The handle design impressed: you can close the lid and then fold down the handle to lower the basket into the oil. The lid was slightly hard to close with the basket in place, but it did feel safer than plunging the chips in with the lid off. The fryer generally felt very stable too.

This RotoFry looks like a fairly compact conventional deep fat fryer. And it is, in one sense. Unlike the latest “health” fryers that use minimal amounts of oil, this uses 1-1.2 litres of the stuff. But rather than just plunging your basket into the oil for a few minutes, the basket is set at an angle and rotates – so your food spends some time in the oil and some time out of it.Yes – despite the unusual rotating design, the RotoFry is capable of cooking a wide range of fresh and frozen fried foods. It’s affordable and fast, it uses less oil than deep fat fryers and it’s easy to clean.

Removing the oil involves lifting and tipping the whole fryer which is awkward, but considering its size and the amount of oil, it isn’t heavy. The small frying basket can be washed in warm soapy water but nothing else is removable, so can only be wiped clean. The chips cooked for 7 minutes were slightly underdone – we’d try 8 next time – but they tasted great. They were evenly cooked and tasted like they’d come fresh from the chip shop.

It also boasts an “easy clean” system to make it simpler to drain the oil after use. First though, you must wait an hour or two for the oil to cool down. Then pull down a flap on the front to reveal a rubber pipe with a small cap on the end. Open this and the oil flows out so you can drain it into a jug.