uncomplicated way to empty an oil fryer, but you do need to make sure the collection jug is large enough and that you keep the rubber hose well aligned or it’ll pour oil all over your brand new pair of suede Penelope Chilvers boots. And that would be a disaaaaster.

This 2.4-litre model also features an integrated basket handle that folds down out of view when finished with. Its large basket meanwhile has the capacity for a substantial 1.5kg of chips, fish, battered Mars Bars, what have you. It’s a big, wide beast, mind, so perhaps avoid it unless you have suitable storage space and a family big enough to benefit from its ample internal dimensions.

As bog-standard deep fat fryers go, the Russell Hobbs Maxi Fryer is a sterling performer with a 2.5-litre oil capacity and enough meal estate for one kilo of fried goodies. As is the case with all fryers, you have full control of its temperature settings – from 150˚C to 190˚C – so it’s a good choice for most ingredients whether it’s delicate prawns or thick-cut steak chips. Granted, it doesn’t have the biggest basket in the world so perhaps avoid this model if there are more than three in the family.

Like many fryers, you’re encouraged to use the filtered lid when using it and this definitely cuts down on the amount of fatty vapour that all fryers produce, especially when at full bore. In out test the Maxi Fryer produced exceedingly crispy chips from the handful of chopped Maris Pipers we slung into its basket and although it’s nowhere near as easy to clean as the winning Tefal, it’s more than up to the mark for occasional forays into deep frying territory.

If we were giving awards for looks, the Breville would walk it – its mirrored silver flash on the fascia looks rather swish, though maybe not so much after several fry ups. It’s also got a neat foldaway handle to raise and lower the basket.

Despite the ‘easy to clean’ moniker, this smallish 2-litre model doesn’t come with an oil filtration system. However, because the kettle-like heating element is hidden beneath the oil container and out of the way, it is relatively easy to clean once the oil is past its prime and been disposed of; just lift out the enamel oil tub and wash it under a hot tap.

Control wise, it comes with a simple temperature dial (150-190˚C) and an LCD timer so there’s not much that can go wrong. Although its food capacity is just 200 grams shy of the Tefal and Sage (1kg if you must know), the Breville’s basket is much smaller relatively speaking, so food has less space to move around while it’s frying. Hence, this is not a fryer for a large family of chip fiends but it is absolutely spot on for couples and perhaps a threesome, nudge nudge.

If you live alone or with a petite partner, then this wee fryer is just the ticket for the occasional guilty pleasure. Its footprint is just 28 x 34cm so you’ll have no problem stowing it away and it’ll take up hardly any room on a kitchen worktop.

The 1.5-litre Lakeland has a food capacity of just 350g so you can rule out using it to feed more than two mouths – and even then you’ll both be fighting over the paucity of chips, onion rings and breaded prawns it produces.

Nevertheless, it’s a much safer alternative to filling a saucepan with oil and setting the kitchen on fire. As is the case with all deep fat fryers, this one also comes with a thermostat that ensures the oil never reaches a temperature above 200˚C.

The Lakeland has a temperature range of 70°C to 200°C, it fries exceptionally well and is a cinch to use though changing the oil is a faff because the oil tub is fixed in position and the only way to empty its contents is by tipping the whole unit to the side and using one of its corners as a spout. Otherwise, this is a top contender for infrequent frying of small batches.

Do I have to use a specialised deep fat fryer?

No matter how tempting it is, never use a saucepan to deep fry anything because that would be one of the most dangerous things you could ever do. And we mean really dangerous, as in 'setting fire to the whole kitchen and/or disfiguring yourself' dangerous. The UK fire brigade harps on about the dangers of using saucepans for frying on a regular basis and for good reason – they account for one fifth of all kitchen fires and cause terrible burns if mishandled.

A specialised deep fat fryer, by contrast, comes with an integral thermostat that ensures the oil never reaches a temperature hot enough to catch fire. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean you should ever leave one unattended. Similarly, you should never fill a deep fat fryer with more oil than the manufacturer recommends or, once you load it with ingredients, the hot bubbling oil will spill over and cause oily devastation to all and sundry.

Despite the fact that cooking oil remains in liquid form, it is very bad practice to discard used oil down the sink – this will simply block the shit out of your pipes. Instead, invest in a packet of Quickshine Deep-Fat Fixer from Lakeland which turns the oil into a solid lump for completely fuss-free disposal.

Or, as a messier alternative, find a sealed plastic box (not entirely environmentally friendly it has to be said), pour in the oil, seal it and put it in your refuse bin or, better still, take it to your local recycling depot where it might one day help power a biofuel power plant or even car.

What's the best oil and type of potato for deep fat fryer chips?

The first thing you’ll need is a good quality oil. Most professional chefs like Jamie Oliver and Michelin-starred restaurant owner Pascal Aussignac will extol the virtues of beef dripping and duck fat, and if you’ve ever had chips cooked in lard you’ll know what an incredible flavour it produces. However, is there anything more unhealthy than a bowl of melted animal fat?

Instead, we would recommend a vegetable oil with a high smoke point of around 230˚C: sunflower, rapeseed and the more expensive groundnut (or peanut) are all great oils. For the purposes of this roundup I used Crisp ’n’ Dry rapeseed oil and it produced some damn fine chips.

The right potato is your next consideration. Again, according to Jamie Oliver and Pascal Aussignac, there is no better potato for chips than the Maris Piper, though King Edwards are also popular. Just be sure to use a high quality salt like Malden sea salt or Fleur de Sel at the table because your ordinary Saxa simply will not do.

Looking for something a littler, er, healthier? Easy, head over to our guide to the Best Air Fryers