Customer Reviews

Presto 5466 0ProFry Stainless-Steel Dual-Basket Immersion-Element 12-Cup Deep Fryer

5 star:		(133)
4 star:		(56)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

In light of Shelley Ryan's excellent report on the problem she had with her Presto fryer, I thought I should report my own experience. I filled my fryer with oil and let it come up to temperature on the highest setting. I checked the temperature with my own thermometer when the light went out, and indeed the temperature was only around 340 degrees rather than 375 as it should be. But, after simply mixing the oil around a bit with the drip baskets, I found that within a few minutes the temperature rose right up to 375 degrees, as it was supposed to be. The heating elements are very close to the unit's internal thermostat, and I think that you need to get the oil moving a bit in order for all of the oil to heat uniformly up to the correct temperature.

Of course, once the food gets frying there is plenty of movement in the oil to even out the temperature. And given the substantial amount of oil and the amount of power supplied by the unit's heating elements, I find that it does a much better, cleaner, and safer job of frying than I'd been experiencing on my gas stovetop with a deep pot. My experience has been that the temperature comes back up to the right level very quickly. The french fries, empanadas, and fried chicken I've cooked in it so far have come out great.

As some others have posted in reply to her review, it's possible that the thermostat in Ryan's unit was simply defective. For mine, it seems to be just right.

I ordered this because of all the glowing reviews here. (And because I wanted to make better french fries at home.) I've grown to trust what other Amazonian reviewers say about products, and I try to be thorough and diligent in my own comments.

Here is why I am returning this deep fryer to Amazon: It's doesn't get HOT enough! All the recipes I've been reading about quality fried food -- yes, there *is* such a thing -- say that you have to heat the oil to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. That's why I decided to closely watch the temperature of the oil by using my immersible digital thermometer.

According to the fryer's instructions, it takes the unit about 20 minutes to reach 375, and then the signal light goes out. My signal light went out when it reached only 330 degrees! That's hardly "ready" for frying, but I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't used my own thermometer. I waited a few more minutes, and it eventually reached 359. Naturally, the temp falls again when you lower any amount of food into the oil, but the heating unit never seems to kick itself back on. So the ultimate cooking temp of 375 degrees isn't possible, I guess.

The end result? Food that was not crispy enough and way too greasy. I'm just not willing to keep a kitchen appliance this big and bulky if it doesn't perform to its specifications. Thank you, Amazon, for making it so easy to RETURN this product. :)

Feb 2, 2010: p.s. Don't miss the comments posted on this review. There's a lot of strong opinions, and a lot of helpful info there, too.

Feb 17, 2011: About a year ago, commenter ILoveGadgets (see[.]for her/his profile) suggested trying a Breville EW30XL Electric Gourmet Wok for deep fryer. I eventually ordered one, and I love it! Turned to the max temp, I've been able to fry up lots of goodies. I monitored it with my digital thermometer and it stayed at around 375 degrees. It's not really DEEP, but it's WIDE, and the glass lid keeps most of the oil from splattering everywhere. The only drawback is that it is rather large, so you need to have somewhere to store it. Definitely worth considering, guys!

I can't seem to re-rate this review, but having had the thing for several months now, I've run across the same problem Shelley Ryan had with it: it doesn't actually get the oil hot enough!!! As it comes without a thermometer, you have to check the temps yourself, and I guess I'm going to have to try "Closer"'s approach of stirring the oil. As pointed out elsewhere, 375F is the recommended temp for frying, and some recipes call for a first fry at a lower temperature, which is VERY DIFFICULT with the ProFry's trial-and-error setting.

The Presto Profry requires a gallon of oil in it's square, removable reservoir. It comes with two mesh fry-baskets that fold up for easy storage. They'll sit side-by-side within the reservoir which is VERY convenient for, say, leaving the battered chicken to fry for 18 minutes while frying the onion rings for 5 and switching 'em out for some broccoli.

The temperature guage is indeed not accurate and one annoying note is that when it reaches its target heat the LED turns off, so at a casual glance you wouldn't know the fryer was on, containing oil at a temperature of 3??F. Once the oil has cooled it is RELATIVELY easy to lift the reservoir out of its housing and pour off the reusable portion of the oil. It has a lid with slots to accomodate the basket-handles when the lid is on the fryer.

I find the ProFry a LOT more convenient to use than the old deep fry pot on the stovetop, but obviously it takes up some counter space. If it turns out that there is some way of increasing the fry temperature, I'd rate it highly.

