Fried foods have been a North American favourite for decades. For good reason, right? It’s all delicious. We’re even deep-frying things like pickles and doughnuts these days. But maybe you don’t want to have to go out for that deliciousness every time. And maybe the frozen options just aren’t cutting it anymore. You know what you need?
Your very own deep fryer. You can have more control over what goes into the deep-frying process, customize your crispiness, experiment with some fantastic new foods, and serve your entire family for less money. For the most part, they’re all affordable too.
If you love the idea of adding a deep fryer to your kitchen arsenal, we don’t blame you. They’re great things to have around. But they’ll also vary in things like price, basket size, temperature range, overall size, and more. And you’ll want to think about each of those things to make sure you get the right deep fryer for you.
This comprehensive guide will investigate the best deep fryers in Canada right now and outline the criteria you should consider while making your purchase decision. Let’s dive right into our top five products.
The T-Fal Ultimate EZ Clean Deep Fryer is an amazing choice. For everyone. Literally everyone. It’s got the perfect capacity for singles or families, a digital timer to help you keep track of your cooking time, and dishwasher-safe everything. The lid is a standout, too, with an extra-large viewing window and an effective odour filter to keep the smell of the oil contained.
The best thing about this deep fryer is the automatic oil filtration system. You can either trigger it with the dial or wait for the oil to cool enough that the machine will do it on its own. It filters out all of the clean oil into a bottom reservoir where it can be stored, and then all you have to clean is the sludge from the oil tank. So much easier (and less messy!!).
There aren’t any glaring faults with this one, which we’re thankful for. It’s a pretty bulky and heavy machine though, so you’ll likely want to keep it on your counter or in your garage—anywhere with extra storage space, really. The power cord is also pretty short, so you’ll need to be careful about where you place it so it can reach safely. And just as a heads up, it’ll need a bit more maintenance than other options.
Reviewers have a very high opinion of the T-Fal Ultimate EZ Clean Deep Fryer. They love the automatic oil filtration and storage—it makes their lives so much easier and makes them more excited to use the deep fryer. Most of them find the power cord too short for convenient placement on a counter, but it’s a small thing to get over.
Pros:
Has an automatic oil filter to drain and preserve as much clean oil as possible for reuse
Oil will automatically drain when it is cool enough, or can be triggered with a dial
All removable parts are dishwasher-safe
Has a digital timer, large viewing window, and odour filter
Cons:
Performance: 5/5
Usability: 5/5
Price: 4/5
Quality: 5/5
Overall, the T-Fal Ultimate EZ Clean Deep Fryer is one of the absolute best deep fryers you can buy for your house. It’s got more user-friendly features than you’ll know what to do with at first, but trust us, you’ll get used to them real quick.
We like a lot of things about the Elite Gourmet Electric Immersion Deep Fryer. Its basket setup is our favourite, though. It comes with one large basket for cooking in bulk, but it also comes with two smaller baskets that let you cook two different food types at the same time. How great is that? Its oil tank is removable, too, so you can wash it easily with the baskets.
Since this option has an immersed heating element it does a great job of maintaining your oil temperature even as you move the baskets in and out. It can be removed for cleaning, too. We are fans of the lid design, too. It has a filter to trap most of the oil smell and a viewing window so you can peek at your food without interrupting the cooking.
We only have a couple of critiques for this one. It has one main design flaw—the heating element will only work if the timer is on. This means you’ll need to add time to wait for the oil to heat up, and you need to be on the ball when it goes off if your food needs to keep cooking. Since it has a larger capacity, it’s also bulkier than the average deep fryer and might be trickier to store.
Reviewers have a great opinion of the Elite Gourmet Electric Immersion Deep Fryer. They love the option of using the large basket or the two small baskets for different foods, and it’s much easier to clean than other deep fryers they’ve used in the past. They don’t love that the heating element only works when the timer is on, but most people are still happy with it.
Pros:
Comes with three baskets—one large basket and two smaller ones
Oil tank is removable for cleaning
Immersible heating element heats oil quickly and is removable for cleaning
Lid has a viewing window and anti-odour filter
Cons:
Performance: 4.5/5
Usability: 5/5
Price: 5/5
Quality: 4.5/5
All in all, the Elite Gourmet Electric Immersion Deep Fryer is the best of the best when it comes to efficient deep frying. If you need to cook more than one food type at a time, and you don’t want to spend hours cleaning up after, this is the deep fryer for you.
The Hamilton Beach Professional Grade Electric Deep Fryer has a lot going for it. Especially when you look at its price tag. Despite how affordable it is, it’s actually really well-made. We love a treasure like this one. The immersed heating element heats up the oil really quickly, and it also does a better job of maintaining a steady temperature. It’s removable for cleaning too. Convenient.
The viewing window in the lid lets you watch your food without letting the heat out, which we love, and the digital timer will alert you when cooking has finished, which we also love. The magnetic breakaway cord on this machine is also much more reliable than the average magnetic cord. It won’t just fall off with the slightest bump. All of the removable pieces are dishwasher-safe, too. Convenient, again.
There are only two things we would change about this option if we could. First of all, the power cord is short. Like, very short. And you aren’t supposed to use an extension cord with it, for safety reasons. That’s a catch-22 if we’ve ever heard one. Also, the digital timer isn’t the best-quality thing around, and you might end up going back to manual timing if it eventually breaks.
