A turkey fryer will let you prepare the juiciest, most tender turkey without having to spend hours roasting it. In fact, with a fryer you can prepare two whole birds in less time than it takes to roast a turkey with traditional methods. When it comes to choosing a turkey fryer, things to consider include size, the presence of manual temperature controls, whether they are indoor or outdoor, and fuel type.
But with so many models in the market, picking the right model for you can be overwhelming. The following comparison and reviews of some of the top-selling and top-rated fryers available is meant to ease the process of buying your first turkey fryer.
Dimensions
Weight
Material
Power
Food capacity
Warranty
Masterbuilt 23011114
18.5 x 21.5 x 18 inches
26.9 pounds
Aluminum
1650 watts
20 pounds
90-day
Masterbuilt 20100809
18 x 23.2 x 26.2 inches
34 pounds
Stainless Steel
1650 watts
18 pounds
90-day
Char-Broil
16 x 16 x 24.5 inches
30 pounds
Stainless Steel
Requires propane tank
16 pounds
90-day
Bayou Classic 1118
14 x 14 x 18 inches
14.1 pounds
Stainless Steel
Requires propane tank
20 pounds
1-year
Contents
1. Masterbuilt’s Butterball Indoor Electric Turkey Fryer
This stainless steel fryer is highly rated as an indoor unit for frying your holiday turkey. It is made of stainless steel and coated with porcelain inside to hold oil safely. The fryer can cook turkeys up to 20 lbs with the help of a 1650 watt cooking element. It weighs about 20 lbs and the footprint measures 18.3 by 16.14 inches.
The Butterball Indoor fryer is easy to operate on your kitchen counter top, since it is certified for indoor use without keeping you in fear of house fires. Additional safety features include an analog cooking panel, a thermostat that keeps temperatures stable up to 375 degrees F and an automatic safety shutoff feature to keep temperatures from getting too high. The drain valve makes cleaning easy.
The unit has a compact design that doesn’t have a very large footprint on your kitchen counter. Carrying the cooked bird from the fryer to the carving plate becomes very easy with this indoor model. You also don’t have to spend hours in the cold as with a propane fryer. Though the Butterball is a fryer that uses oil, it is designed to use 33 percent less oil than standard turkey fryers. It can also do double duty as a vegetable steamer or seafood boiler, or fry onion rings etc.
Additionally, unlike many other oil fryers, any seasoning that you rub on the bird stays on the surface without falling off in the fryer.
Temperatures are limited to 375 degrees as compared to the 400 degrees that propane fryers can achieve. The electric cord may also seem short for some users, limiting the placement of the model. Another concern may be that the oil can take a while to reach the required temperature. Larger birds (18 lbs or so) that aren’t completely submerged under the oil may not have the perfectly crisp skin in the exposed areas as in the other parts.
2. Masterbuilt’s Butterball Oil-Free Electric Outdoor Roaster & Fryer
If you’re trying to eat healthy, then consider the Butterball Oil-Free Electric Turkey Fryer and Roaster, also by Masterbuilt. The Butterball Electric Fryer can cook turkeys up to 18 lbs and uses a powerful 1650 watt heating element for radiant heating.
This outdoor model is good for healthy eaters who want to avoid deep frying. It is more a roaster than a fryer, but the results are quicker than an oven and extremely moist and tender on the inside with a crisp skin. The unit has an excellent design with a double wall for efficient heating. Cooking time in the fryer comes down to around 10 minutes per pound of turkey, and the claims are justified. With the Butterball you can cook a 12 lb bird in 120 minutes.
Another excellent feature to enhance flavors is a wood chip box built in to give your bird a smoky flavor. But smoking is optional. The removable drip pan also lets you easily collect the roast bird juices for gravy or sauces. The design of the fryer makes it quite easy to clean.
One caveat with the Butterball is that it needs a preheating time, and if set on ‘high’ it may take as long as an hour. This increases preparation time, but it is still quicker than an oven. Another point to note is that carrying the cone-shaped turkey basket indoors can lead to a trail of drippings if you are not careful, since the cone has a funnel at the bottom to collect juices in the pan below.
3. Char-Broil The Big Easy TRU-Infrared Oil-Less Turkey Fryer
This Char-Broil fryer uses a patented infrared technology to evenly cook turkey without oil and also comes with a removable drip pan, just like the Masterbuilt Butterball Oil-Free Electric fryer. However unlike the Masterbuilt it only has the capacity for a 16 lbs bird at most. The unit weighs 30 lbs and comes with a cooking basket, meat thermometer, lifter and manual. It takes about 10 minutes to cook a pound of bird.
The TRU-Infrared technology uses a gas burner like other propane fryers. But the burner doesn’t heat the air above the food directly. It heats a special plate that in turn emits heat to the food without drying it out like standard barbecues do. It also helps to prevent flare-ups and hot or cold spots, so the bird is cooked evenly. The unit is easy to clean and the removable basket makes transferring the turkey easy.
You need to connect the fryer to a propane tank, which may make the Masterbuilt electric model more attractive to some users. The thermometer supplied with the unit is not too accurate, so you may have to get one of your own.
4. Bayou Classic 32-Quart Stainless Steel Turkey Fryer
This is an oil fryer by Bayou made of polished stainless steel. It can be used for steaming, boiling and frying everything from poultry and seafood to vegetable and tamales. It comes with a pot hook, lid with vents, hook plate, injector, three skewers and thermometer.
If you’ve been using aluminum fryers until now, you’ll find using the stainless steel pot is far easier with no scorch marks. It feels far more durable and cleans up very easily, in minutes. The Bayou Classic is large and can hold a turkey up to 20 lbs. The fryer pot can cook a turkey in 45 minutes, and the skewers included you can fry three chickens in as little as 20 minutes. There is an indentation in the pot so that the basket sits inside at a height of 1.75 inches above the bottom. This lets you steam seafood and vegetables.
None, except that the included thermometer can be inaccurate.
To Sum Up
All the models listed above are excellent in their class. The Masterbuilt or Char-Broil oil-free fryers are excellent for healthy cooking and produce roast birds that almost taste like fried turkey. But if you’re looking for the exact flavor and texture of frying, you may want to stick with the oil fryer from Bayou or Masterbuilt. All the models will cost you less than $100, which makes them great investments. The final choice of turkey fryer lies with you, depending on your preferences.
