Bayou Classic $37 Drain Hose Does not Fit Deep Fryer

[Count Porcula]

Look out. I have to vent.

I bought a Bayou Classic 4-gallon fryer, and it's great, apart from the fact that it has no thermostat and can burn your house down. But there was a problem with it. It came with no drain hose. It had a ball valve under it to let the grease out, but to get the grease into a jug, I had to hold the jug under it.

Turned out Bayou Classic made a brass fitting and hose to fit the ball valve. Fantastic! Then I checked the price. Not fantastic. It was $37 for a $1 piece of hose, a 79-cent clamp, and a simple brass tube with a barb on one end and threads on the other.

I found an $18 version on Amazon, so I ordered it. Chinese.

It didn't fit. I thought it was messed up. I started a return. The replacement didn't fit. I searched every known website except McMaster-Carr, and I could not find the same adapter anywhere, so I bit the bullet and paid $37.

It didn't fit.

Bayou Classic's own adaptor doesn't fit its ball valve. Different threads.

I took the hardware to Home Depot to see if I could put something together that would work, but they didn't sell 1" ball valves. Luckily, I found an extremely determined employee at Lowe's. He would not give up, even when I wanted to leave. He found a ball valve and a plastic adaptor that would work, IF the valve would attach to my fryer.

Plastic was fine. You can't drain a hot fryer.

Got home and found that the Lowe's valve and the Chinese drain hose fit perfectly. But I saved no money, because I had to buy the valve. If you have this fryer, buy the Chinese drain hose.

Someone needs to punch Bayou Classic in the face.

Now the information is here in case this happens to someone else, and I'm sure it will, since Bayou Classic probably ordered 5,000 of those valves. It's not your fault. They dropped the ball.

I would have insisted they replace the valve for nothing, but I'm not going to sit here and wait for yet another package.

 

[normanaj]

This is going to be one of those threads...

 

[Count Porcula]

On the up side, once I got the hose installed, cleaning the fryer was a breeze.

 

[Flatrate]

Those penny pinching SOB's. When I bought my 9gal fryer sometime ago it came with this.

I can see them selling a replacement drain hose, one that actually fits, but should have been included with the fryer when purchased. Especially with the cost of these things as you know are not cheap.

Now I am curious to know if they stopped including them or by chance one didn't come with yours by accident.

I just had a thought and looked up your thread from when you were looking at them because I remembered you bought yours assembled. Possible Ace Hardware forgot to give it to you at time of purchase?

I am going to call Bayou on Tuesday and find out if they stopped including them. I've been advocating for them since 2018.

Dave

 

[Count Porcula]

My only complaints are the wacky cost and the fact that their hose fitting won't attach to their own fryer. If they were charging $15, I would get over it.