Side by Side Comparison of: King Kooker vs Bayou Classic vs Zatarain's

This is the perfect gift for a new homeowner. Our friends have enjoying using it for steamers, lobster and corn on the cob so far.

Oh MAN we just got to use this for our Christmas dinner. Worked great, easy to put together and delicious turkey!

Works great!! Used it as soon as it arrived. I use these all the time. Really like all the options and base is strong. Didn't want timer so I did not install a battery and placed a zip strip over button on timer.

It was great. We enjoyed a family seafood boil cannot wait to eat our turkey for Thanksgiving dinner

I ordered this to when my family decided that we needed to give turkey frying a try for Thanksgiving this year. After it arrived we decided that we really needed to do a test fry with it to be sure we knew how to operate it when turkey day arrived. Not wanting to fork out a lot of money for a turkey, we decided on chicken. But, first things first. Out of the box it was really simple to put together. Really, all that needed to be done was attach the burner to the stand and then attach the gas line and put AAA batteries in the safety device. I know a lot of people have complained about the safety device, but really, I didn't find it to be a big deal. I just set the timer on my phone to be sure and check it every 10 minutes or so. We stayed right by the fryer anyway, so it was really not a big deal. So, on to the chicken. We injected the chicken with a creole butter marinade we purchased at the grocery store. Then, put the chicken on the hook and gently lowered it down into the hot oil. Following the 8 minutes per pound rule, the chicken was done in about 35 minutes. Everyone said this was the best chicken they had ever eaten. The skin was perfectly crispy and extremely tasty. The meat was tender and juicy. My brother was simply amazed and asked me to come back the next weekend and teach him how to use it. We have also fried chicken wings as well as french fries in it. Everyone agrees, it's pretty amazing and super easy to operate. The large pot has a fill line which makes it easy to not overfill. when we fry the turkey, next week, we'll put the turkey in and fill with water to be sure we're not using too much oil.

Use in large frying pots to skim or remove how food from oil. Work perfectly. Very strong and great workmanship

The length of this is perfect for the deep frying and the quality of the material seems to be very durable. Very pleased.

This is so long, and the spoon is big enough to scoop a lot at once. It feels very durable, and I would certainly recommend.

I had bought a setup for frying a turkey for Thanksgiving and picked this up along the way. I fried up a turkey and the oil was still usable so I decided to try some other things since I never fry anything inside my house and the oil is expensive. I love wing chips, fries, etc. so I tried my own and experimented (practice makes perfect but they turned out great). This was long enough to go to the bottom of the pot and not burn my arm off, its extremely durable, thick, high quality, even the handle didn't get warm. The basket area is large enough to scoop out a lot at a time, so you're not spending a ton of time overcooking your food fishing around for things. Since it's such high quality, the basket part can be scrubbed and not fall apart. Its big and weird to store so i hang it off of a nail in the side of a closet and don't have to worry about it taking up unnecessary space. I know this will be awesome for seafood boils. This is a nice piece that will be around for awhile.

This skimmer is the real deal. It is large, sturdy and stainless so clean up is easy. It can scoop a large amount of wings or an entire bag of fries with one pass. No more picking individual pieces up with tongs. Long enough to keep your hand away from the hot oil. Get it, you won't be disappointed.

Great size and easy to handle. Tried it for the first time yesterday in a cheap made "King Kooker" that I bought at the same time. If the cooker were this good, I'd be in great shape

What hubby was looking for at a lesser price than he could find it anywhere else. Slight "ding" in the lid but doesn't interfere so we didn't send it back.

Great price for a starter kit that needs to be modified. The burner has a timer on it...super annoying. I went to the hardware store and bought a replacement hose attachment and now it is good to go. The pot it came with was kind of dinged up during shipping and is really too small to do much with. Bought a much larger pot and had a successful (and delicious) shrimp boil. After the modifications/additions, I still spent less than the more expensive kits, so this is still a great buy.

It's a good set but you will have to immediately clean it after every use or the pot will stain and start to wear the pot thin with the salt from steaming

Decent set for the money and gets hot enough. Minus one star because the basket is way too short to cook a full pot of crawfish with.

We fried two 13 pound turkeys for Thanksgiving with this year. Easy to put together, fires up quickly to 350 degrees and look forward to other uses for this as the spring and summer approach. The included pots didn't seem to be an issue at all. Don't forget the safety mitts if working with the turkey!

perfect length for safety but wish the mesh was a little more of an angle

Probably 5 stars. I haven't used it yet... It's Big. It seems to be very well constructed... Heavy Duty.

use for outside deep fryer

Works great and I imagine those who complained about it rusting so easily may not have washed it immediately and allowed it to dry properly? I really like this thing and it works well where I would just like to see it a bit more sturdy. I would still recommend this to folks as it is far superior to the 'oar' type counterpart.

