Presto 05443 CoolDaddy Deep Fryer

I purchased my National Presto Cool Daddy Deep Fryer on sale at Sears for $39.99. While I realize fried foods are not great for you, I grew up with a British mom and fish and chips really hits the spot sometimes. After testing out my brother's deep fryer and becoming really impressed, I went for a model I could afford. I can't say I'm horribly impressed.

Features of this deep fryer include a charcoal pad that is supposed to eliminate the smell of fried foods from permeating everything in your home. I thought this was a great feature, however it doesn't work at all. The pad becomes a sticky, greasy mess that required soaking to try to clean up.

The National Presto Cool Daddy has a round, spacious fry basket that attaches to a sturdy handle that slides into a track on the front of the machine and rises and lowers into the heated oil. That is a nice feature because you can raise your fried foods out of the oil and let them drip for a couple minutes to drain off some of the grease. The problem is that when I filled the oil to the maximum line, the bottom of the fry basket sits in the top surface of the oil. Therefore, draining my items was pointless unless I only filled the oil pan to the minimum line.

The pan that holds the oil is removable for easy clean up. That feature is nice, but my basket has a sharp edge on the rim that if you're not careful could easily cut you. The oil pan is solid and, even with the electrical plug on the bottom; it says you can submerse it without any problems. So far that is true. The product is advertised as having a non-stick oil pan. I disagree. I have a ring where the top level of the oil is that didn't come off after serious scrubbing.

Using the fryer is pretty simple. Fill the oil pan to the correct level with oil, turn the unit on using the temperature dial and when the oil is up to temperature, the red light on the front of the unit goes out. I found my oil did heat up accurately every time. Most foods fry at the highest setting, 375, though there are lower settings available.

When the oil is up to temperature, push the button to open the unit's top lid. This top lid holds the charcoal filter on the top and then the part that is exposed to the hot oil is made of metal and does become very hot. The rest of the unit does remain cool to the touch during operation. Place your foods in the basket and lower the fry basket into the oil. This is where it became tricky. Battered foods stuck to the fry basket no matter how I put them in. Even using tongs first to slowly lower the foods in failed to keep the items from sticking. After making a batch of beer battered chicken fingers, I decided never again to use a batter in this unit.

The final issue with the fryer is clean up. The removable basket helps, but I found one major flaw with this unit. As your foods cook, the oil splatters everywhere. Even with the lid closed, oil was somehow splattering out to the fry basket's handle and dripping onto my counter. When the lid is opened to remove food, the oil that built up on the lid would drip down the back of the unit.

I spent ten minutes wiping down my counters and then having to clean the outside of the fryer and then the lid. When I though I had it completely cleaned, I opened the lid to put the fry basket back in and oil started dripping out from inside the lid. The seal is obviously not tight enough because oil had made its way under the metal portion of the lid and when opened was now dripping back out. Bad design flaw!

In the end, I have to say the plain French fries I made came out perfectly. Battered fish and chicken stuck to the fry basket making it unlikely I'll ever bother using the fryer for these items again. I did try the same thing dredging the items in a flour mixture instead of a batter and that worked perfectly. So as long as you are not using batter, the foods don't stick and come out moist and tender.

If you don't mind extra clean up time, you'll enjoy this fryer. Otherwise, I'd skip it.