Sensio 13373 Bella Cucina 1-1/5-Quart Stainless-Steel Deep Fryer

Comment: Purchased this as a replacement for ancient (30 years+) Nordic Ware fryer. First pass, with Bella Cucina deep fryer on french fries, Corn Fritters, and Panko crust crab cakes was more than satisfactory. Small size is perfect for "cooking for two" routines. Bella Cucina deep fryer advantages include small kitchen "foot print," i.e. easily stored, minimal oil use, quick heating, uniform frying, cover/filter, etc..

To avoid batter sticking to basket problems, immerse empty basket into oil, then, using slotted spoon, carefully drop "battered" food into oil. Fryer basket and filter/cover (without filter insert) easily washes in dishwasher.

To clean, empty oil into large measuring cup, using a wire strainer to remove food particles, then return oil to bottle or whatever is used for oil storage. Wipe down deep fryer interior with paper towels, followed by warm soapy water wash/rinse/dry.

Great "cooking for two" kitchen tool/appliance!

Comment: I have ordered alot of things from amazon but I must say this is the best deep fryer I have ever used. Its small and dont take alot of counter space and without the basket you can make alot. you can keep the basket but i prefer to use it with out it.

Comment: I bought a Presto 05420 FryDaddy Electric Deep Fryer which promptly ruined a Chicken Fried Steak and the frying oil with it--due to excessively high temperatures and no thermostat. I bought this one and it successfully produced and excellent CFS without sacrificing the oil.

The oil heated fast, the thermostat was accurate and the fryer itself was unugly.

The frying basket was very small--unimportant to me, the Frydaddy didn't even have one.

The interior was aluminum, but cleaned easily.

I thought this a much superior fryer than the Frydaddy, a real bargain at the price.

Since Bella Cucina does not have it on it's web site, and now Amazon lists it as not available--it has probably been discontinued--why so would be a dark mystery.

Comment: very small capacity, heats quickly, basket is of poor design & instructions are lacking food temps.

Comment: Overall a good buy. I used a candy thermometer to measure the accuracy of the thermostat. First thing i made was French Fries (of course,) and used a recipe that called for double frying. The first fry was for 2-3 minutes at 325 degrees, the second was for 4 minutes at 375 degrees. i purchased this fryer over the fry daddy for two reasons. The first was that it has a thermostat. Thermostat was very accurate, with a catch. I set it at 325 and gave it about 10 minutes to warm up. Checked it with the thermometer and it was 325 on the button. Gave the fries the first fry, and let then set it for 375. Gave it 5 mins to warm up to 375 and checked the temp with the thermometer and it was 370 degrees. Gave it another 5 mins and it was still 370. Another 5 mins and it was still 370. So it seems that while the thermostat has a 375 setting, the unit actually tops out at 370. Just the same, 370 did the trick for the fries just fine. After 4 mins they were golden brown and crispy. i could hold a fry by both ends and snap it in half like a dry twig. Very tasty and not overly greasy at all.

Second reason for purchasing this over the fry daddy was the included basket. What i quickly realized is that with the actual volume and surface area of the frying area already being very small, the basket took up too much room to be useful. i used average size potatoes to make the fries, and they were too long to fit into the basket unless i put them into the basket on the diagonal. since doing that would have only allowed me enough room to fry 5 or 6 fries per batch, i ditched the basket altogether and just used tongs to fish them out once they were done. i suppose the basket would still be useful for some things, but it really wasn't a big deal to not use it. So just to sum up.

pros: Thermostat was very accurate up to 370.
Quick to heat up.
Easy to clean up and has a lid to keep the oil in.

Cons: Doesn't actually achieve 375 degrees
Basket takes up too much room
Have to baby the magnetic cord. Came detached very easily.