I Believe I Can Fry

I think every guy’s kitchen needs a fryer. Easy, doctor. I’m not advocating eating yourself into an early coronary. I’m just saying. We’re guys. We eat fried foods now and then. Because they taste good. Really good. Chicken, fish, mozzarella cheese, hell even Twinkies taste better fried.

And better to make it at home, where you know what’s really in the oil bin. But i’ve tried several home fryers and none get hot enough to get food really crispy. And nothing sucks more than soggy wings.

T-fal just came out with the Emerilware Fryer this month. So I took a look at it. Mostly because Emeril’s name is on it. All his BAMing and kicking stuff up a notch kills me. He’s a guy’s chef – making big, spicy, guy food.

His fryer looks like someone took an industrial one and shrunk it down to fit your countertop. Brings me back to my “Do you want fries with that?” days.

This thing has a man-sized capacity: it’ll hold 3.3 liters of oil and can take over 2.5 lbs. of food. It also has an automatic filtration system that tells you when it’s time to change the oil. There’s a digital timer too, so your food doesn’t get reduced to charcoal. Best of all, it has a professional-grade heating element so you can get your onion rings seriously crispy. And everything but the heating element is dishwasher safe.

And to get you kicking it up a notch at home I’m including Emeril’s own recipe for Louisiana Hot Wings. BAM!

$149.99 www.emerilappliances.com