Serves me right for being tempted by chips! (Moulinex Minuto Deep Fryer)

Member Name: KitchenQueen

Product:	Moulinex Minuto Deep Fryer
Date:	21/01/08 (631 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: Poorly constructed, feels unsafe to use

The Moulinex Minuto is a small (1-2 person sized) deep fryer which looked absolutely lovely on the shelf. However, this was an impulse purchase that I quickly came to regret....

The fryer has a small 7.5" cubed (19cm x 19cm x 19cm) square, stainless steel body with a black plastic lid and trim and all the components (handle, basket and detachable power cable) can be found neatly packed inside the fryer cavity when opening the box. The oil capacity is just 1 litre and the basket can hold up to 400g (just under 1lb) of potato or other food in one frying session.

I thought this would be an ideal 'treat' purchase as I live alone, but occasionally crave 'real chips' , or samosas and other Indian snacks that I used to eat more regularly when living with my family. At £24.99 it compared favourably with others on the market.

Unfortunately, most of the features that appealed to me in the shop turned out to be less useful once I started using the fryer at home...

Setting up the fryer is relatively easy. The power cable plugs into the back of the fryer (in much the same way as a power cable would plug into a portable CD player or printer). The handle slots into special wire loops on the basket and the lid, which is completely detachable, just sits on top of the fryer.

Instructions for use are similarly easy - Just fill the non-stick inner pan with the prescribed amount of oil. Turn the knob to the desired heat setting for whatever you are cooking and you're off!

Unfortunately, once I had fitted the fryer together, the whole machine still felt very lightweight and insubstantial, given that its purpose was to sit on my worktop bubbbling away with hot oil.

On the first usage I discovered a few more things that bothered me:

Firstly, I realised quickly that despite having followed the instructions as carefully as I could, I had made a mistake and the handle was not properly secure as I lifted chips in and out of the hot oil - hmmm... this was never a problem with my mother's fryer at home, with its integral, fitted, fold down handle!

Secondly, the small glass viewing pane in the lid steamed up almost immediately that I lowered the basket into the oil and replaced the lid - so not much was available to view!

Thirdly, I just couldn't feel comfortable with the completely removable lid. All of the fryers I had used previously had a hinged lid and I didn't realise how useful they were until I tried the Minuto..... it felt VERY uncomfortable and a little scary to have to use a pot holder and both hands to remove the lid, with the chips bubbling away like fury beneath me.

So, overall a poor first outing!

The second time with the Minuto completely shattered my confidence.

Firstly, when topping up the oil, I noticed that once in use, it is very, very difficult to see the max/min fill lines which are inside the pan and I felt as though I was guessing with something where precision was important for safety reasons!

More dangerous than this though, after lowering the basket of chips into the hot oil, I heard a popping sound, a crack appeared in the viewing screen and steam started pouring through the crack - eeek!

After isolating the power supply, I waited for the oil to cool and then packed the fryer back up to return to the store.

MAYBE I had a freak, faulty model, but with so much else that made me feel uncomfortable, I didn't want to try another out.

Luckily I had made my purchase at Lakeland and so received a quibble-free refund.

Serves me right for being tempted by the thought of chips I suppose.... I'll stick to salad for now!

Summary: A lovely idea that doesn't work well in reality

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