Aroma ADF-212 Smart Fry XL Digital Dual-Basket Deep Fryer

I was formerly a professional cook. I worked in restaurants and catering for 17 years. A person gets spoiled cooking with good equipment at work. It can be disappointing to go home and try to cook with standard household equipment, both in efficiency and results. I try to buy the best kitchen equipment I can afford.

When I chose this fryer, I deliberated for days. When it arrived and I examined the device, I was pretty sure I had chosen wisely. The heating elements and mechanisms reminded me of a small scale restaurant quality fryer.

The first time we used it, we had a fish fry for 6 people with fried pickles, onion rings, and ocean perch. Awesome! I was not disappointed. The unit worked flawlessly. The unit comes with two half baskets and a single large basket which were perfect for the different combinations of items we were frying. Our batters were fried crip, the unit maintained good temps, there was no burning, heat was evenly distributed,...Read more

Honestly I was a bit dubious of this product initially, considering its price point. But after having used it for the last few months I can definitely recommend it.
Previously I had a Delonghi, which was a great design but did not hold the temperature very well and eventually the drain hose began leaking (oddly they do not sell replacement hoses which is really ridiculous). I had never heard of Aroma before, but figured for this price it was worth a shot. Turned out to be a great purchase.
PROS
Much larger well than some of the other fryers I checked out and allows for the basket to submerge fairly deep. No problem covering the items fully in the oil.
Because of its size, the temperature stays pretty consistent, even when the basket is full.
Heats up fairly quickly considering the size of the well.
Pretty easy to clean, and the design of the well (it separates from the rest of the unit) makes it much easier to drain than I though it might...Read more

I purchased this item to be used to make french fries at a football concession stand. The unit is easy to operate and has a fairly quick recovery time between batches (about 3 to 5 minutes). One unit can cook about 60 lbs of defrosted french fries in five hours. The procedure I use is two step fry method described in the Joy of Cooking. With the two step method and advance preparation, the unit can keep up with demand when the pre-cooked fries are cooked a second time for only 2 minutes. The fryer is very easy to clean.