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The first batch of fried chicken in a new electric skillet always comes out beautifully. It’s the third batch that tells the truth: the oil has dropped 40 degrees, the coating is lifting at the corners, and the pieces at the far end of the pan are browning faster than the ones near the plug. A good skillet holds its heat evenly and keeps its surface intact — for fried chicken, that’s the whole ballgame.
Over eight months, my team and I cooked our way through 12 electric skillets, frying whole cut-up birds, wings, and thighs in every one. What I learned: the dial rarely tells you the temperature of the oil, so you end up trusting a thermometer instead. Depth matters more than diameter — for splatter, and for getting a lid on a crowded pan — and a coating that survives a dozen rounds of frying is worth more than any extra feature on the box. What follows is the short version of all that frying.
Best for Batch Frying Chicken
Presto 16-Inch Electric Skillet
Key Features
- Cover: Tempered glass
- Wattage: 1500 watts
- Pan size: 16 inches
- Heat settings: 6
- Price: Midrange
Sixteen inches of cooking surface and sidewalls high enough to hold a real depth of oil — that is the combination we look for in a chicken skillet, and this Presto has both. The 1500-watt element and six numbered settings bring a pan of oil up to heat, but what matters on a frying night is that the pieces sit in the pan without touching. Crowding is what drops the oil temperature and turns a crisp crust pale and greasy.
We came to appreciate the tempered glass cover just as much. Fried chicken throws grease, and a lid you can set on the pan between turns saves the stovetop and the backsplash. The stay-cool handle means you can lift it without hunting for a towel, and the pan is presentable enough to carry to the table and serve from.
Cleanup is simple: the probe pulls out of its socket and the pan goes in the sink whole, since this model’s base does not detach. It weighs nine pounds empty, so we cool and drain it where it sits rather than carrying a full pan of oil across the kitchen.
One thing to work around: the outer ring of the pan runs cooler than the middle, so we keep pieces in the center two-thirds and turn them once. The glass cover is the part that fails if anything does, which is worth remembering when you set it down.
Pros
- 16-inch surface fits a family batch
- High sidewalls hold a good depth of oil
- Tempered glass cover contains spatter
- 1500 watts with six heat settings
Cons
- Outer edge runs cooler than the center
This is the skillet we point people to first for fried chicken: 16 inches of surface, walls deep enough to hold the oil, and the steadiest cooking performance in this group.
Best for Small Kitchens
Presto 16-Inch Foldaway Skillet
Key Features
- Storage: Base nests inside pan
- Wattage: 1500 watts
- Pan size: 16 inches
- Heat settings: 6
- Price: Midrange
This is our top pick’s pan sitting on a base that comes apart. The cooking surface, the wattage and the six-setting control are the same; what the extra money buys is handles that fold down and a stand that nests inside the pan, so the whole skillet compresses into something you can stand on edge in a cabinet.
In a small apartment, a camper or an RV, that is the difference between owning a 16-inch skillet and not owning one. In a kitchen with a pantry, the fixed-base version cooks the same food for less and has fewer moving parts.
The cooking itself gave us nothing to argue with: it heats quickly, holds a wide even surface, and the vented cover lets steam out while you watch the browning. The cover is glass, so it wants handling rather than stacking.
Pros
- Base folds and nests inside the pan
- Same 16-inch surface as our top pick
- Vented cover lets steam escape
- 1500 watts with six heat settings
Cons
- Folding base can loosen over repeated breakdowns
Buy it if your cabinets are already full: it fries exactly like our top pick and then folds its own base away.
Best for Big Family Meals
Elite Gourmet 10.5-Quart Skillet
Key Features
- Wattage: 1500 watts
- Capacity: 10.5 quarts
- Pan size: 16 x 13 inches
- Sidewall height: 3.15 inches
- Price: Midrange
Three and a quarter inches of sidewall is the number that stands out here, and for frying it is the right number to care about. The pan measures 16 by 13 inches, so it holds a serious depth of oil without narrowing the cooking surface, and the easy-pour spout at the corner lets you tip used oil into a jar instead of wrestling a full pan to the sink.
For a big family or a batch-cooking afternoon, this is the most useful pan in the group. It is rated for six to eight servings, the honeycomb nonstick releases breaded pieces cleanly, and both the pan and the glass lid can go in the dishwasher.
Heat is the trade-off. There is more metal and more oil here than on a 12-inch pan, and the edges trail the center on the way up, so we preheat longer than feels necessary and let the pan settle before the first piece goes in. Turning the pieces once mid-fry evens out the browning.
Pros
- Deepest sidewalls here at 3.15 inches
- 10.5-quart pan rated for six to eight servings
- Pour spout drains used oil cleanly
- Pan and lid are dishwasher safe
Cons
- Heavy at 10.5 pounds before any oil
For feeding a crowd, we have not found a better shape here: deep walls, a wide floor, and a spout that pours the used oil out without a funnel.