When I decided to purchase a fryer, I started by first doing research; reading online reviews(like this)and reading consumer publication reviews. Next I go to the manufacturer's website of the fryers that look good and download the instruction manuals for the model I am interested in. This allows me to really get a feel for the products features and find out if there are any drawbacks.Last,I went to some local stores to get a hands on look at fryers with similar capacities and features as the one(s)I am considering. This gave me a real since of how much food I could fry in these machines. So, having done all this I decided to go with the Presto ProFry(05466).
I have used the Presto Profry 3 times, frying shrimp, mushrooms, and sweet potatoes. Everything has cooked up nice and crisp with very little oily feeling or taste. This fryer comes with two half size baskets(about the same size as a basket in the smaller machines), but by going to the Presto web site I found out I could get a full size basket for it as well. I used the large basket when I fried the sweet potato fries and it allowed me to cook them without crowding them. The two smaller baskets allowed me to fry shrimp at the same time as mushrooms and bring them to the table at the same time.
I was little concerned about the size of this appliance, but it does not take up much more space than other smaller capacity fryers. Based on how I will use this, I decided larger would be better. I will not be frying all that often, it will be mostly be used when I have the family over for get-togethers. When I looked at the smaller fryers it was clear that they just would not hold enough to be efficient for a group(4-6 people). And if I am going to all the trouble of frying, I don't want to just fry a little bit(for just my husband and I). And as far as the "trouble" of frying goes, this machine is pretty easy. It holds a gallon of oil which is exactly the large size container the grocery store sells of veg. and peanut oil. I consider frying as something that should only be done outside, never in my kitchen. So, I just set up a table on my back patio next to the electric outlets and fry away. When I finish frying, cleanup is a matter of letting the oil cool and then pouring it through a strainer into a tight sealing container. I do not have a good filter/container system for this yet but I think a trip to the discount store will provide me with what I need. So far I have had my husband hold a tea strainer over the mouth of the container the oil came in and I carefully pour the oil in. I know there are one or two modes of fryers out there that are designed to streamline this process but the potential of the system failing and ending up with oil(maybe very hot!)leaking out and going everywhere makes me happy to just pour it out myself.
One other thing, I read on one of these reviews that since this is a large volume of oil, the heat sensor may register that it has reached the correct temp. but the oil closer to the surface my still be too cool to fry correctly. So, after the light goes out, indicating that it is up to temp. I take a long pair of tongs and gently stir the oil around and allow it to heat up a little more.
Finally, this a great machine, a good price, and I recommend it 100%.

I got this fryer from my dad.He bought it because it was dirt cheap and looked great.At first, even at the 375F setting this frier would not get any hotter than 360F, so I decided to sell it on Ebay, and get another one, since Im starting to do some experiments for a Burger Franchise @Burgerhaus.


I had a burger fest on a weekend so I decided to try frying about 10 KG of fries on a Sunday.
The frier worked great, but sometimes the temperature was not enough when frying 1KG at once on the 2 baskets.

After looking on how the temperature sensors are secured, I decided to try modifying the fryer.
It seems that the sensors are perfectly calibrated for the temperatures on the dial. However, this sensors are attached with a metal plate directly to the heating element, so what the fryer actually reads its an average from the Oil temp and the heating element temp.

Removing the supporting plate and 2 screws that hold the sensors, allows the fryer to correctly read the Oil's Temp.

After doing this, the Presto Profry will get up to 390F as peaking point, and work at an average of 370F on the 375 on the Dial. 365 Peak and 350F average on the 350F ,and so on. The fryer will work perfectly after that. (Look at the pictures with the Thermometer @Customer Images)

I rate the fryer a 4, since this is a little design flaw, and also because it does not have an oil filtering system like other fryers.
Other than that, and after the mod, this is a SUPERB Fryer for only $69.99

I higly recommend using Palm Oil, High Smoke Point Peanut Oil, Soy Oil+Palm Olein. Do not use Canola, Olive, Sunflower or other Higly Monosaturated oils as this have low smoke points and will be health dangerous at any temp higher than 350F.

According to my wife, It:

1) Looks Good: She says it's a bit big for the kitchen counter but since it looks good so thats okay. (I guess she was expecting a smaller one from me but this is the one I picked based on ratings).

2) Works Well: She was very excited the day she made chicken wings and fries in it together. She said the fries came out crisp and were done in less than 2 minutes. There was no excess oil on fries either. The chicken wings took abot 8 minutes but they were some of the best chicken wings we've had. They were crisp and not oily.

3) Power cord is too short (2 ft): It might be an issue for some people but it wasn't a big deal for her because we have plenty of power outlets around the kitchen counters but she still mentioned it anyway.

