Aroma ADF-212 Smart Fry XL Digital Dual-Basket Deep Fryer
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Aroma ADF-212 Smart Fry XL Digital Dual-Basket Deep Fryer
Customer Review: The Perfect Home Fryer
Summary: 5 Stars
Good price. An engineering marvel. Holds temp prior to frying plus/minus 10 Degrees Fahrenheit. Large oil volume (1.25 gallons max) assures the thermal mass will maintain temperature a little longer -- even when food is added. 1800 watt power input assures recovery is as quick as it can physically be. 1800 watts is about the maximum that can be drawn from a 15A 120 Volt circuit (make sure nothing else is being used on this circuit). The fryer will draw between 14.6 and 15.0 amps. Best used on a 20A circuit, that is standard in most newer kitchens, to reduce supply circuit voltage drop and provide the most voltage to the fryer.
Greater recovery time can only be obtained with a 240 Volt unit -- and who wants to pay the commercial price for a fryer or has 240 in the kitchen. Shuts off element automatically after the timer counts down to zero and goes into a standby mode. Noted only a minimal drop of temp when food added (30 degrees) and quick recovery to set point. This drop is a function of the quantity and temperature of the food added (as with any fryer).
Looked at 230 vac/50hz European models. While they may be usable at our 240/60hz for the heating element, the electronics may have a problem, so just decided to get the Aroma model. Oil immersion element is the best and quickest way to transfer heat to oil compared to fryers that heat the pan.
Current temperature and set point are displayed with a 5 degree resolution. Current temp is displayed as the default and shows the rise and also the drop in temp as food is inserted (unlike some that apparently do not want you to see this). Pressing the time/temp easily changes the current display of temp to either set point or time remaining. Super easy to use this multi-function mode of current temp/set point/timer.
Timer and Temperature set point can be changed at any time. Time can only be started after set point is reached as indicated when green light flashes -- and this is the way it should be. If you do not want to time -- do not press the START button after reaching temperature and unit will control temp forever (I think).
Easy to clean (furniture polish removes fingerprints off stainless steel). All parts, including the 3 baskets, handles, and cord store internally (this is also the way it was packed in the original box). Easy oil pour into a strainer over one of the 4 corners (no valves to leak).
Cons: 1) not having the count down timer visible while it is timing -- since current temperature is always shown. It can, however, be shown with just the press of the temp/time button. 2) "At temperature" and "frying cycle complete" alarms not loud enough.
One user reported being able to see when the temp had decreased (after turning off) so the oil can be safely removed, but current temp is not shown in the off/standby mode. One has to again activate a new heating cycle temporarily.
Customer Review: Deep Fried Art
Summary: 5 Stars
This deep fryer is fantastic and *close* to perfect for consumer-grade use. Quality manufacture & top-notch engineering are the two best ways to describe this unit. Buy it - you will not be sorry. Do yourself a favor and glance over the instructions and be sure to remove the styrofoam from under the grease well when it gets delivered (see below).
I have owned several deep fryers including fry daddies & received a wing fryer (maybe a presto?) that have all come and gone. This fryer is leaps and bounds superior to what I have previously owned. This unit actually gets me excited (scary, I know).
Pro's:
+ Unit construction stainless steel, conservative use of plastic. Feels and looks like quality.
+ Top-end unit for consumer use. Better units are likely to be commercial grade & much more expensive.
+ 3 baskets come with the unit. 2 smaller baskets to fry two types/batches of food simultaneously or 1 large basket for single large batches like wings.
+ Fry baskets are well designed. Handles are detachable and fold into the baskets for storage when the other basket type is in use.
+ Solid packaging. Reduces chance of unit damage in shipment.
+ Clear and concise instructions written in English by someone who must speak English well. That part just blows my mind.
+ The whole unit disassembles easily - heating coil, control unit, plug, grease well, body. Relatively easy to empty the grease without wearing it and wash the unit.
+ Unit was designed with safety concerns (overheat cutoff). I won't live that long eating this much fried food but it may be important to someone.
Con's:
- Short power cord. Instructions (yes I read them) state this is for safety reasons & recommends a proper extension cord. Turns a negative to a positive but no one likes being "too short".
- Programmable portion isn't the most robust & probably weakest feature. Unit controls aren't that great overall. A separate thermostat button would be nice.
- Remember I said it was well packaged? Well, the manufacturer put styrofoam and a plastic bag underneath the grease well. This is noticeable for most but this is just asking for someone in a hurry to not remove part of the bag or foam. Can you say, "House fire"?
My other concerns:
-The fryer *could* have problems arising from all the safety features - e.g. stop working due to sensor faults. We will see how it holds together in 3 years.
-Includes a plastic window on the lid to see the food. I do not understand why engineers puts these on fryers. They get covered in grease and do not work. Guess what? You can lift the lid and look inside.
- Aroma? Who are they?
Customer Review: It works ...
