Category: Gear | Appliances

The recession put a bit of a damper on our "go out to eat every meal and never cook anything except Hot Pockets" rule, but we look at it as an opportunity. Now we're in the kitchen, getting our hands dirty and making our own food. Most of it is fried and that's the way it should be.

Krups High Performance Deep Fryer

Your kitchen probably can't handle one of those industrial deep fryers, but it won't have to if you get a hold of this swanky cooker. High-powered elements heat up your oil extremely quickly and a heavy-duty fan vents air to keep your house from smelling like the back room of a Denny's. A big, glass cover lets you look in on your jalapeno poppers as they cook. $399.

Chefstack Pancake Machine

Its $3,000+ price tag makes this thing geared toward diners and caterers, but if you're willing to blow your next couple of paychecks on it, you'll be the most popular guy in the neighborhood. Flip on the machine, insert the batter pouch and it'll start cranking out up to 200 delicious pancakes an hour. Invite over your kid's little league team or have John Goodman over for breakfast.

Cuisinart PowerEdge 700 Blender

The captain of Cuisinart's blender line churns out 700 Watts of power and uses a hilariously-named Power6 Turbo-Edge blade to annihilate anything you put in its 56-ounce jar. It even has automatic smoothie and ice crushing modes so you can hang out with your guests while your blender acts like a cute little stainless steel bartender.

T-Fal Actifry

The second fryer on our list tries to take some of the deadliness out of the best way to cook things. It only requires a single tablespoon of oil to make up to two pounds of french fries. It comes with a recipe book full of things you can make in your new, healthier fryer, including chicken wings and all that other fun stuff you're only supposed to eat at the fair.

Butterball Turkey Fryer

The third and final fryer on our list was built for the sole purpose of frying up a turkey. Unlike the fire and bucket of oil technique, this is safe to be used indoors and can cook a full-sized turkey in less time. Plus, the whole thing is set-up to be idiot-proof so you'll spend more time eating onion rings and less time in the burn ward.