The 6 Best Outdoor Deep Fryers of 2026

At 58,000 BTU, this is the hottest burner among the single-pot kits here, and it changes how the cooker behaves. Oil climbs back to temperature quickly after a cold basket goes in, so a fish fry keeps moving instead of stalling while everybody waits on the pot.

What we appreciate even more is the lid. A pot of oil is the awkward part of outdoor frying — you either strain it into a jug at ten o'clock at night or leave an open pot sitting in the garage. With a lid, the oil cools, gets strained, and stays in the pot until the next batch, which is exactly the kind of small convenience that decides whether you fry twice a month or twice a year. Two inner baskets mean one can drain while the other loads, and 17.3 pounds is light enough to move off the patio by yourself.

The 18-quart size is the honest limit. This is a fish, wing, and shrimp fryer; it will not take a whole turkey, and the aluminum underside darkens with use, which is cosmetic and never touches the food. If a bird is on your list, the 30-quart Pipopa is the answer. If you fry fish four or five times a summer and never a turkey, this is the one we reach for, and the two baskets mean you are never standing over the pot with tongs, fishing for the last fillet.

Two separate 18-quart tanks cook differently than one big pot. Instead of frying in waves and holding finished food in a warm oven, you run catfish in one tank and wings or hushpuppies in the other at their own temperatures, and everything lands on the table together. Both tanks share a cart, so it is still one station rather than two.

The cart is what makes the capacity usable. Thirty-six quarts of oil is heavy and awkward, and this one rolls on molded wheels with a holder for the propane cylinder, so a loaded fryer crosses a driveway instead of being carried. The two 40,000 BTU burners light from one-touch electronic ignition with a CSA-certified regulator, which we much prefer to crouching with a long lighter, and the wind shield around the burners earns its keep on a breezy afternoon.

Where it asks for attention is the flame. The valve is not a fine control, and the burners can run harder than you want if you open them up and walk away; keep the supplied thermometers in the tanks and trim the flame before it climbs. The cart is also 36.6 inches deep, which is more garage floor than some people have. We still think it is the dual-tank unit to buy here: it does the two-food job for far less than the big stainless carts, and the pair of smaller baskets suits a family fry better than a commercial tub.

The hand crank is the reason to look at this cart. A Santa Maria-style overhead frame raises and lowers the mesh basket on a crank instead of by hand, so a loaded basket goes into twelve gallons of oil at a controlled speed and comes back out the same way. Anyone who has lowered chicken into hot oil by the handle knows exactly what that solves.

Everything else is sized for volume. Two 150,000 BTU burners bring a 30-by-25-inch stainless tub up quickly, a built-in thermometer reads from the front of the cart, and a drain valve empties the tub without a siphon or a bucket. The tub takes roughly 20 pieces of chicken or fish in a single drop, which is catering territory rather than family dinner.

This is a cart for someone who cooks for a crowd, repeatedly: a barbecue team, a firehouse, the family that runs the church fish fry every spring. For a household frying one turkey in November, the crank and the drain valve solve problems a 30-quart pot does not have. Buy it for the volume.

Ten pounds for the whole kit — pot, burner, basket, and stand — is light enough to carry out with one hand and small enough to live on a garage shelf without rearranging anything. That is the case for a 10-quart fryer in a lineup full of 30-quart pots: you actually use it, because getting it out is not a project.

For fish and chicken, ten quarts is the right size. A 50,000 BTU burner brings a small pot up to temperature without three gallons of oil to heat and then dispose of, and the adjustable 0 to 5 PSI regulator lets you trim the flame rather than just open or shut it. What we like most is the mounting: extra legs widen the base, and arms lock the pot to the burner. A pot of 350-degree oil sliding off a stand is the failure that ruins more than dinner, and this is one of the steadier small kits here.

It is a fish fryer rather than a shrunken turkey fryer, and that is the point: a batch of fillets goes into the basket and comes out together, with the hushpuppies and fries following in the same oil once the fish is draining. For a driveway cook for a dozen people, that is the whole job.

The stand is 16 inches tall, and that one number tells you most of what this fryer is: a low, sit-down cooker for a driveway fish fry rather than a stand-up station. Set it on a folding table and it is comfortable; set it on the ground and you are crouching. What you get for that compromise is two strainer baskets in an 18-quart aluminum pot, a cast iron burner, a thermometer, and the hose and regulator — the least expensive route here to frying two things at once.

In use it behaves like a straightforward single-pot fryer. One basket drains while the other loads, the included thermometer earns its keep because the valve is touchy and the flame drifts between batches, and a moderate setting keeps the thin aluminum from scorching. It will not take a turkey, and eighteen quarts means two rounds for a real crowd. What it will do is put crisp fish and wings on a table for a dozen people from a unit that weighs under 17 pounds and stores on a shelf.