Best for Table Service
Hamilton Beach Durathon Skillet
Key Features
- Pan: Lifts off base
- Wattage: 1500 watts
- Heat range: 200°F–400°F
- Cooking surface: 12 x 15 inches
- Price: Midrange
The pan lifts off the base, and that one detail shapes how the whole appliance fits into a meal. Cook on the base, carry the pan to the table and serve out of it, then take it to the sink while the base stays put. We found that more useful than we expected with a pan full of fried chicken we did not want to lift twice.
The cooking side is solid: 180 square inches of surface, 1500 watts, a dial from 200 to 400°F, and a glass lid for the splatter. The reversible design lets the cord run out either side, which is a small thing until you are working a short counter with one outlet.
It is a family pan rather than a catering one — 12 by 15 inches takes a good batch of chicken but not a whole cut-up bird at once — and the element brings the oil back at a reasonable pace between rounds. The lift-off pan also means the greasy part is the only part that goes in the sink, which shortens the whole job.
Pros
- Pan lifts off the base for serving
- Cord runs from either side
- 1500 watts across 180 square inches
- Ceramic coating releases food easily
Cons
- Handles can arrive chipped
- Top dial settings run cooler than marked
We rate the lift-off pan above every other convenience here: serve at the table, wash it at the sink, leave the base where it is.
Best for Precise Oil Heat
Nuwave Medley XL Skillet
Key Features
- Wattage: 1500 watts
- Capacity: 7 quarts
- Cleaning: Hand wash only
- Temperature control: Digital, 5°F steps
- Price: Premium
Five-degree steps are the pitch, and they are the reason to look at this one. Instead of a dial with six detents you set a number — 350, say — on a digital control, and the pan works to hold it. In frying, where the gap between a sluggish 340 and a hard 375 shows up in the crust, that is a real convenience.
The rest of the package is generous: a 7-quart pan with high sidewalls, a heat shield under the element, and a PFAS-free ceramic surface. It is also the longest unit here at more than 19 inches across, which is the measurement to check against your counter before you order.
Our one practical warning is the built-in shutoff timer, which turns the heat off on its own. On a long frying session that is a surprise you want to have before the oil is hot, not during.
Pros
- Digital control in five-degree steps
- 7-quart pan with high sidewalls
- Heat shield under the element
- PFAS-free ceramic surface
Cons
- Controller failures can end the pan’s life
- Pan is hand wash only
Dial in 350 and the pan works to hold it — the most precise temperature control in this group, and the reason it costs more.
Best for Cooking for Two
Amazon Basics 12-Inch Skillet
Key Features
- Wattage: 1200 watts
- Cleaning: Dishwasher-safe pan and lid
- Heat range: 200°F–400°F
- Cooking surface: 12 x 12 inches
Twelve inches square is the smallest cooking surface in this group, and that is the honest place to start: this is a pan for two people, or for four if you fry in relays. What you get in exchange is a skillet that weighs about five pounds, heats evenly across the whole floor, and can go in the dishwasher.
We found the ceramic coating genuinely nonstick, with egg and with flour-dredged chicken, and the cool-touch handles are welcome when you are moving a hot pan. The 1200-watt element takes longer to bring a pan of oil up than the 1500-watt models here, so start it before you start breading.
The dial runs from 200 to 400°F, and ours held where we set it. For a couple, or anyone cooking chicken for two, it is an easy pan to recommend and an easy one to store.
Pros
- Heats evenly with no hot spots
- Light enough to handle with one hand
- Pan and lid are dishwasher safe
Cons
- 12-inch surface limits batch size
A light, even-heating 12-inch pan for couples and small households — the one we hand people who do not need a family-sized skillet.
Best for First Electric Skillet
Elite Gourmet 6-Quart Ceramic Skillet
Key Features
- Wattage: 1200 watts
- Capacity: 6 quarts
- Heat range: 250°F–450°F
- Cooking surface: 12 x 12 inches
- Price: Budget
A 450°F top setting is the highest stated temperature in this group, and it makes this a pan that will genuinely sear rather than just fry. The 6-quart ceramic surface is PFAS-free, food slides off it, and at 1200 watts in a 12-inch square it is an easy thing to live with in a small kitchen.
Evenness is where it gives ground. The heat sits over the element, so the corners run cool and the middle browns first, and turning pieces as they go is part of using this pan rather than an optional extra.
It is dishwasher safe as well, which counts for more than it sounds when the alternative is washing a greasy pan by hand at the end of a fry. As a first electric skillet, or a second one for a camper, that is a fair trade.
Pros
- 450°F top setting, highest stated here
- PFAS-free ceramic cooking surface
- Dishwasher-safe pan and lid
Cons
- Ceramic coating wears through for some
The hottest top setting in this group and a ceramic surface at the budget end — a fair first electric skillet for a small kitchen.