Personally, I loved the price. I was expecting to pay a couple of hundred for something like this but for $70 it's a bargain.

This unit cleans easily. You can put the oil pan, the lid, the heating element and the baskets in the dishwasher, if your dishwasher is big enough. Otherwise you will have to wash the oil pan yourself.

The lid allows you lower and raise the baskets with the lid closed. This helps keep hot oil from getting splattered when you are moving the baskets or lowering something wet into the oil.

This was a very decent buy. I'm hoping to get many years of good use out of it.

I bought this Presto fryer a while back and have loved it. I read all the instructions first and used a candy thermometer to make sure the unit's thermostat was accurate and it was. I had read the review on here about stirring the oil if it doesn't reach the proper temp and that worked like a charm.

I wasn't sure when I would use it again so after the first fry fest (say that three times fast) I drained and filtered the oil using a large mesh strainer with a round coffee filter. Then I poured the cleaned oil back into the original bottles that it was purchased in using a funnel I bought on here for that purpose. Norpro 5 1/2-Inch Stainless Steel Funnel with Detachable Strainer I was shocked to see that the two bottles were as full as they were when I opened them. This leads me to believe that frying at the correct temp is a lot more of a low fat choice then the conventional wisdom had me thinking.

I have fried at least 8 lbs of vegetables like cauliflower, asparagus spears, eggplant cutlets and onion rings and all were superb and much better than the old stove top way of frying. Everything cooked evenly and had that appetizing golden color but the asparagus did lose some of it's batter.

Boneless chicken thighs and haddock fillets came out excellently. It took only about one minute - maybe less - to fry the fish at 375. I don't remember how long the chicken took because I cook by sight and sound more than time. Food is nothing if not sensual.

p.s. One tip I have, actually two, is to heat the baskets in the oil before adding the food so the batter won't stick. And if you have to do a lot of onion rings don't use the baskets at all. Just gently drop them in the oil and fish them out with a Chinese spider or use long tongs.

Ya know i gotta love amazon. I was laying in bed after new years thinking i'm going to make this the best 2011 ever. No more playing around, if i want something, i'm going after it. No more living like a sheep, i'm a wolf now.

I've wanted a deep fryer for a long time for one reason and one reason only. I really like hot wings. Normally i'd be one of those suckers sitting in WoW or whatever lame wing places that are out there, just eating what they gave me and liking it.

So that morning i decided, it's time to at least look at the prices so i'd know how far off my goal was going to be. I sorted by highest ranking and this baby came up.

Now i was a little hesitant, just like a lot of you who left positive reviews, about it not getting 375, etc. I detached the plate and screws like mentioned in another post(props to that btw), filled it with oil, loosely followed the directions of a highly rated hot wing recipe also found online and sat down with my plate of wings.

I have to admit, i was scared. Grease hurts and is scary. But i'm a wolf now and wolves don't get scared. I recommend dunking the wings in the sauce and letting them sit in there for a while then throwing the back in and let them fry for just a bit, like 30-45 seconds. It seals in all your saucy goodness and makes them much easier to get sauce in your mouth then on your hands.

Anyway, this is the one to buy. There are always going to be whiny people leaving feedback and i've come to terms with it. Just ignore the sheep and get this.

I really love this deep fryer. I use it for personal/home use only and it has more than exceeded my expectations. I love that it keeps the oil heated perfectly. Ive never had problems with my oil cooling.

Its large size is perfect for when I make my fried chicken and the food never sticks for me. It is extremely easy to clean as well.

The only CON is that the cable is VERY VERY short. It could be a little longer but I understand why they wouldnt issue a long cable with something that holds a large portion of boiling oil.

Ive had two deep fryers given to me as gifts when I expressed my interest in having one and I hated them both. I went out and did my own research and found this one myself. I love it and definately recommend it to anyone looking for a home deep fryer.

I bought this for my boyfriend and me, and we were so excited about taking it out and using it. We made fish and chips and were very let down. We bought a separate external thermometer to see if the oil was truly calculating correctly. I had the same issues as others, it never heated above 320 when it was turned all the way up to 375. We even circulated the oil, doing this got the temp up to 340 which quickly dropped back down to 320. So when we dropped the food it, the temp would drop below 300. This was definitely not ideal frying temps and our food was really greasy.

We were let down, after purchasing almost $15.00 worth of Canola oil that we now have to figure out what to do with. (We strained it out after use and are hoping it stores alright in an airtight container). This is a large fryer and takes 5 quarts of oil.

We are returning this Fryer, perhaps it was defective. I think we are going to go the route of a thermometer on a deep pot, hopefully we'll have more control over the temp next time we want to fry something.