What is it?
A large, plug in, countertop frying machine, which we put through its paces in anticipation of Chanucah's fry-fest.
What does it promise?
With health and nutrition at the forefront of current food trends, deep-fat-fryers are hugely unsexy. This gadget lets you have your fries and eat them. Guilt free. Or at least, marginally less shamefacedly. Chips can be cooked in just one spoonful of oil - the spoon being 20ml - 4 teaspoons.
What does it do?
The non-stick, deep pan of the machine contains a rotating paddle that turns the food as it cooks. A shallower, ridged pan can be fixed on top so you can cook a second food at the same time. Steak and chips, fish and potato wedges - you get the idea. The digital timer for precision cooking is a plus. It sounds like a helicopter landing.
Does it work?
Not so much if you like crispy chips. Potato wedges and homemade chips varied in their crunch factor. The former were crisp-ish and golden while the latter, although delicious, were soft. Even Heston-style twice cooking failed to crisp them up. It scores points in the timesaving department - a chicken breast cooked in the top section, with sweet potato wedges in the bottom was good, with the benefit of less washing up. Even better, the cooking parts are dishwasher proof.
Must have or maybe not?
If you fry regularly then it would save you an oil drum of calories. My children refused the chips - which, unlike processed oven-cooked versions, tasted of potato - but I loved them. Delicate foods like doughnuts would get squished by the paddle, but it produced the best granola in under 10 minutes. For that reason alone it has been given leave to remain, but only in the garage.