Reviewers really like the Hamilton Beach Professional Grade Electric Deep Fryer. The magnetic power cord actually stays attached, and the capacity is perfect for pretty much everybody. Some people have run into issues with the timer—mostly because it stops working randomly—but the main complaint is the extra short power cord. They’re really happy with how it performs in every other way.
Pros:
Lid has a viewing window and magnetic power cord stays attached reliably
Immersed heating element maintains temperature better and heats quickly (and is removable for cleaning)
Oil tank, lid, and basket are all dishwasher-safe
Digital timer produces a tone when cooking is finished
Cons:
Performance: 4.5/5
Usability: 5/5
Price: 5/5
Quality: 4/5
Overall, the Hamilton Beach Professional Grade Electric Deep Fryer is our favourite budget-friendly option. It isn’t perfect, but it has a lot of features we like. We bet you’ll like them, too. It’s fairly compact and still has a versatile capacity, so it’ll fit well into every household.
The Chefman 4.3 Liter Deep Fryer is one of the largest deep fryers you can get before stepping into the commercial arena. The basket isn’t deep, though. It’s just wide. This means you can cook large batches without needing to shake the basket for even cooking. It has handles, too, to make it easier to move it around.
One of the things we like most is the lid design—it has a charcoal filter AND a viewing lid. Crazy, right? The charcoal filter limits the amount of oil smell that will escape into your house, and the lid lets you monitor your food without disrupting the temperature. All of the pieces (basket, oil container, and lid) can be cleaned in the dishwasher, too. We love that for you.
Although there are a lot of features we like, there are also some things we aren’t so fond of. The magnetic cord is one of those things. It can easily disconnect from the machine and will need to be watched carefully. When draining your food, you also need to make sure the basket is well balanced, or it could fall into the hot oil and splash. Our third concern is how hot the bottom gets—it isn’t very counter-safe.
Reviewers are pretty happy with their Chefman 4.3 Liter Deep Fryers. The temperature range and timer settings let them set it and forget it, which they love, and the large basket makes it so much easier for them to make batches of fried food with less downtime. They aren’t fans of the magnetic cord or how hot the bottom gets, though. They don’t trust it on their countertop without a mat.
Pros:
Can make large batches in no time
Lid has a viewing window and charcoal filter
Basket, oil container, and lid can go in the dishwasher
Has handles on the sides for safer carrying
Cons:
Magnetic power cord can disconnect easily
Basket will come unhooked during draining if food isn’t well-balanced
Bottom gets very hot—can damage counters
All in all, the Chefman 4.3 Liter Deep Fryer is our top recommendation for people who want to make extra-large batches of all of their favourite fried foods. It has its flaws, but it’s a solid unit that can cook anything. It’s really user-friendly too, and you can’t deny the value of that.
The Cuisinart Compact Deep Fryer is a great little option. It’s on the smaller side, so it’s great for tucking away in a cupboard or storing on the counter full-time. Anyone who’s used a larger deep fryer before knows how valuable that is. The smaller size also means you don’t need to use as much oil to cook your food, so you’ll save some money there too.
Our favourite feature by far is the charcoal filter. It traps a lot of the cooking odours so your house won’t smell like hot oil for two weeks every time you use it. It’s also removable, so you can keep replacing it as it starts failing at its job. Its non-stick die-cast bowl is attached directly to the heating element, too. Not only does this make the unit more effective, but it also heats up faster.
We don’t love everything about this deep fryer, though. The magnetic plug is our biggest concern—it can easily disconnect from the body of the deep fryer, and if you don’t notice quickly enough, your food will be ruined. Also, there’s no timer, so you’ll need to keep track of the cook time some other way. Our other concern is the size—depending on what you’re cooking, you won’t be able to fry more than one portion at a time.
Reviewers have mostly good things to say about the Cuisinart Compact Deep Fryer. Many of them do warn people that it’s only large enough to serve one person consistently—it’s too small for two portions of most things. They aren’t fans of the magnetic plug, either. They love how easy it is to use, though, and it’s pretty easy to clean as far as deep fryers go. The small size is great for small kitchens, too.
Pros:
Removable charcoal filter helps with odour control
Doesn’t require much oil
Non-stick die-cast bowl is attached to the heating element
Very easy to store
Cons:
Performance: 5/5
Usability: 4/5
Price: 5/5
Quality: 4.5/5
Overall, the Cuisinart Compact Deep Fryer is our favourite option for people who are running out of kitchen space faster than they’d like. The charcoal filter is a great addition for keeping your home smelling nice, and it can cook anything as long as the portion is small enough.
Almost every deep fryer for the home will be priced under $100, but they’ll all be encompassed under the $200 limit. As a result, it’s pretty easy to find a model that meets your needs and won’t exceed your budget.
Some deep fryers come with a single basket, others come with two or even three. If you’ll be cooking multiple foods with the deep fryer for a single meal, extra baskets will be your best friend.
Oil capacity is what determines how much food you can cook per batch. Deep fryers will range between 1 litre and 5 litres in capacity, and the larger they are, the more food they can hold.
Some deep fryers will come with a timer, but not all. If you aren’t very good at managing your cooking types manually, or you just have a lot going on in your kitchen all the time, it’s a good idea to choose a model with a timer.
Disclaimer: The prices displayed are accurate at the time of publication. We’ll do our best to keep them as up-to-date as possible, but you may see slight changes. The products in this list are ranked by independent third parties. Rankings are based on both reviews and independent testing.
