Dangerous Deep Fat Fryer

Mysticalman

Hello I am looking for some advice. I bought a deep fat fryer from a leading retailer. I had a very close call when I used it for the first time. When I lowered the chips slowly into the hot oil it overflowed all over the kitchen counter, into the drawers and cupboard and all over my shoes. Luckily I was not scalded and the only pain was the clean up afterwards. Even a few weeks later I can still feel the residue in the drawers. I am a stickler for reading instructions when I buy any new item and as usual I followed the instructions exactly as stated. After the incident I wrote to the manufacturer explaining what had happened. I was asked to return the item to them so that their quality assurance team could analyse the item. They received the item on the 14th of November. I have enquired numerous times as to the progress of their investigation. Whilst the girl I am dealing with has been polite she has not been very informative. She just keeps saying that it takes time to check it out. I bought this fryer in good faith and only got to use it once. Should I have gone to the retailer first or am I doing the right thing ? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

gebbel

Not being smart but it sounds like you had way too much oil in the fryer. With mine it's not meant to be filled above halfway. This is to allow for displacement of oil when food is added, and frozen food into 190 degrees oil causes it to boil up....so space is a must.

I cannot imagine a manufacturer defect that explains what happened here.

Fuzzy Clam

A wrong mix of oil can cause this. Highly unlikely to be a fault with the fryer.

Cabaal

Sounds like
- Too much oil
- Alot of water/ice on the items you were putting into the very hot oil

Either or both things will not go well

The only defect I can think of is if the oil was heated far higher then the thermostat allowed, but then if this happened it would normally start to burn and you'd very much notice the smell of burn't oil
]

Mysticalman

Thank you for all the replies. I am a stickler for reading instructions on anything whether it be a packet of soup or a rocket to the moon. I followed the manufacturers instructions here exactly. It is a 3 litre fryer and I put 3 litres of oil in as instructed to do so. I used freshly cut chips and dried them on a paper towel and lowered them in slowly. I set the temperature as instructed and allowed the oil to heat until the green light went out. The oil overflowed everywhere.

dilallio

This will always happen with freshly cut chips if they have been parboiled beforehand. It doesn't matter how long you leave them to dry.

You are better off freezing them before deep-fat-frying, or lowering them really really slowly into the fryer.

rubadub

Were there lots of chips? there is often a weight capacity listed too.

Like this 3L one says 1kg capacity
http://www.powercity.ie/?par=60-15-FR1014

Mysticalman

rubadub wrote: »

Were there lots of chips? there is often a weight capacity listed too.

Like this 3L one says 1kg capacity
http://www.powercity.ie/?par=60-15-FR1014

No I didn't put many in as it was my first time using it. The instruction was to use a maximum 200g of chips per litre of oil. I used less than this.

Mysticalman

dilallio wrote: »

This will always happen with freshly cut chips if they have been parboiled beforehand. It doesn't matter how long you leave them to dry.

You are better off freezing them before deep-fat-frying, or lowering them really really slowly into the fryer.

Well if thats the case then this fryer was not fit for its purpose.

L1011

This really sounds like a case of not reading the manual to me. And on a device that's widely known to be very dangerous when incorrectly operated.

Mysticalman

MYOB wrote: »

This really sounds like a case of not reading the manual to me. And on a device that's widely known to be very dangerous when incorrectly operated.

Maybe just read the post again. I stated that I am a stickler for reading the instructions so how could this be a case of not reading the manual ?

username123

I dont understand why people are doubting the OP here. Can we not just take at face value what the OP has said, ie, that they read and followed the instructions and had a deep fryer disaster?

OP - to address your original query, it is my belief that you should have contacted the retailer first as that is who your contract was with.

However, the matter lies with the manufacturer now. I would advise you to contact the National Consumer Agency and speak to someone regarding where you need to go from here.

If you were dealing with the retailer Id say threaten them with the Small Claims Court unless they get the finger out asap but as you are dealing with the manufacturer with whom you have no contract Im not sure you can do that.

listermint

OP.

did you look inside the frier ? There is a mark there indicating the appropriate oil level. Just because it says '3 litre' doesnt mean it takes 3 litres of oil. It could be 3 litres capacity of food space.

It sounds like you put far far far too much oil in and didnt look at the appropriate level mark.

beertons

3 litres of oil sounds like a huge amount for a deep fat fryer. Can you upload a pic of the inside of it and link the product?

keithclancy

username123 wrote: »

I dont understand why people are doubting the OP here. Can we not just take at face value what the OP has said, ie, that they read and followed the instructions and had a deep fryer disaster?

OP - to address your original query, it is my belief that you should have contacted the retailer first as that is who your contract was with.

However, the matter lies with the manufacturer now. I would advise you to contact the National Consumer Agency and speak to someone regarding where you need to go from here.

