Like many home chefs I've avoided frying foods just because of the hassles and the mess inherent in the process. If I wanted fried chicken I would simply get in the car and head to the local chicken shack. I do have a Fry Daddy and I'd use it to fry up some French fries, but, again, the hassles were always a serious impediment. I finally got more serious about the idea of fried foods and decided to research the subject. I took about a week to make my decision, but when all the dust cleared I was the proud owner of this All Clad EZ deep fryer. I like All Clad a lot and own their waffle iron that has never failed to produce perfect waffles. So, I've known about All Clad quality for a very long time. I was just reluctant to pay the premium for most of All Clad's offerings, so my kitchen is equipped with an eye on quality, but not going overboard in my spending. There are certain items that I don't scrimp on, though, and this deep fryer is one of them.I received the deep fryer yesterday and last evening I fried up some batter dipped chicken tenders. They turned out perfectly crisp and juicy. That I expected given the reviews I had already read. There are a few other deep fryers out there that handle the oil in the same manner as the All Clad. T-Fal is the main one and it's also got glowing reviews. Except for the better build quality of the All Clad there's not a nickels worth of difference between the two units from what I can tell. I'd say the main advantage of the All Clad is that it's shiny. I don't mean to sound facetious, but to my eye the All Clad has outstanding looks. Is that worth the extra $90 over the T-Fal? It was to me.But, it's the oil handling that really sets this fryer apart from the rest of the pack. So long as you don't overfill the fryer you won't have an overflow problem. Overflowing of the removable oil reservoir due to user error is the only serious complaint I've ever read. That and oil spillage while maneuvering the oil tank after draining the fry basin. It's true that the oil drain container could be better designed to avoid spillage, but so long as you have a good grip on it with both hands there really shouldn't ever be a real issue.There is one other thing that qualifies as a shortcoming. Filling the oil to the "max" line give you about 1 1/2 inches of depth under the food you're frying. A thick chicken breast might not get fully submerged when the basket is lowered into the oil. There is a workaround for those who absolutely must fry a turkey leg, but it's a little tricky. On those occasions just fill the fry basin to the depth required and when you're finished "do not" drain the oil through the filtration system. If you do you're going to have oil all over your countertop and floor. My thought is to ladle out the excess oil into a separate container until the level is down to the max line and then go ahead and complete the process through the automatic filter/drain system. It shouldn't be a big deal to go this extra step provided you remember the ladle out the excess oil so as to not overfill the drain reservoir. That's about the only way I can see getting into trouble with this fryer.Here are a few more observations that might help in your decision making process.1. The instructions say to not use the fry basket if you're going to fry certain kinds of foods like donuts or batter dipped meats. The reason is the food tends to want to stick to the basket and that's not good. I found if I grip the meat with tongs and drag it across the surface of the hot oil a few times before dropping it the batter then it doesn't stick to the basket. Giving the basket a little shake helps, too.2. Be CERTAIN to allow the oil to cool at least 2 hours before draining it into the reservoir. Hot oil and plastic don't mix well. I've read where others have actually melted their reservoirs. The unit also has an automatic drain function that detects when the oil is cool enough to drain. I've not tried it, yet, but will.3. It's little awkward to carry the fryer and keep it level. The drained oil wants to slosh around like it's trying to escape. I recommend that when you've cleaned up after a fry session that you remove the oil reservoir and store it separately from the body of the fryer. The oil is still going to slosh around with any tipping from perfectly level, but it's a lot easier to manage while out of the fryer housing. I'm going to store my fryer in the pantry and keep the oil reservoir on a shelf in the garage. Without the oil the fryer is remarkably light, so ladies don't worry about being strong enough.4. The handle on the basket can pivot or collapse to make the basket more compact for storage. That's handy if you're short on storage space.I have read the instruction booklet and while it is adequate it could be better. The real insights you need are to be found in written reviews. You'll find that many of those reviews are well thought out and helpful.

My son is absolutely addicted to french fries, and since he's a picky eater and that's just about all he'll reliably eat I end up cooking them a few times a week at least. This fryer does a pretty great job on them and can cook two servings of fries in its basket, although more than that would probably be overcrowding and they wouldn't cook as well. It heats up reasonably quickly (far more quickly than a dutch oven on a stove top) and even when I add very cold fries it still either maintains its temperature or very quickly returns to temperature. However, by FAR the best feature of this fryer is how easy it is to clean up. You just turn the lever to "automatic oil filtration" and then walk away, and the oil is filtered and stored for you. The filtration is pretty good; I'll easily get a couple of weeks worth of regular frying out of a single batch of oil although it depends on what I fry, since some things get the oil a lot dirtier than others. Once it's drained, literally everything except the heating element can get wiped down and put in the dishwasher. This fryer could not possibly be any easier to clean up.There are only a few negative things about this fryer, none of which are really a big deal. The biggest complaint I have is that the timer isn't great. It works fine, but as far as I can tell you can't cancel it or change it once it's set, so if you're using it then hopefully you set the correct time the first time or you'll have to wait for it to go off before you can change it (if there's a way to do that then I haven't found it yet). Also, the magnetic plug does tend to fall out rather easily if it's jostled at all but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. As I mentioned, I wish that the overall temperature range was greater as it tops out at around 385 degrees, but that's still plenty hot for most things. The last negative is that the vent on the top cover is towards the back of the unit, so any condensation as it's cooking will come out closer to the walls. This means that if it's even slightly under any cabinets, then those cabinets are going to get saturated with steam so you really need to use this somewhere with nothing overhead.One thing to watch out for also is that the oil storage container's top comes off easily, so if you aren't careful when you're pouring it you could end up with the top falling off and spilling oil everywhere. Just hold it together with your hand as you're pouring and it'll be fine.