Further to my last post of this subject, I used my new toy again last
night.

This time, I started heating the Presto Kitchen Kettle a bit earlier in
the process. I also monitored the temperature again. I allowed about
thirty minutes or more, for it to heat up. Again, I set the control to
maximum, i.e., 400°. I reused the same oil I had used before. The
temperature increased fairly rapidly at first, and then slowed as it
reached its maximum. This time it actually reached a maximum of 375°
and when I compared it against my digital thermometer, they agreed to
within about 1/2 degree. It would appear that my candy thermometer is
not very good on water! Of course, this doesn't make a lot of sense to
me, but these are the results I got.

This time, I was trying a recipe from Cooks Illustrated for "chips". I
think I need to improve my procedures. The potatoes browned nicely in a
reasonable period of time, and we both enjoyed them but they were not as
crisp as I would like. I think this is largely the result of the
temperature dropping about 30° when I added the potatoes. I used one
moderate Russet potato for the two of us and added it all at once. I
think this is part of the problem. Again, since it has only 1500W, it
was not able to maintain the heat. I'll try splitting it into two
batches next time and see how that works. Also, there's another
variation I'm considering...

Regards...

Tom