The Best Electric Turkey Fryers
There are fewer indoor electric turkey fryers on the market than you would expect. That is not a shortcoming of this list — it is the market.
By Mike M. · Published · Last updated
How this page is funded: Fryer & Feast is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program. If you buy through a link here we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes which products we recommend — see how we pick and our full affiliate disclosure. We do not publish prices on this site — every buy link sends you to the retailer for the live price.
The short answer: the Masterbuilt Butterball XL is the indoor electric turkey fryer to buy. It takes a 20-pound bird, uses about 2.75 gallons of oil, and holds 350F on a thermostat rather than on your judgment.
The honest caveat: this category is small. A handful of manufacturers make indoor electric turkey fryers, availability moves around, and roundups claiming fourteen of them are padding the list with countertop deep fryers that will not take a whole bird.
Quick picks
| # | Product | Best for | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Masterbuilt Butterball XL Indoor Electric Turkey FryerThe reference indoor fryer: 20 lb, 2.75 gallons, thermostatic. | Best overall electric | 8.6 | |
| 2 |  Masterbuilt MB20012420 Electric Fryer, Boiler & SteamerSame safety profile, three cooking modes instead of one. | Best multi-use electric | 8.8 | |
| 3 |  Char-Broil Big Easy Oil-Less Turkey FryerNo oil at all, which beats less oil. | Best if you chose electric for safety | 8.3 |
Scores are our own editorial rubric, explained on how we pick. They are not customer ratings and we do not publish star ratings for products we have not handled.
Why electric, for a first-time host
An indoor electric fryer removes four of the five things that go wrong with a propane rig: the open flame, the propane tank, the wind, and the uneven ground under a stand holding five gallons of hot oil. What it does not remove is the fifth and most common one — a bird that is not fully thawed.
The other advantage is quieter but real. Because the pot is smaller and the element is thermostatically controlled, the oil recovers its temperature faster after you lower the bird in. Faster recovery means less oil soaked into the skin, which is exactly what people are chasing when they fry in the first place.
Why this list has three entries and not fourteen
Search for this and you will find pages promising fourteen electric turkey fryers. Read them and most of the entries are three-quart countertop deep fryers for chicken wings. They will not take a whole turkey, and listing them is how a page hits a word count rather than how it answers a question.
A genuine indoor electric turkey fryer needs an enclosed pot of roughly 8 to 12 quarts of oil capacity, a lid, a basket or hook rated for a whole bird, and a thermostat that will hold 350F under load. Very few products meet that description. We would rather tell you that than pad the page.
The electrical detail nobody mentions
These fryers pull a large, sustained load — typically around 1,650 watts. On a 15-amp kitchen circuit that is most of the available capacity, and if the microwave and the coffee maker are on the same circuit, you will trip the breaker in the middle of the cook.
Before the day, work out which outlets share a circuit and give the fryer one of its own. Do not run it on an extension cord: the cord becomes the weakest link in a high-current chain and a lightweight one will get hot.
Indoors does not mean the thawing rule relaxes
This is the one place people get complacent. The bird still has to be completely thawed and patted dry, because the physics have not changed: water at the bottom of 350F oil flashes to steam and pushes oil up and out. Indoors that means a kitchen floor instead of a deck.
Start the thaw early. A refrigerator thaw needs roughly 24 hours for every four to five pounds, which puts a 20-pound bird at four to five full days. Our hosting checklist puts that on the calendar for you.
Every pick, in detail
#1 · Best overall electric
Masterbuilt Butterball XL Indoor Electric Turkey Fryer
The safest realistic first fryer: it lives indoors on a countertop, holds a 20-pound bird, and takes about a third of the oil a propane rig needs.
- Type
- Indoor electric
- Max bird
- Up to 20 lb
- Oil
- About 2.75 gallons
- Also does
- Boil and steam
What’s good
- Thermostat holds 350F without a flame to manage
- Uses roughly 2.75 gallons rather than four to five
- Indoors means wind, rain and uneven ground stop mattering
- Boils and steams as well as fries
What’s not
- Hard 20 lb ceiling
- Large footprint on a counter that is already full
- Draws serious current — do not share the circuit
Safety
9.6
Ease of use
9.2
Capacity
7.5
Value
8.2
#2 · Best multi-use electric
Masterbuilt MB20012420 Electric Fryer, Boiler & Steamer
The three-in-one version of the same idea — fry, boil or steam — which is the difference between an appliance you use once a year and one you use monthly.
- Type
- Indoor electric
- Max bird
- Up to 20 lb
- Modes
- Fry, boil, steam
- Basket
- Included
What’s good
- Fry, boil and steam from one appliance
- Basket included
- Gets used through the year, not just in November
What’s not
- Same 20 lb ceiling
- More components to clean and dry
- Availability has been inconsistent
Safety
9.4
Ease of use
8.6
Versatility
9.3
Value
8.0
#3 · Best if you chose electric for safety
Char-Broil Big Easy Oil-Less Turkey Fryer
No oil at all — infrared heat in a vertical chamber. You lose the shatter-crisp skin and you remove the single largest way a fried turkey goes wrong.
This one is on the list deliberately. Most people searching for an electric turkey fryer are really searching for a safer turkey fryer. If that is you, no oil beats less oil, and it is worth knowing the option exists before you commit.
- Type
- Oil-less infrared, propane
- Max bird
- Up to 16 lb
- Oil
- None
- Cook time
- Roughly 10 min per lb
What’s good
- Removes hot oil from the equation entirely
- No disposal problem afterward
- Doubles as a roaster and smoker
What’s not
- Propane, so outdoors — it is not an indoor appliance
- Not true frying
- 16 lb maximum
Safety
9.3
Ease of use
8.8
Capacity
6.8
Value
8.4
Frequently asked questions
Yes — that is the entire point of the design. They are sealed, thermostatically controlled and rated for indoor countertop use. Propane and oil-less infrared fryers are outdoor-only and must never be brought inside or into a garage.
About 2.75 gallons for the XL, against four to five for a 30-quart propane pot. Always confirm with the water-displacement method in our oil guide before you pour anything.
Twenty pounds is the ceiling on every indoor electric we would recommend, and it is a physical limit, not a cautious one. Above that you need an outdoor propane pot — or two smaller birds, which is usually the better plan anyway.
They can, if the circuit is shared. At around 1,650 watts the fryer uses most of a 15-amp circuit on its own. Give it a dedicated outlet and skip the extension cord.
Sources
Related reading
- The Best Turkey Fryers of 2026Six fryers, ranked for someone doing this for the first time. Indoor electric wins, and we explain exactly why.
- Propane vs Electric Turkey FryerCapacity and speed against safety and simplicity — laid out attribute by attribute.
- Masterbuilt Butterball XL Electric Turkey Fryer ReviewThe indoor electric fryer we recommend most often, reviewed honestly — including where it falls down.
- Turkey Fryer Safety: How to Do This Without IncidentTen ordered safety steps from published fire-safety and turkey-industry guidance, plus the gear that backs them up.
- The Best Electric Roaster Ovens of 2026Five roaster ovens ranked, plus the two accessories that make the difference. No oil, no flame, and your oven stays free.