Cuisinart CDF-100 Compact 1.1-Liter Deep Fryer, Brushed Stainless Reviews

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Wow, I'm a big fan of fried foods, homemade french fries especially fried in Canola Oil. I've used industrial restaurant sized fryers and worked from a stove top. This little puppy is probably one of the best little friers I've ever seen.

Most of the negative view of this fryer can be solved by simply reading the instruction booklet. Number one complaint, the cord falls off. Well yes it does, and that is by design. The cord is held into it's socket on the fryer side with a magnet. This is so you can unplug the unit without pulling the fryer over and burning yourself with hot oil. It's a common mistake, thinking the cord is broken. If you plug this in, attach the magnet end and don't move the frier, it will not come unplugged.

Number two complaint, the basket is flimsy and falls over itself. It does not do that if you install the handle correctly. You have to squeeze the two sides and slip the pins into two holes and under a tab the handle will never ever move in this position.

Here's what I love about this appliance, it uses a small amount of oil around a quart / liter. We don't have fried foods very often, and I don't cook a whole chicken at once. It's just perfect for those side dishes appetizer mozzarella sticks, egg rolls, jalapeno poppers, etc. You can do chicken fingers, fish sticks, donuts in here. Food cooks evenly and quickly. Heat up time is around 3 or 4 minutes. Cooking time varies a lot, but can be around 3 or 4 minutes.

The cover is ingeneous it closes down tight around the top and the basket so no splashing of oil happens. Cook on the counter top with no fear of splashing oil everywhere. The carbon filter shouldn't be cleaned every use, and it prevents splashes from coming out of the lid. The clear window, can see that oil will cloud that up over time, but it's handy to see inside.

Frankly, I love this unit. It's well built, solid construction, feels good in use. Cuisinart built a good small fryer in this unit.

January 27, 2013 Update: We still use this fryer. It still works after all this time. Some of the non-stick material in the bottom has rubbed off, but that doesn't change how well this works. No question, this is for 1 or 2 servings of food. When I need to make more food, I simply turn on the oven to keep warm and fry in small batches. Pretty simple to do. Wouldn't change a thing with this fryer after almost 4 years.

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I like this fryer. I fried a lot of Japanese-style food for a family of 4 and there is no oily smell in the house afterwards. It took me a while though. It is all right since I do not want a large appliance on my countertop anyway and that was why I bought it. The fryer is ideal for frying chicken nuggets, shrimp and even Tofu. I gave it 4 stars coz it is really small. It is too small if you are thinking of frying bone-in chicken

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I confessed I read the 1 star reviews first, and had some reservations, but tried it anyway.

First things first. My initial experience with deep fryers are with restaurant-grade fryers, at an uncle's restaurant when I was a kid. I thought: if the oil is so hot, let's throw something so cold into it and see what happens. So I tried an ice cube. You all know what happens next. Don't do it.

Still, I had a chance to see how that thing worked. For those who are complaining about this heavily scaled down version, you have to remember that's just what this is.

The filter in the lid (removable and washable) is greatly appreciated. In the past, my husband got annoyed when the air in our home smells greasy, even with all the fans running. This unit greatly reduces the odor of cooking oil frying. We use either peanut oil, soy, and safflower. Much less odor than corn or vegetable, but the filter helps even more! Remember to read the instructions and squeeze the basket handle in and release inside the "ring" for a proper stiff handle.

The tininess of the unit is the real draw of this appliance. With the bigger deep fryers, you are left with tons of oil with nowhere to go. Those units (my neighbors have the larger ones) take up counter space, even if you decide to keep the oil in the fryer.

Now, the gripes: Some people said it takes progressively longer to heat each time. I wonder if they are starting with fresh oil. The more you use the same batch of oil, the "dirtier" it becomes. Subsequently, it takes longer to heat. Alton Brown mentioned this on his special on frying.

That dastardly magnetic power cord that is long enough to stretch across a nail head : It's a pain, but the designers are trying to look after you. The shorter the cord, the closer you will keep it to the wall, the more out of reach from children the unit is. It is magnetic for a reason. Have you tried pulling something towards you with the cord still attached near the base? It tips over. IN YOUR DIRECTION. I first thought it didn't make a difference whether it was plugged on unplugged. Hot oil still burns. (Trust me, I learned young!) But the magnetic attachment is there for a purely physical reason. If you pull it towards you, it releases from the base and keeps the unit from pivoting on your fingers and dumping the contents onto you.

Having said that, we cheated with a short industrial grade extension so I can get the unit directly underneath the hood vent. I have to stress "industrial grade" extension, because the point of connection does heat up fast if you use a household extension...which the instructions warn against.

As for cooking. It does fine. Not equal to a restaurant deep fryer, I can vouch for that. But apply some common sense.

1. Julia Child always said Crank it up higher than your recipe calls for, if you are dropping in frozen items. The coldness of the item will drastically reduce the temperature and kick it immediately from green (ready) into orange light again (heating up).

2. Watch the light carefully. The moment it switches to orange, lift up the basket and set it on the rim (great feature) and STOP YOUR TIMER. Once it turns green again, lower the basket and restart your timer. This doesn't hurt the cooked items in anyway. This deeper fryer isn't Marcel Proust. It won't recall the down time. If anything, it aerates the surface and makes it that much crispier.

3. Frying something with the lid close may have different results compared to doing it open, depending on what you are cooking.

4. Never cool your fried items on paper napkins. Do it on a mesh grill (cooling rack) to let air circulate underneath and around your food. Paper napkins just soak up the grease drippings and your food sits in that saturated paper and loses its crispiness.

That's it. We're happy with the product. Go forth, and may the grease be with you!

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...but I am baffled as to why a good bit of the batter sticks to the bottom of the basket no matter what. I've used two different batter recipes, have thick and thin-coated the items, use peanut oil, tried heating the basket or keeping it out until loading, cook only 4-6 items at a time, always add items only when it has heated up to Ready...dunno. Other than that, it's compact, stores well, heats up fast and evenly, cooks beautifully, no spatters, easy to drain and clean, no scratches. I almost want to throw food in without the basket and then fish out with a spider or tongs.

For the price, a great deal.

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Fryer is perfect for two people, who are preparing more than one side dish. Fryer heats quick and cooks well. Make sure that you do no overload the fryer---food will not cook evenly even with additional time. Oil does not heat at maximum if basket is left in the fryer.