T-Fal Simply Smart 2.65-Pound Cool Touch Deep Fryer

I tend to be fairly obsessive about researching items before I purchase them. And if I can't do it online, I'll sometimes spend an hour at a store pushing every button, assessing the feel of the material, and contemplating the functional attributes. One such epic shopping experience took place with this fryer. The store I was at had 6 other fryers, similar in size, but under different brand names (granted, most appliances are manufactured by a hand full of companies). The T-Fal Simply Smart far outpaced all the others in construction quality. The handle, bowl, and lid all seem to be built in a way that means they'll last! While most of it is still plastic, it seems to be of a higher grade and thicker.

I've used it 4 times and opted to buy one for my brother to replace his old fryer. It heats quickly, can heat to 374 degrees (great for sweet potato fries and other fries), and is easy to clean, considering the basket and lid can go in the dishwasher (the manual says the lid...Read more

First the positive:
Looks stylish, the twist and shake handle works great and you can put most parts in the dishwasher to clean it. Cleaning is easy considering this is a grease machine. For it's capacity it is also pretty compact to store. Timer is easy to use and works great, and the unit cooks food even and very consistent.

Now to the not so positive:
The opening mechanism is a button and even on first try you have to either press multiple times and/or help by moving the lid at the same time. I could see this getting worse over time.

I'm contemplating a return on this product but so far I haven't found one with the twist and shake feature and manual opening mechanism in a good but still compact size.

I know the so far so good sounds kind of sceptical, but hey, that's just me. Me and my husband have used it several times now (just for baking fries only, so I can't comment on anything else) and it's been working great. So far the only downside I can think of is that you can't actually see through the see through window in the lid of the fryer. It fogs up, but hey, I don't mind opening it up to take a look. Besides I'm getting better and better at the timing part. We've been really enjoying a good, safe way of baking the fries.