I had a pretty decent deep fat fryer when I first moved into our home, but decided a couple of months ago it needed replacing. It was still in good working order, but it was in a pretty bad state, so thought I would replace it. I haven't much in the way of spare cash at the moment so it had to be a bog standard cheap fryer.


For price and convenience I decided to go for the basic Argos Value Deep Fat Fryer. This is most definitely a 'no frills' fryer but it was the cheapest I could find so thought I would go for it. The other reason I brought this one was because with it being from Argos, at least you know if you are going to get any problems with it, then you will get decent customer service from Argos.


This deep fat fryer is only available in white and is priced at £13.87 in their current catalogue (winter 2010). It can be brought in store, reserved online or delivered to your home for an extra cost for delivery. There are no special features whatsoever on this one, but then provided it does the job of frying your food to a good standard, then it doesn't matter.


This had a large power light which is good as it catches your attention as soon as you walk in the kitchen, so there is very little danger of you accidently leaving this fryer on without realising it as the light is pretty bright. It also has a viewing window in the top of the fryer (though this needs to be cleaned on a regular basis or it soon becomes too greasy to see through). This fryer has an oil capacity of 1.5l and a food capacity of 0.5g so it is a pretty ample size in comparison to other fryers. It also has 1.2kw power and ranges from 108c to210c. It also has an adjustable thermostat on the front meaning the fryer can be used to fry a variety of foods to just the way you like them.


One of my most hated household chores is cleaning a fryer as it is a pretty dire job and you get grease everywhere. This actually isn't a bad fryer to clean. The lid can be removed with ease so you can clean that easily and the base fits easily into a sink so you can just give it a good clean with a brillo pad this way (just making sure you rinse properly after using cleaning materials). What bits of grease had stuck to the side of the fryer were removed far more easily in this fryer than in my previous fryer which means it looks newer for longer.


There are a couple of safety features on this fryer too in that it has non slip feet which work well as I have never had my fryer move once it has been stood on the side, and it also has a safety cut out too which is handy as let's face it, there's a huge fire risk with a deep fat fryer.


That's pretty much all the features that appear on this fryer. As for how it works, well in my opinion it works really well for the price I paid. I have only ever owned one fryer before this one and that one was nearly twice the price of this one. The only real difference I have noticed is that food does take a tad longer to cook in this fryer than my previous fryer, but not by a long way at all. This is a little louder than my previous fryer when frying, but not to an extent that it becomes a nuisance.


Lets face it, deep fried food is the most unhealthiest way to eat so I don't use a fryer on a regular basis as I try to grill or oven bake my food. I do find though it is a handy product to keep in the cupboard for days when you just don't have time to cook from scratch and to throw a few chips in a fryer is simple and convenient. I do also think there is something rather delicious about fried chips, but for health reasons, I do try and keep my fat intake as low as possible so this is more of a treat than a regular occurrence.


Storage wise, you can either keep this out on a kitchen surface if you use it regularly. As I don't use mine regularly though, I find it a little unsightly to keep on the kitchen work surfaces so I store mine away in a cupboard under the sink. The only problem with this is that it does obviously take up half a cupboard, so if you are limited on storage space, then you may want to consider not using one of these.


Overall though, as deep fat fryers go, this is quite decent for the price I paid and I would happily recommend it to others. It does a good job and is quite easy to clean. Although it takes a little longer to fry food in this fryer than in my previous one, it isn't by much and I'm being quite picky by giving that as a fault. The fryer has a decent length cord so doesn't need to be placed right next to the plug (though obviously it is safer to do so as there is less cord loose then), and with any fryer the usual safety features of keeping it away from the edge of a surface and away from children apply. I did like the fact that this fryer didn't take too long to cool down either after use so doesn't have to be left out too long before being able to store it away.


If you are looking for a cheap and cheerful deep fat fryer, then I recommend you look at this one from Argos. Its nothing special but does a good job and for that reason I recommend it.