Ah, the crisp crunch of some well-made deep-fried food. Is there anything more satisfying, more tasty? It’s hard to deny the appeal of deep-fried fare, which is why it’s not surprising that many individuals are now buying up personal deep fryers for their own home use.
How long does it take for a deep fryer to heat? It can take anywhere from seven to 30 minutes for a deep fryer to heat up, depending on the fryer’s size and type, as well as the brand.
When most people think about frying up foods, they tend to make assumptions about prepping for a deep frying session. It’s not as easy or as simple as it looks, and the biggest part is the waiting game. Here’s what you should know before you decide to fry up something nice for dinner.
How Long Does It Take For a Deep Fryer To Heat Up?
Deep fryers are not something that you can immediately turn on and hope for the best. Like most other professional-grade tools, deep fryers will need a little bit of warm-up time before you can start making those delicious fried goods you love so much.
That said, prepping your fryer will require some time to heat up. For most home models, this can range anywhere from seven minutes to half an hour. Professional deep fryer models usually have larger ranges, which can lead their fryers to require 30 minutes of prep time or more.
How To Figure Out Your Fryer’s Heating Times
Heating up a deep fryer is not a “one size fits all” type of deal. Before you dip your food in a deep fryer, you’re going to need to know when your fryer is ready for food prep. That requires knowing what kind of deep frying you’re going to do.
There are two main types of fryers you’re going to find on the market. The type you use will determine the type of frying you’re doing. They are:
- Immersion Elements. This has a heating element in the deep fryer that heats it up faster. In most newer models, this can be a heated conductor metal or a similar wire that adds heat to the bowl.
- Non-Immersion Elements. These fryers don’t have wires or heating elements that could make them heat up faster.
Heating Up Immersion Element Fryers
If you have an immersion element fryer, you’re in luck. These fryers tend to have much shorter heating times than non-immersion element fryers. That being said, there’s a little bit of variety here, too.
Generally speaking, most immersion fryers will not require more than 15 minutes of warmup time before you can start frying your heart away. That being said, you still should read the instructions that come with your fryer to find out the heating time.
There’s a lot of variety in times, here. For example, Oster home fryers in this category only take 7 to 10 minutes to heat up. On the other hand, Presto fryers can take up to 10 to 12 minutes, depending on the fryer size.
Heating Up Non-Immersion Elements Fryers
If you’re going to be going the non-immersion route, then you definitely are going to have to have a little more patience. These fryers typically can take around 30 minutes to heat up, depending on the size of the fryer.
Most smaller “home-sized” fryers will take anywhere from 25 to 30 minutes to properly heat up. If you’re trying to heat up a turkey fryer, though, you may have to wait as much as 35 minutes. How much oil you’re using, plus the size of the fryer, make an impact on how long you need to wait.
Much like with immersion fryers, it’s best to consult your fryer’s time chart to figure out how long you need to wait.
What Temperature Should You Set Your Deep Fryer To?
Though there are occasionally exceptions to the rule, the general rule of thumb is that fryers should be preheated to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Is There Anything You Can Do To Heat Up A Deep Fryer Faster?
When you’re craving some fried food, it can be pretty common to want to try tricks to heat up your fryer fast. That being said, you really can’t rush fryer heating. Trying any of these “tricks” below can lead to serious problems or even physical danger.
Using A Different Type Of Oil
As most frying fans know, vegetable oil is considered to be the gold standard among deep fryers. A lot of people think that using an oil with a lower smoke temperature will work to make the fryer heat faster.
This is a bad idea. If anything, using the wrong type of oil can start a fire–or at the very least, cause serious smoke damage. Don’t try to use solid fats or low smoke point oils!
Using A Deep Fryer To Defrost Food
Though rare, there are reports of people who believe that they can heat up frozen food using a deep fryer. The reports usually come from the fire department, shortly after the initial chefs learn that this can cause explosions.
This might be a “common sense” rule, but it’s definitely worth mentioning again. Never, ever, put something frozen in a deep fryer. It’s extremely dangerous!
Turning The Fryer To A Higher Heat
A lot of people tend to think that turning up the heat on a fryer will make it heat up faster, and to a point, that’s true. However, this can make it hard to predict when your oil will be ready for frying.
Moreover, this method can also cause oil to heat unevenly and also spark some smoking issues. Unless you know that the oil won’t heat up to its smoking point, it’s best to avoid this method too.
Safety Tips For Deep Fryer Prep
- Always fully thaw foods before you deep fry them. Frozen foods should never be dipped in a deep fryer, period. If you aren’t sure whether your food’s totally thawed, don’t dip it.
- Always make sure that your frying basket is clean before use. Oh, and never use anything other than the basket to remove food that’s been fried.
- Check your deep fryer’s signal to determine whether or not you’re ready to fry. Most modern deep fryers will have a light or a beeping noise that tells you when the fryer is fully heated.
- Read your fryer’s instruction manual. Deep frying is not an amateur technique, and if done incorrectly, it can lead to serious damage to your kitchen, your food, your fryer, and your body. To avoid a serious issue, make a point to read your fryer’s manual.
- Remember that bigger items will need to be fried for a longer time. Unlike what you might have seen on commercials, deep frying food isn’t always an instant thing. Most foods will be ready to go in about 15 minutes, but larger items like turkeys could take over 30 minutes to fully cook.
- Never use a broken, deep fryer. If you notice that your deep fryer has a crack in it, or if you have a heating element that doesn’t look too good, do not fry anything in it. A broken fryer is a dangerous fryer!