Deep Fryer Safety Tips

The main worry about deep fat fryers is accidents and the house going up in smoke. Not surprising as statistics agree that yes, they are a big cause of kitchen fires or near misses, the interesting question is why are they so dangerous - is it the fryers themselves which still aren't designed to be safe - or is it the way we use them?


Certainly the reason most of my broken or failed kitchen gadgets have ended up in pieces is overloading, overfilling and generally not reading (never mind sticking to) the instructions, breakages include embedding half an electric whisk still covered with royal icing in the ceiling so the consequences of not doing so can be messy as well as dangerous.

If you read the manufacturers guidelines and follow a few simple rules for safe frying, there won't be any problem, certainly no more than a conventional frying pan. Mostly it's common sense with us abandoning the rules when we are in a hurry or not checking the optimum oil temperature requirement when using unfamiliar food in the fryer - they don't all need the same heat.

Firstly never ever overfill with oil. Oil gets displaced by the volume of the food and comes out over the top, then touches the heating element. Unless frying a maximum capacity load in one go, why not just fill it enough for what you want, doing this will save on oil and clean-up time disposing of it.

Check and adhere to the recommended temperature for specific food types, or put another way, don't overheat the oil in the first place. Electric KW have excellent thermostatic controls all there to keep you safe and cooking food at the perfect temperature - so stick to their guidelines.

Overheating the oil to cook faster is a false economy, the food burns on the outside before being cooked through in the middle and again you run the risk of the oil combusting when food starts to get incinerated rather than turning golden brown!

Don't ever try to fry more than the amount recommended by the manufacturer - the same risks as above apply with boiling oil over spilling, plus food doesn't cook evenly when it can't float freely with hot oil surrounding it.

Never leave a home fryer unattended, not even for a moment because if anything did go wrong, you can deal with it quickly and safely. More than one happy fryer has gone to answer the door or phone and ended up wishing they hadn't - don't you just hate repainting ceilings?

One last point though this is more about personal safety when using KW, good advice is to look at those fryers with a completely removable lid rather than a hinged one which flips up. More than one accident has been caused struggling to lift a loaded basket and either dropping it back into the boiling fat with a splash or knocking the lid hinge with much the same result.

Stick to these simple deep fryer safety tips, read the manufacturer's instructions and you will never have a problem frying food, other than limiting how much of it you eat!