Aroma ADF-212 Smart Fry Digital Dual Basket Deep Fryer

Just recently, I got an Aroma Deep Fryer in the mail from amazon.com. I was so excited when it came! I seriously wanted to hug the FedEx lady! It is SO much bigger than I had anticipated! I used it twice just today, and I am in complete loooooove! First of all, it all comes apart, heating element comes out and everything! That to me is a definitive decision maker when it comes to purchasing a small appliance. When I have to take 3 hours just to clean out the cornbread batter from homemade corn dogs, that's pathetic. Do you know how long it took me to clean it out of the oil today? Probably not even 10 minutes. Seriously. It was that easy! All I did to get it completely cleaned out and ready to go next time was this:

1) Took off the lid.
2) Pulled out the heating element (which is connected to the controls).
3) Picked up the square enamel base.
4) Poured it through a paper-towel lined strainer.
5) Put it back together.
6) Dumped the strained, corn-dog-batter-bit free oil back in.

It was so fast and super easy. I hate fighting with all the little teeny itty bitty flecks of batter and breading that get lost in the seemingly endless vat of hot oil, so being able to get them out this easily was FABULOUS!

When it came to setting the temp after simply plugging it in and turning it on, on the Aroma Smart Fry Digital Fryer, that task was also very simple. I read that the controls for the temperature and timer can be difficult to use, but whoever that person was should have been reading "Digital Fryers For Dummies", because honestly, it was super duper simple, even if it does have 10 pre-programmed settings! You simply push the temp button until the temperature you'd like to fry up your donuts, fries, or breaded chicken in is blinking on the digital screen. I did notice that the steam that comes up through the lid can make for a bit of a scare when you're not thinking about it. I nearly screamed like my little brother when the steam burnt my hand as I went to turn off the timer. Ok, thank goodness you can't see my cheeks, yep, they're red, yes, it was a bit embarrassing, and yes it was stupid. Also, yes, it will probably happen again and again and again. haha :)

The amount of food this awesome heaven-sent appliance can hold is amazing. A whopping FOUR pounds. Yep. 4 pounds of tater-totty goodness. 4 pounds of deliciously salty, stringy Mozzarella sticks. Heck, thanks to the fact that it comes with not only one regular-sized basket, but three baskets, one regular-sized, and two deeper-edged ones, means if I really wanted to, I could make both tater tots AND Mozzarella sticks. At ONCE! I couldn't believe that it included three baskets. To me that's perfect, because the different things we fry sometimes can be combined, but other times, can't. Mozzarella sticks, for example, I don't care if mine stick to other Mozzarella sticks, but I definitely don't want them sticking to my chicken nuggets.

I am in love with the little (but big, for a fryer!) glass window on the lid, it didn't fog up either, when I made french fries, OR our favorite homemade corn dogs. The cool-touch handles on both the sides and the lid are great, especially for a frazzled mom like myself, that has, on numerous occasions grabbed un-hot-pad-covered pans that had been pulled from the oven just moments before. (Come on, I know I'm not the only one that's done that!) I am sure I could write a book, I am so in love. There really are many little things about my new fryer that seem to be "not that big of a deal" but when you wrap them all up into one shiny-surfaced, convenience-creator, it makes a difference. There are so many "pros" I've discovered, and I am sure I will eventually have a list of "cons" besides "Steam burned my hand when I went to adjust the timer" but for now, I am on Cloud 9.