Presto 05442 CoolDaddy Cool-Touch Deep Fryer

Excellent oil fryer. I've bought several. Cleaning is tough though. Eventually you'll need to replace it. But it works great until it's so nasty.

Great self-contained deep fryer for small-medium batches. Closes at the top before lowering the basket so it keeps your cooking area relatively spatter free--great design. Not too troublesome to empty out clean up. Probably encourages me to eat more of wrong kind of food than I would otherwise, but that's a personal problem.

The original Fry Daddy with no temperature knob was much better, but after having kids I needed a safer larger option. For those having the problem of the oil not getting hot enough the secret is to make sure there is no sludge on the bottom. If there is a build up of flour on the bottom, it will get overheat the layer of flour near the sensors without heating up all the oil. This is a safety feature and I would not hack it. The flour on the bottom would burn making the food taste burned and it would be a safety hazard. Another thing that can affect the temperature is adding too much oil. Do not fill it over the maximum line. Unfortunately the line is low that it renders the basket almost useless. If I am frying chicken I will often not use the basket. I wish the temperature gauge got hotter than 375 degrees. I usually use an oil with a high smoke point so heating the oil to 400 before adding a dense food then lowering the temperature to 375 would be my preferred method. For the price I think this is a good purchase. It cleans easily, the lid prevents splatters and filters some (but not all) of the smell. Purist should stick to cast iron on a gas stove with a thermometer because when I have used a thermometer with this machine it sometimes reads 350 when it is on 375 when I have cooked a few batches, probably because flour is building up on the bottom. It still cooks chicken without being too greasy and it can cook all the way through without burning which is a plus. If I am making something more delicate like seafood or donuts, I often prefer the stove top. If you want something convenient and easy to clean and want to make a bunch of fried chicken or french fries this is good fryer, a time saver and very consistent. 15-20 minutes for legs, 20-25 minutes for thighs. I can walk away set a timer and not worry about it burning.

Cooks great still like my 10 year old cook daddy., but the cool daddy does a great job hope it lasts 10 + years like my cook daddy

I bought this just for me and my son, but it's the perfect size fryer for 3-4 people (in batches). The lid closes over the frying basket, eliminating splashes, and the built-in lid filter reduces that frying oil small. I recommend this item!

Was looking for a deep fryer that had the removable tank for easy cleaning without paying an arm and a leg. This one is it. The pot comes out for easy emptying and cleaning and is dishwasher safe (the only piece that is with this item). I don't put it in the dishwasher because I don't care for how the dishwasher turns the pots dark. After several uses, the pot stays sparkling by hand washing. The lid removes for easy hand washing as well. The basket still shines hand washing. Nothing grosser than an oil-cooking vessel or pan that starts collecting baked-on or cooked-on oil and gets impossible to keep shiny (I'm sure it's just me). Easy to put together and take apart and it deep fries beautifully for a great price.

Why did you pick this product vs others?: The initial description sounded convincing enough to meet my needs. And I really wanted for this fryer to work. But it is cheaply made. Once the oil gets hot, the handle seems to be harder to pull up and down. When my food was ready i Spent almost three minutes to get the handle released to remove the basket from the oil. This happened several times. The charcoal filter and lid fell off each time the fryer lid was opened. And the temperature felt like it was inconsistent. The product's features are good but the manufacturing and/or design is poor. And if you want to store the oil in this fryer, it's not completely sealed. The gap near the handle will let air and dust get through. My last sealed deep fryer lasted for 39 years (yes, 39!). This one wouldn't last for more than a year even if I were to accept its flaws. Btw, when I initiated the return, the seller offered to let me keep the fryer with a $12.40 discount. I declined without hesitation. Had they offered a 50% discount I would not have kept it. Buyer be aware.

I bought this fryer to replace a Waring fryer that's good but messy, hard to clean and doesn't have a replaceable filter. I remember the Seb European deep fryer from my childhood, and the hope was that a deep fryer with a locking/sealed cover and filter would minimize frying smell. On the frying, ease-of-use and ease-of-cleaning ends, this fryer doesn't disappoint. It's heats fast and cooks fast, settings are easy to use, and cleaning is a breeze. The housing wipes clean, and so does the oil tank after you've emptied it. No impossible-to-clean, sticky residues anywhere... Now, about the filter... A filter only works if the steam goes exclusively through it. It doesn't; it comes out almost exclusively through the handle opening up front. So if you're thinking of getting this fryer for the filter (like I did), don't bother... As far as the handle is concerned, the basket lift mechanism is a bit flimsy, and the handle is hard to get into the guides. The design could definitely be improved. That being said, it's a good fryer. The round basket makes it easy to get uniform results. No more shaking the basket all over the place so fries won't stick to each others, or be crispy only on one side. The size is great for a family of 4. I didn't test the oil temperature, but the heating plate heats well enough to allow you to deep fry most items fast without oil residues. I had to blot my fried items much more with my Waring fryer (which has submerged heating elements). If I could make any improvements to this fryer, it would be: - A better-sealed cover so the steam actually goes through the filter - A sturdier, better designed basked lift - A longer cord (the cord is about 2 ft.) TIPS: DO NOT fill the tank to the MAX FILL line. The line is about 1/8 inch too high and the burning oil will spill all over the place as you lower the food into it. So make sure you fill the tank between the MIN and MAX fill line, but NOT up to the MAX fill line. I use peanut oil to fry, which has a higher smoking point, doesn't smell and lasts longer. Filtering the cold oil after use is a breeze using a large sieve layered with a good-quality paper towel; the oil comes out super clean and ready for the next round of frying!

Compact and easy to store. Looks nice. Easy to clean because the fryer pot is removable. Makes very crispy fries. Some fryers do not get hot enough, but Cool Daddy does. Excellent fryer.

Fácil de usar, excelente producto

facile a utiliser. légère a transporter. un gros plus pour moi. Sécuritaire. fait des bonnes frites en peu de temps. bien plus légère que ma vieille T-Fal que j'ai jetée après 14 ans. ne devient pas chaude et brulante au toucher. J'adore. prix raisonnable. comme ma vie est simple depuis que j'ai acheté cette friteuse. légere, pas chaude au toucher, n'éclabousse pas. Le meilleur achat de ma vie.

The fried food just came out excellent, just what I was looking for

L'eau de la vapeur sort de tous les côtés. Le contenant devient très chaud pour les mains. Mauvaise qualité de matériel. Je ne le vous recommande pas du tout.