T-fal EZ Clean Deep Fryer Review: No More Oily Mess?

Save time and money by checking the latest rankings and discounts on Odvex.

Is the T-fal EZ Clean the Solution to Your Deep Frying Nightmares?

Let’s be honest: nothing beats the taste of homemade deep-fried food. Air fryers are great convenience tools, but they can never quite replicate the shatteringly crisp batter of tempura or the satisfying crunch of a proper french fry. However, most home cooks avoid deep frying for one major reason: the oil management.

It’s messy, it smells, and dealing with leftover oil is a logistical headache. You have to wait for it to cool, strain it through a cheesecloth to get the burnt crumbs out, and pour it into a jar without spilling it all over the counter. Usually, people just give up and throw the oil away, which is a waste of money.

The T-fal 3.5L Stainless Steel Deep Fryer (often called the EZ Clean) claims to solve exactly this problem. Its unique selling point is a patented automatic filtration system that drains, cleans, and stores the oil for you. It sounds almost too good to be true.

We took a close look at this appliance to see if it actually makes deep frying convenient enough for a weeknight dinner, or if it’s just another bulky gadget destined for the garage sale.

Key Features: Why This Fryer is Different

Most deep fryers are just hot buckets. The T-fal brings some serious engineering to the table that justifies the price point.

1. The Automatic Oil Filtration System

This is the star of the show. At the bottom of the unit, there is a blue plastic container. When you are done cooking, you simply turn a dial to “Automatic Filtration.” Once the oil cools down to a safe temperature, the machine opens a valve, passes the oil through a fine mesh filter to catch crumbs, and drains clean oil into the sealed storage box below. Next time you want to fry, you just pull out the box and pour the clean oil back in.

2. Immersion Heating Element

Unlike cheap fryers where the heating element is hidden under the bowl, this T-fal unit uses an immersed 1700-watt heating element. This is crucial for performance. The element sits directly in the oil, which means:

• Faster Preheating: It gets to 375°F quickly.
• Temperature Recovery: When you drop cold frozen fries into hot oil, the temperature drops. A powerful immersion element brings the heat back up fast, preventing soggy, greasy food.

3. The “Cool Zone”

Because the heating element is suspended slightly above the bottom of the pan, the area underneath it remains cooler than the rest of the oil. Crumbs from breaded chicken or onion rings fall into this “cool zone” and don’t burn. This keeps your oil tasting fresh for longer and prevents that acrid “burnt oil” smell from filling your house.

4. Dishwasher Safe Parts

Aside from the heating element control unit, almost everything else—the lid, the bowl, the basket, and the oil storage box—can go in the dishwasher. This is a game-changer for cleanup.

Hands-On Experience: The Cooking Test

We looked at how this fryer handles the three stages of cooking: Frying, Filtering, and Cleaning.

Phase 1: The Fry

With a 3.5-liter capacity, this fryer is a workhorse. It can easily handle 2.65 lbs of food, which is roughly enough for a family of four. In testing scenarios with frozen french fries, the temperature recovery is impressive. The oil bubbles vigorously, sealing the exterior of the potato immediately. The result is a fry that is crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside—something air fryers struggle to achieve.

For wet batters (like fish and chips), the basket is spacious enough that food doesn’t stick together if you lower it carefully. The viewing window on the lid is a nice touch, allowing you to monitor browning without losing heat, though it does tend to steam up occasionally.

Phase 2: The Filtration Magic

This is the part that feels like magic. After you are done eating, you flip the switch to “Automatic Filtration.” The genius here is that the machine won’t drain the oil until it senses the temperature is safe. You can turn the switch and walk away.

Coming back a few hours later to find the top bowl empty and the bottom box full of translucent, clean oil is incredibly satisfying. The burnt bits are left behind on the bottom of the bowl, ready to be wiped out.

Phase 3: The Cleanup

Once the oil is stored and the heating element is removed, the rest of the unit breaks down easily. The stainless steel bowl lifts right out. While it is dishwasher safe, we found that a quick hand wash is often faster and saves dishwasher space. The most important thing is that you aren’t trying to pour a heavy pot of oil into a funnel—the machine did the heavy lifting for you.

Pros and Cons

Comparison: T-fal vs. The Rest

Is the filtration system worth the extra cost compared to a standard bucket fryer?

Verdict: The Best Fryer for Regular Use

If you only deep fry a turkey once a year, this product is overkill. But if you love wings on Sunday, fries on Friday, or donuts on Saturday morning, the T-fal 3.5L with Oil Filtration is arguably the best deep fryer on the market.

The barrier to deep frying has always been the cleanup. By automating the worst part of the process—straining and storing the oil—T-fal has turned a chore into a simple task. The cost savings on oil alone (since you can reuse it 10-15 times easily) will eventually pay for the machine.

It’s big, it’s not the cheapest option, but it delivers restaurant-quality crispiness with home-kitchen convenience.