Summary: 4 Stars
I have had an older deep fryer for some 15 or so years - didn't use it much because it was so hard to clean and the food never seemed to be right. Problem was that the oil temperature was 20 degrees lower than the setting - at any setting. After much research I have confirmed that the temperature of the oil is the most critical trait that a deep fryer must control. Cleaning is the second critical concern.
The Aroma ADF-212 temperature control has been right on (checked with a separate digital and large mercury type thermometers) and it also shows the current temp of the oil as it heats up! That feature is great and nearly all other reviewers also say the temperature control is right on; Major concern covered.
The oil container is removable and thus can be cleaned in the dish washer - perfect. Baskets are all strong and the handles removable - cleaned in the dishwasher - perfect. The power cord is magnetically attached for safety (first one that I have seen, but works) - perfect.
For me, there is only one negative aspect to this thing, the sides of the container get hot - way too hot to keep you hand on - and so it is a concern for small children - keep it back from the edge of the counter.
Esthetically, it reminds me of a camp stove, a very light cover and outside sheet metal that acts as a stand, the removable container, and its separate heating element (which works just fine). It won't be the center piece of you kitchen. In our kitchen, it sits back in an obscure counter corner after cooling and stays pretty much out of sight - I pull it out and place it on a rather large wood cutting board, which acts as an insulator for the counter, when in use.
I cover it with a thin plastic bag (meant for small waste baskets) AFTER the oil has cooled and reached room temperature; this works really well to keep the smell of cooking oil in the kitchen down.
My wife loves the donuts that come out of it and I REALLY like that it is predictable in operation and easy to clean. If you get one, you will love it and feel your money was well spent.
Customer Review: Its big!
Summary: 5 Stars
Ok, I just got this a few days ago. I haven't used it yet, but once I do will come back and tell you all about it, that is presuming I can lift it out of the box!! Its very big and pretty heavy. Where in the world am I going to keep this thing? Right now its on the fireplace in the family room. LOL!
FAST FORWARD TO OCTOBER 15,2010. Finally, on this momentous occasion, we went fishing at Publix grocery store and bought some worthy looking Cod which as everyone knows is the best fish for fish and chips, well maybe Haddock too. I found the dual basket deep fryer and eyed it with trepidation as I had not to this point read the instruction manual. I took it apart and washed it with some nice soapy Gain smelling water. I filled it to the fill line, it took 2 large containers of Crisco Oil, about a gallon to fill it up. I had the batter abrewing, the hubby already drinking beer and getting the salt and malt vinegar ready. The excitement was building as I plugged it in, but alas! Nothing happened. :( Next we got out the instruction manual and started over. My husband is an engineer, but any fool could have seen that I didn't have it assembled properly. The unit heated up a lot faster than I thought it would and in no time it was ready for action. It will only heat up to 375 degrees. I was worried that putting frozen french fries repeatedly in oil would turn the oil cold and mess up the fish, but NOT.We plunged the fish in and the french fries and the darn thing did what it was supposed to do. Voila! In the end, we were easily able to pour the used oil back into the containers for disposal and the machine cleaned up like a dream. The fryer comes with 2 baskets so you can multi task, but for people just wanting to cook up a whole mess of stuff at one time, there is a large single basket you can use. Overall, I would give this deep fryer 2 thumbs up and its not that heavy once you get rid of all the stuff it was packed in! Would highly recommend this product for all you deep fried freaks. Just make sure you put it together properly from the start!
Customer Review: NEW NAME, SAME FRYER...
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently bought this fryer, looking for 1 to replace my old one..which was a fry-pro2 i already went thru 2 of those things..well to my surprise this thing is the same thing i have just a different name on the thing..the frypro2 had a 6 liter
tank as this one is only 5 liter..i love the size of the tank cause i can cook alot of stuff in it..but as with the other 2 this ones heating element is off a few degrees also..but atleast this one heats beyond the temp it says, the other 2 would say 375 an
the temp on my candy thermometer would say 360..i filled this one up to the max an turned it on, it heated up alittle quicker than
the other ones..i guess a quart less of oil will make it do that,but to my surprise i put the thermo in there and set it for 375..
but when it reached the temp set i looked on the thermo and it said 390..i didn't try any food but atleast i know the oil does get to where its suppose to be at an more..thats the trouble i had with the other 2 was the heating unit,i just hope this one aint the same way..maybe they fixed that problem when they bought them out i'm sure alot of people complained about that..i don't know about it recovering from the frozen food going in yet the other 2 sucked on that part..it would drop the oil about 40 degress an would not recover in time to cook before it sucked in the grease in the food..for the price i paid [...] delivered it's not a bad unit..i was looking at commercial fryers with the same oil capacity and they wanted a [...] more so i figured i'd give this one a try..it comes with a 1 year guarantee but i hope i don't have to find out if they live up to it or not..all an all this is a good unit for the money, the commercial ones are better but you get what you pay for..i would recommend this fryer i think its a little better an bigger than presto's or the other ones, well thanks for reading my ramblings and hope this helped ya out..
P.S. Go out and buy yourself a good candy thermometer don't always believe what that temp on the unit says i know better..