My old Fry Daddy (after fifteen years) was not quite hitting the heat mark, and I needed a new fryer. Heck, I’m southern where it’s in the rule book that you’ve got to have a fryer and a good one. When the fryer is not quite right, it’s time to get a new one. Otherwise, your food is not going to come out perfect which is a darn shame.
The latest thing out is the Cool Daddy Deep Fryer put out by the same dependable company that made my last deep fryer. It’s a rather sleek looking high tech contraption with features not on the old Fry Baby/Daddy/Granddaddy line. It puts me to mind of a bread machine at a glance, but closer inspection will clarify that it’s indeed a fryer.
This new style puts the fryer in a plastic container (white or black) which is cool to the touch. The old models get hot as blazes, and you probably do not touch a Fry Daddy more than one time without learning that lesson. Cool Daddy, on the other hand, is all boxed up and even has a lid. From a safety standpoint, this sounds good. Also, grease tends to linger in the air and on the ceiling fan, so the lid thing sounds like a good plan as well.
With the older models, you fried in one mode—full tilt. With the Cool Daddy, they added a knob with temperature settings. Actually, it’s a range thing with 250, 300, 340 and 375 marked but the knob can be set between numbers. Where they came up with those specific numbers to mark, I can’t figure out. But, in any case, they listed those and scratched little icons on the other side for guidance. Hit 340 for mushrooms and 375 for French fries is what you can look at and figure out with the icons. Even they must not know what to fry at low temperatures, because nothing is listed. From my experience, you drop food in half hot oil, and you just have limp and greasy food. But, hey, you have the option.
The other two things added on the machine body are an open cover button and a red light. If you have a cover, you’ve got to open it, so that makes sense. The light button is a good idea. With the older models, you just guessed or waited 10-15 minutes. With this one, the red light goes off when the oil hits the temperature mark.
If you look up at the lid, you’ll see a window. It won’t do you much good, but you’ll have one. It’s too small, and it steams up and is pretty much worthless. You’ll also see a tiny latch where you will find a filter. This is to screen the grease rather than letting it go in the air. This, also, is a good idea if you cook with the lid closed.
Everything looks fine with Cool Daddy. I can see that the company responded to feedback on the old models and have attempted to add things customers want and to cut down on kitchen dangers and messes.
The first time I make French fries, I am disappointed to find that Cool Daddy is really not any bigger than my old Fry Daddy which took up about half the counter space. By the time they fancied this thing up, the extra space ended up being in the extras. I was hoping to be able to get by with one load of fries now rather than two like we always needed with the Fry Daddy. Nope. We still are a two load family.
Though I’ve made home fries for years, I did decide to check the recipe booklet which comes with the Cool Daddy. They had a very strange recipe that included cooking the fries a few minutes and then letting them sit (up to 2 hours) and then frying them again. This sounds like something someone would do at a truck stop if you weren’t looking. I couldn’t imagine double frying fries.
Of course, you do not have to double fry stuff, so I put the fries in, closed the lid, tried to peek in the window, and basically let the fryer do what it was supposed to do. Out came some of the worst fries I’ve ever eaten. The cooking was uneven. The fries stuck together in a blob and they even stuck to the fryer basket. I would not even think you could make things stick in a vat full of oil, but that’s the deal. These fries were a mess.
Another thing I'd note is that this model has the basket (rather than just a scoop). The basket is nice. No mess on the counter like with the scoop. But, the grooves are really hard to hit. The idea is to lift and then suspend the basket, but I'm still taking two or three tries to hit the mark. The design simply is not good on that.
I’ve played around some more with the Cool Daddy and have figured out that the key to making this work is to leave the lid open. Boy howdy. That really defeats the purpose now doesn’t it? You’ve got a lid to help cut down on the grease in the air, but if you close the lid, you have gross food. No contest there. I’m not going to bother frying up treats if they aren’t going to be good, so I’m flying with the lid wide open.
Though the Cool Daddy works like a charm (lid open), the cost for this model over the standard Fry Daddy without the bells, whistles and lid is about double. You’d be a lot better off getting the old style and remembering not to touch the sides. The only real benefit with the Cool Daddy is the indicator light, and it does not take long to figure that out on your own.
If you want to check out the Fry Daddy which is bare bones but very inexpensive and works like a charm, then my review of that machine is at:
http://www.epinions.com/content_186186370692