I like it, don't get me wrong. It's sturdy, long enough to keep me well away from whatever I'm skimming and it's probably going to last as long as I care to own it. The only hangup I have about it is the price. It seems like it's a fairly simple implement and it can't be all that expensive to produce, so I feel like the markup is worth knocking off a star for.

Works great and is strong enough to lift pretty much anything that will fit on the mesh. I cooked a huge crawfish boil and afterwards I worry about corrosion, as the nickel plating seems mighty thin and it looks slightly rusty deep in the grooves after I washed it. Better keep this thing dry and oiled, and watch the strength of the dish washing solvents you use.

Purchased it in a hurry. Showed up on my front porch in the "King Kooker" packaging (colored photos on all four sides.
Opened it - Must have gotten here in a "hurry" - rim of pot dented from being dropped on burner frame (3 dimples). Burner shield also bent (can't figure out how - other than poor packing)
Strolled in to Cabella's a couple days later and find the exact same thing for $97.50. UGH!!!
It worked for the Crawfish Boil. I'll try to get back to you for the Turkey Fry......If it last!?!?
CHEAP - ya get what ya pay for.

Received the product with little dent on the lid and it is not really fit with cooking pot set.
It is ok to cook for outdoor.

Love it but the metal where the flame comes out is getting fried to pieces. We've used it a handful of times and it's already showing through.

It gets the job done but that's about it. Two main pots are pretty thin and the thermometer doesn't work so don't bother using it. I'd consider this a 'starter kit' and that's about it.

I received ours yesterday and when we took it out of the amazon box, the original box was damaged and the when we opened it to check everything out, the lid was damaged and the 29qrt pot had a dent in the top. Not happy at all with the way it was handled by the King Kooker company!

The automatic shutoff on the propane hose is irritating, but I understand that we now have to cater to the lowest common denominator. MAKE SURE YOU BUY BATTERIES BEFORE YOU INTEND TO USE IT. AUTO SHUT OFF IS BATTERY POWERED AND WILL NOT ALLOW PROPANE TO FLOW UNLESS IT IS TURNED ON.

rusting

Nice quality but the thing is huge and at an odd angle. It doesn't fit in my fryer.

Its a skimmer. For anyone who needs one, this one works.

I bought this thinking I would use it in cooking. I tried to use it a couple of times but the handle was so long that it was clumsy. It is light weight and very well made. It is a great tool but I have not found a way that I can use it in the foods that I cook in large quantities.

Nice set with exception to the bent and dented metal pot and lid. Was packaged well so tend to believe the damage occurred prior to packaging. Would not recommend for purchase.

It came damaged. I opened it for Thanksgiving, only to find it a bent mess. The box it came in did not have damage to it.

Big pot was dented when it arrived. Gas line has a timer you must activate every fifteen minutes. I had to use it because I had a party planned but I'm not to happy with the purchase.

Had alot of dents and dings lid was bent also

Came in damaged pots were all bent up and in horrible condition do not recommend this to anyone !! !!

Was mistak to buy this

Strong. High quality. Long enough for our 44 quart pot. However, the bottom is not curved enough to easily scoop out crabs or other seafood. Wouldn't purchase again. Might work better is you're just trying to stir something. My husband says its most useful for lifting the strainer from the pot but we could have used a stick for that.

Sturdy construction but rusted after pre-washing it to use.. Returned..

Is much larger than I thought, and rusts easily.

It is 18 inches but you can find one from academy 36 inches with rubber on the handle much nicer for half the price. I think it was 7.99

I have purchased many Bayou Classic products. Fish fryers, burners, and utensils. This is by far my most disappointing purchase yet. The mesh is patched together in the middle creating sharp pointed wires sticking out in several places. Purchase this item in a store so you can do a quality inspection for yourself since they don't seem to care about the quality of of this item.

I finally got to use this product and it didnt even work! Too late for a refund so now i have a $63 peice of junk!!!!

Is not as described. It only includes a 29 quart pot. Not 29 quart pot & 29 quart basket. False advertisement.

Very poor quality, would not recommend. The large pan was warped and the lid has serious defects as well.

Metal is very thin. Low grade aluminum. Very easy to dent when using, cleaning or storing..

The timer is a total pain in the ass. Now I have to spend another $25 to get a regulator w/o a timer. If I had known the timer was on it, I wouldn't have bought it.......

awful - returned - only used to serve out of large pot with - and the next day it was rusted -

Rusted after 3 uses.

Used one time. Washed the item. Rust marks all over the place. There should not be rust after one use.

Crap used once washed 2 days later covered in rust

Though it was a long skimmer... When I received it I was pissed! Never used it too short!!!

I bought this at the same time as a Bayou Classic stainless steel turkey fryer set-up. The wire mesh basket was poorly attached to the frame leaving sharp, pointy ends that scratched me. I wouldn't purchase this item again.