If you were dealing with the retailer Id say threaten them with the Small Claims Court unless they get the finger out asap but as you are dealing with the manufacturer with whom you have no contract Im not sure you can do that.

God .. Ireland turning into the U.S.

Reminds me of when I saw a Egg timer that had "Not for Internal Use" written on it.

Paulw

Just curious - what is the make and model of this deep fat fryer?

dilallio

What make & model of fryer is it?

L1011

Mysticalman wrote: »

Maybe just read the post again. I stated that I am a stickler for reading the instructions so how could this be a case of not reading the manual ?

Because "3 litre" fryers usually take about 1.5 litres of oil; something that its extremely easy to miss if you don't read them. They're (generally) sold by internal volume not oil level.

Mysticalman

username123 wrote: »

I dont understand why people are doubting the OP here. Can we not just take at face value what the OP has said, ie, that they read and followed the instructions and had a deep fryer disaster?

OP - to address your original query, it is my belief that you should have contacted the retailer first as that is who your contract was with.

However, the matter lies with the manufacturer now. I would advise you to contact the National Consumer Agency and speak to someone regarding where you need to go from here.

If you were dealing with the retailer Id say threaten them with the Small Claims Court unless they get the finger out asap but as you are dealing with the manufacturer with whom you have no contract Im not sure you can do that.

Excellent reply and thanks for the back up. I will take your advice.

rubadub

Mysticalman wrote: »

Excellent reply and thanks for the back up. I will take your advice.

Are we ever going to hear what make & model it was!

you might able to look up reviews and see if others had the problem, or at least warn others about it.

homemadecider

Mysticalman wrote: »

It is a 3 litre fryer and I put 3 litres of oil in

You put 3 litres of oil into a vessel with a 3 litre capacity? How did you not realise it would overflow? I remember doing displacement calculations in junior cert, this is simple stuff.

john_cappa

homemadecider wrote: »

You put 3 litres of oil into a vessel with a 3 litre capacity? How did you not realise it would overflow? I remember doing displacement calculations in junior cert, this is simple stuff.

If this is what the OP did then.......lol

rubadub

homemadecider wrote: »

You put 3 litres of oil into a vessel with a 3 litre capacity?

I doubt it, I already linked to a tefal one that takes 3L of oil in powercity, they are not that rare.

Oryx

OP, did you fill the oil to the marker inside the pan or not? (They all have max and min capacity markers)

RangeR

beertons wrote: »

3 litres of oil sounds like a huge amount for a deep fat fryer. Can you upload a pic of the inside of it and link the product?

Not really. Mine take 4 litres and it's not a huge beast.

dudara

Posters - please give the OP the benefit of the doubt here. There was been enough posts questioning their actions. Continuing to post in this vein is not furthering the discussion. Please focus instead on providing helpful advice.

dudara

Fuzzy Clam

dudara wrote: »

Posters - please give the OP the benefit of the doubt here. There was been enough posts questioning their actions. Continuing to post in this vein is not furthering the discussion. Please focus instead on providing helpful advice.

dudara

To be fair, its difficult to offer "helpful" advice if we're not told the make/model.

Mysticalman

homemadecider wrote: »

You put 3 litres of oil into a vessel with a 3 litre capacity? How did you not realise it would overflow? I remember doing displacement calculations in junior cert, this is simple stuff.

Yes I put 3 litres of oil as instructed in the manual. There is a line that clearly says 3 litres. I did not fill over this line. What would you have done? Would you follow the instructions properly like me or have you got your own idea ?

Mysticalman

homemadecider wrote: »

You put 3 litres of oil into a vessel with a 3 litre capacity? How did you not realise it would overflow? I remember doing displacement calculations in junior cert, this is simple stuff.

Simple stuff indeed. It might be simpler for you if you read the post properly. I myself did reading in junior infants. This is a snippet from the INSTRUCTION MANUAL....( a booklet to help you understand the product )....."This deep fat fryer will hold approximately 2.5 litres of oil at the minimum level and 3 litres of oil at the maximum level ".

Mysticalman

Fuzzy Clam wrote: »

To be fair, its difficult to offer "helpful" advice if we're not told the make/model.

I am not too sure if I am allowed to give the make and model . Maybe a moderator could help me on this. Is this allowed on Boards ? Thanks.

mikom

Mysticalman wrote: »

Simple stuff indeed. It might be simpler for you if you read the post properly. I myself did reading in junior infants. This is a snippet from the INSTRUCTION MANUAL....( a booklet to help you understand the product )....."This deep fat fryer will hold approximately 2.5 litres of oil at the minimum level and 3 litres of oil at the maximum level ".

So say a fella filled it to the maximum level with oil and then added two handfuls of chips........... at what point would the oil now sit......... on maximum or above maximum?