Air fryers took the everyday-chips job, and what's left for the deep fryer is the food it's genuinely better at: proper fish and chips, schnitzel, spring rolls, doughnuts. Deep fryer owners know exactly what they bought it for, and the Tefal that has led this list for years still leads on their say-so.
1. Best Overall: Tefal Oleoclean Pro FR8040
The Oleoclean Pro solves the reason people abandon deep fryers: after cooking, it filters the cooled oil into a sealed box under the machine for reuse, and the bowl goes in the dishwasher. Its 416 owners average 4.7 stars, and the oil system is the feature they write about.
At around $220 it's the buy-once unit for regular fryers, with 3.5 litres of capacity doing family fish-and-chip nights in two baskets' worth.
What We Like:
- Filters oil automatically
- Dishwasher-safe parts
- Family-size bowl
What We Don't Like:
- Big bench footprint
2. Best Budget: Sunbeam 5L Multicooker Deep Fryer
Sunbeam's 5-litre unit doubles as a slow-simmer pot, which is how it justifies bench space between frying sessions, and 256 owners average 4.4 at around $90. The wide bowl takes a whole basket of chips or a batch of spring rolls in one go.
Oil management is manual, jug-and-funnel work, which is the difference the Tefal's extra $130 buys.
What We Like:
- Around $90
- Doubles as multicooker
- Wide 5L bowl
What We Don't Like:
- Manual oil emptying
3. Best Mid: Tefal Filtra Pro 4L
The Filtra Pro sits between its siblings: a filtering system through a spout rather than the sealed Oleoclean box, a 4.6 average across 247 reviews, and around $170. The thermostat holds temperature well enough that batches come out consistent, which its reviews repeat.
The filter path is more hands-on than the Oleoclean's, less than the Sunbeam's.
What We Like:
- Steady thermostat
- Oil filtering built in
- Around $170
What We Don't Like:
- Filtering still hands-on
Other deep fryers worth a look
- Tefal Versalio 7-in-1 — around $150 with 183 owners at 4.3, for the fry-sometimes household that wants one appliance to also stew and steam.
- Commercial-style benchtop fryers — hospitality suppliers sell twin-basket stainless units for the garage-canteen crowd; reviews are scarce but the stainless is thick.
How to pick a deep fryer
Oil handling. Fresh oil every session makes fried food expensive; reused rancid oil makes it awful. The filtering systems above exist because straining three litres through a funnel is the chore that kills the habit.
Temperature recovery beats wattage claims. Dropping cold chips crashes the oil temperature, and a fryer that recovers fast fries crisp instead of greasy. The owner phrase to look for in reviews is chips that came out crisp on the second batch.
Cool-zone bowls burn less. Bowls with a cooler zone under the element let crumbs sink instead of carbonising, which keeps oil usable for more sessions.
RELATED: The Best Air Fryers and The Best Electric Frypans & Woks
FAQs
How many times can I reuse frying oil?
Filtered and stored dark, six to eight sessions for chips, fewer for fish and crumbed food, per oil makers' own guidance. Smoke at normal temperature or a rancid smell means it's done.
Deep fryer or air fryer?
Different foods. Air fryers win the daily frozen-chips-and-nuggets brief on running cost; wet batters, doughnuts and real fish-shop results only come out of oil.