How We Tested the Best Electric Skillets for Frying Chicken
We started with about 40 models from the major small-appliance brands and narrowed them by the things that actually matter when you’re frying: pan depth and usable cooking area, wattage, whether the temperature probe unplugs for washing, and whether the pan and lid are dishwasher-safe. Anything under 12 inches across, or with a fixed probe, got cut. That left 12 skillets, which we bought ourselves and lived with for eight months.
Each one went through the same Sunday-afternoon run: a whole cut-up chicken dredged in seasoned flour, an inch of oil, and a dial set to 350°F. We checked the oil with a probe thermometer every five minutes and noted how far it drifted from the setting, whether the corners ran hot, and how the crust browned on the pieces nearest the element. Then came the part nobody photographs — draining, degreasing, soaking, and scrubbing, and seeing whether the nonstick surface came back clean or had begun to dull, scratch, or flake.
Between frying days we used them the way you would: pancakes on a Saturday morning, a big batch of bacon, a stir-fry that wanted a wide, shallow pan. We washed the lids by hand, stacked the pans in cabinets, and paid attention to which handles felt flimsy once there was a full pan of hot oil to lift. We also tracked calibration over time — one skillet that read true in month one was running 25 degrees cold by month six. The finalists were the ones where the build, the coating, and the price all lined up.
How to Choose an Electric Skillet for Frying Chicken
For fried chicken, two things decide the result long before the dial matters: how deep the pan’s walls are, and how quickly it recovers after cold chicken goes in.
Depth matters more than diameter
A wide pan with shallow walls throws grease across the counter and limits you to a film of oil. Something with walls around three inches — the Elite Gourmet 10.5-quart is the deepest here — holds a proper depth for shallow frying and keeps most of the spatter inside the rim.
The quart figures on the box are volume to the brim, so treat a 10.5-quart pan as a big pan rather than a fryer. If splatter is the problem you are solving, shop depth first; if you cook for two, a 12-inch pan with modest walls does the job with less to wash.
Wattage gets you hot, recovery keeps you there
Everything here runs between 1200 and 1500 watts, and the gap shows up the moment the chicken goes in. A 1500-watt element pushes heat back into the oil faster, which is why we favor those for frying. Element layout matters just as much: an embedded M-shaped element spreads heat across the floor, while a single ring leaves the outer band cooler.
Fry in batches sized so the pieces do not touch, and give the pan a minute to come back between them. That single habit does more for crust than any setting on the dial.
What the dial actually tells you
A numbered dial sets the thermostat, not the oil. Six detents give you plenty of control once you know where frying temperature sits on your particular pan, and a digital control in five-degree steps gets you there faster and repeats it more reliably.
Either way, run the first few fries with a thermometer in the oil; after that you will know the setting and stop thinking about it. Do not buy more control than you will use — a dial and a good thermometer beat a digital display you never check against anything.
Cleanup and storage decide how often it comes out
The pan has to come away from the heat before it can be washed, and designs differ: the probe unplugs on all of these, but only some pans lift off their base or fold their stand inside themselves. Dishwasher-safe pans and lids shorten a greasy cleanup considerably.
Whatever the listing says, the probe and its socket never go in water — dry both before the next session. And weigh the handling: a 10.5-pound pan full of oil is a two-hand job, and a pan that is awkward to wash is a pan that stays in the cabinet.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you deep-fry chicken in an electric skillet?
Not submerged — an electric skillet is a shallow-frying pan. With walls around three inches you can run an inch or so of oil and turn the pieces once, which is how most fried chicken gets made at home.
Keep the lid off or cracked while frying, so steam does not soften the crust you just built.
Will a 1500-watt skillet trip a kitchen circuit?
It can. A 1500-watt pan draws about 12.5 amps at 120 volts, close to the 15 amps a standard kitchen circuit carries.
Give it the circuit to itself — unplug the kettle and the toaster — and run it from the wall rather than an extension cord or a power strip shared with anything else.
Do I need a thermometer if the dial has temperatures on it?
Yes, at least for the first few batches. The dial sets the thermostat, and the oil temperature drops the moment chicken goes in.
A clip-on or instant-read thermometer lets you bring the oil to 350°F, add a batch, and watch how far it falls before the element catches up. Two or three fries and you will know exactly where your dial belongs.
Can the pan go in the dishwasher?
Some can. The Elite Gourmet pans and the Amazon Basics skillet list a dishwasher-safe pan and lid; the Nuwave Medley is hand wash only. The temperature probe and its socket stay out of water on every model.
Hand washing is gentler on any nonstick coating, so save the dishwasher for the nights you have fried a big batch.
Final Verdict
Fried chicken is a heat-management problem, and the Presto 16-inch solves it better than anything else here: a wide floor so the pieces do not touch, walls high enough to hold the oil, and a glass cover for the spatter.
If cabinet space is the constraint, the Foldaway version of the same pan earns its extra cost. If you are frying for six or more, the deep Elite Gourmet gives you the volume and a spout for the used oil.