Tefal Smart Clean Fat Friar

...and find out why the Tefal Smart Clean was the fryer for us!


REQUIREMENTS

1 – I wanted a fryer that was big enough to cope with four portions of chips (there are only two of us, but we eat loads!)

2 – I wanted a fryer that I could cook fish in

3 – It needed to be easy to clean

4 – I wanted a variable temperature control

5 – ...
...
SO WHY THE TEFAL SMART CLEAN?

Taking into consideration all of the above factors the Tefal Smart Clean was the fryer that seemed to fit the bill.

CAPACITY : The fryer can cope with 1250g of fresh chips (or 900g of frozen chips, although why you would want to use frozen chips with a fryer I don’t know!). This was by no means the largest capacity fryer but at 2.6 litres we decided that it was big enough.
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My husband is truly into romantic present buying! Obviously from the same training school as Les Battersby (Coronation Street), he came up with the idea of getting me a deep fat fryer as a present. Now, I should point out that I was not wholly averse to this idea as I had been craving home cooked chips ever since I left my parents house; Oven chips are just not the same! However, anyone who knows me, which includes regular readers of my opinions, will know that I do not allow any household item to be bought before rigorous market research has been undertaken and price checks carried out (yes even for a present!).

So it came to pass that we were to survey the deep fat fryer market – and what a wonderful time we had! You really wouldn’t think that there was too much to it but read on and find out why the Tefal Smart Clean was the fryer for us!

REQUIREMENTS

1 – I wanted a fryer that was big enough to cope with four portions of chips (there are only two of us, but we eat loads!)

2 – I wanted a fryer that I could cook fish in

3 – It needed to be easy to clean

4 – I wanted a variable temperature control

5 – I wanted some kind of odour control

6 – I needed to feel that the product was safe

VARIENTS

1 – Fryer capacity varied enormously from the ultra-compact to the chip shop capacity

2 – Some fryers had round baskets, others square. Some were flat and others ridged

3 – Some fryers had removable bowls, others had draining spouts. Some had nothing.

4 – Some fryers were fixed temperature, others pre-set and yet others variable.

5 – Some fryers have filters for smells

6 – Methods of opening the fryer varied as did the fitting of the basket handle. Some were “cool wall” models

SO WHY THE TEFAL SMART CLEAN?

Taking into consideration all of the above factors the Tefal Smart Clean was the fryer that seemed to fit the bill.

CAPACITY : The fryer can cope with 1250g of fresh chips (or 900g of frozen chips, although why you would want to use frozen chips with a fryer I don’t know!). This was by no means the largest capacity fryer but at 2.6 litres we decided that it was big enough.

THE BASKET : Hand in hand with capacity is the shape and size of the basket. These varied enormously and size of the fryer was by no means indicative of the size of the basket. The Tefal basket is round, and one of the deeper baskets on the market at about 5 inches. It is wide and occupies most of the fryer’s width. In comparison to the other models available this was one of the largest baskets, some of the others looked like they would struggle to hold more than one potato! This basket is capable of holding chips for four, two pieces of fish or two chicken legs with ease.

If I have a complaint about the basket it would be that it has a raised area on the bottom taking about ¼ inch in depth away from half the basket. What purpose this serves I do not know but it does make laying whole fish in the basket quite difficult as they do not lay flat.

THE BOWL : If you have ever tried to clean a deep fat fryer, you will appreciate my next concern. Fryers are heavy and not easy to empty. Manufacturers have assisted here and have come up with a number of alternative methods for changing the oil. One of the most common seems to be to have a draining pipe. I wasn’t too keen on this idea as the pipe is situated (necessarily) at the bottom of the bowl. It is invariably made of rubber. I was worried that this could be a safety issue as boiling oil and rubber to me spells potential disaster and I was concerned that this could be an area for leakage if the rubber perished.

The Tefal Smart Clean has adopted the other common method, the removable bowl. Once cooled the bowl containing the oil can be lifted out, emptied and then washed up (or put in the dishwasher if you have one) to give it a thorough clean. This seemed like a good idea for me as I wanted to use the fryer for more than chips.

TEMPERATURE CONTROL : As I wanted to cook a variety of things in the fryer a variable temperature control was a must. The fryer has a temperature dial which can be set to the desired temperature up to 200 degrees Centigrade. In practice, the fryer is generally used at about 190 degrees but I have had reason to lower the temperature and the thermostat would appear to be accurate.

FILTERS : The fryer has a built in odour filtration system and the fully locking lid means that the smells of cooking are, to a greater extent, kept inside the fryer. This is not such an important feature as you might think, however, as you still have to open the lid to get the food out!

SAFETY : The fryer is not a “cool wall” fryer, but on the whole I would say that the fryer is one of the safer ones around. The handle that is used to lift the basket out is fixed (unlike some which clip on) and this gives a degree of confidence when lifting the basket out of the fryer. The lid to the fryer has a button release and it opens slowly so there is little risk of you scalding yourself on the steam. Some other fryers had screw on lids – not sure about that one! The basket itself can be raised and lowered with the lid shut which protects from splashing and the motion is smooth which helps you lower the basket slowly to prevent the oil from bubbling up too fast.

EASE OF USE : The fryer really is easy to use. Having filled it with oil, you simply plug it in and wait for the temperature indicator light to go out to show that the oil has reached temperature. The food to be cooked can then be placed carefully into the raised basket and then, once the lid is shut, the basket can be lowered into the oil and the food cooked for the required time. Do not panic if the temperature light comes on again, rather like an iron, this light is thermostatically controlled and responds to slight changes in temperature.

How often you have to change the oil will depend on how often you use the fryer but it is easy to do.

The user's manual was easy to read (although there really isn't much to it!).

NEGATIVE POINTS : If I had any complaints they would be the following:

1 – The chrome exterior is very hard to keep shiny.
2 – There is a viewing window supposedly so that you can watch the food cook. In reality this just gets a load of condensation on it and you can’t see a thing!
3 – As you open the fryer you do sometimes get condensation running down from the lid which could be very hot.
4 – The walls of the fryer do get quite hot.
5 – There is no cord storage facility.
6 – As with all fryers you do get a lot of steam escaping from the vent.

RETAIL : - The fryer is currently available from a number of stores, the cheapest currently being John Lewis at £59.

FUNNY STORY : The very first time I used the fryer there was the inevitable “new burning” smell that is associated with a lot of heated products. However, as the chips were plunged the steam that came from the fryer was thick and black. Panicking, I switched the fryer off and shouted for my husband. We could smell “new product” but not burning so we switched it on again. My husband couldn’t stop himself laughing. The thick black smoke that I reported was actually the shadow of the smoke against the wall. I had positioned the fryer on the worktop in a position where one of our spotlights hit the wall and it caused the smoke to cast a shadow! Panic over!

REMEMBER – when frying PLEASE, PLEASE take care!
 

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