Deep fried turkey

“That's probably the one thing that doesn't taste good deep-fried...”

“MDShiker, I saw a show on the food channel that used a brine solution to make the turkey come out juicy and tender.”

“Yeah, I gotta try that bacon on top of the bird deal one of these days !”

“A lot like dayhiker here.

I'm doing 2 turkeys tomorrow: One on the Weber (indirect method with pan of water underneath). I use charcoal and a few wood chips of choice. The second one will be deep fried using the "Creole Butter" or "Garlic Butter" injected marinade. Yummy!

I set up my Turkey frier in a distant corner of my patio. Four gallons of 350 degree oil is not fun to spill.”

“For those that have never tried it.


Deep Fried Turkey

3 gallons of peanut oil or enough to cover turkey in cooker.
Peanut oil can be heated hotter than vegatable oil before burning.

1 12-15 pound turkey.

Heat oil to 375
lower in room temp turkey and cook 3 min per pound plus 5 min.

Remove the extra stuff inside. Inject turkey with butter, garlic, and cajun seasoning. Rub turkey with seasoning. Slowly lower turkey in oil as it will boil tremendously at first. After a couple of sec. oil will stabalize and cool down rapidly. Try to maintain 350 deg. At first it will be hard to keep it at 350, then you will have to turn it down. The oil will seal the turkey and all of the juices will stay in. Once you have tried a turkey cooked this way all other cooking methods will taste like cardboard. A word of caution make sure the oil don't overflow when the turkey is fully in the pot. I fill the pot with water and insert turkey, remove turkey and mark the level of the water. This is the point to fill with oil. After the turkey is done dump in some thinly cut potatoes for some of the best potato chips you have ever eaten. It also cleans up the oil. Doing this allows you to use the oil about 3 times.

This is also great with cornish hens, ham, gator tail, rabbit, or heck just about anything.

BAMA”

“Do you keep the peanut oil that you fry the turkey in for next year or some other time? I would think you can't because it has meat juices in it.

About how much would 3 gallons of peanut oil cost?”

“Peanut oil is fairly expensive. I buy in in 2.5 gallon jugs. Best I can remember its about $20 a jug. I don't save it for a year. I normally cook something else in it no longer than about 2-3 months. The potato trick cleans it up a lot. I also strain it before putting it back in the jug.”

“Yes, everyone I know will strain the oil before putting back into the jugs for storage. It can be a lot of work, but the turkey tastes good and it's fun to cook!”

“Wow, I figured it was a lot cheaper for peanut oil. That bird must come out real good to spend that kind of money to cook it.”

“Peanut oil is an absolute must for turkey. Anything else just doesn't taste as good.”

“I thought people used peanut oil because it was cheap and had a low burning point.”

“Nigel?”

“I have a filter/pump that works pretty good. After the peanut oil cools down, I stick the pump in and it refills the jug as it filters. I use about 4 gallons and reuse the oil for a year, however many times I cook with it.

I may try the potato chip idea next time!”

“UL labs has a must see video for fried turkey lovers:

http://www.ul.com/turkeyfryers/fryer.mpg”

“For dial-up losers:

http://www.ul.com/consumers/turkeys.html”

“Violin that is exactly what happened with the first turkey my dad I ever tried to fry about 20 years ago. We had a partially frozen turkey and an undersized pot. The fat boiled over and in an instant flames. We were under the carport and soon the flames licked the roof. I put the fire out with an extinguisher and we cleaned up the mess.

The turkey should never be frozen and have as little water content as possible.


The pot should always have enough freeboard to keep the oil and oil mist from leaving the pot.

Keep the pot away from your house and an extinguisher handy.

Next time I fry a turkey, I think I'm going to wear my bunker gear!”

“Put turkey in the pot, cover with water, remove turkey, note height of water, pour out water, pour in oil to noted water level, start heating oil, finish preping turkey, check temp, lower turkey into hot oil, fry.

People with no common sense should not deepfry turkeys. ;-)”

“Eureka!”

“I usually deepfry a 20 pound bird at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I'm passing on frying this Thanksgiving.
Just going with baked for a change.”

“Deep frying is definitely hazardous. I only do it when there are no children around and I do it away from the house. Hopefully one day we will have grandchildren. If they were visiting, I probably would not deep fry a turkey.

Even lowering a fully defrosted turkey has to be done slowly because of the moisture. Otherwise it will bubble over.

Sure does make a tasty meal!”

“I have found a bird weighing about 15 to 17 pounds seems to fry up the best. SS nailed it, set the high water mark before putting the oil in. I usually "lower the mark" a half inch or so due to the "boiling" action when the bird goes in.

Usually, when I heat up the fryer, I will fry three birds for us and our neighbors.”

“I was looking at buying a setup for this thanksgiving. I read the instructions so I knew what was involved. Even as a casual observer I read:

1. The turkey should be thawed and free of ice crystals.

2. Turn off the flame before putting the turkey in and turn it back on when the turkey is in the pot.

Sigh.”

“.....and don't fry the turkey with the unit set up on a wooden deck.”

“One thing to remember. After putting the turkey in and filling with water to find the right level, be sure to dry the turkey off real good or it will be just like frozen ice crystals. I have a friend that no longer has a deck on the back of his house because of that.”

“OH Boy! That was cool!!!
My father-in-law is going to do that with a wild turkey he shot. There should be some great fireworks punctuating an otherwise boring Thanksgiving!!”

“Kieron Heflin, a representative with the air traffic controller's union, complained in a letter to management: "It has . . . come to my attention that the Dulles Management decided it would be a nice idea to DEEP FRY A TURKEY in the Dulles administrative quarters, surrounded by carpet, linoleum, an airport, aircraft, a control tower, thousands if not millions of gallons of jet fuel and thousands of passengers and employees."
[...]
An airport fire marshal made managers turn off the cooker.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/21/AR2006122101549.html
last edited: 12/29/06 2:22:41 PM”

“I've seen the electric fryers for sale. I know people deep fry stuff all the time in restaurant deep fryers, etc. I probably wouldn't do it inside or if children were around, regardless of what is OK.”

“The guy who organizes our vets group trips to the Army Navy game has been deep frying turkeys for the tailgate parties the past two years. Yummy!!!! If you ever want to see a big bird disappear in just seconds, ... visit our next tailgate party at the Linc in 2008.

We're going to Balmer next year, so no tailgating.”

“Well even the electric fryers can be a fire hazard, the reason is that you have the combustible oil at a boiling temp. IF it splatters on a hot enough surface you get ignition.

Three or four years ago we had a family cooking their turkey on the driveway. Due to the wind and the cold they decided to move it into the garage. Two fire engines, one rescue truck, one command vehicle, one truck company, some 20 firefighters and a few thousand gallons of water later they had destroyed a $250,000 house.”

“Deep frying a turkey is completely safe if you have any common sense. If not, leave it the #&%!$ alone.”

“Common sense tells me not to have 3-4 gallons of 350 degree oil anywhere near my house or anywhere that kids or horseplay can knock it over.

I think many of the fires are caused at the beginning when people lower the turkey too fast or use a turkey that is not completely thawed. That can cause the oil to bubble out of the pot, hit the burner, and catch fire...all very quickly.”

“Bingo, Phil.

Common sense says have it way away from the house. Common sense says, at least have a fire extigusher so you can beat the fire back enough to get the propane turned off.

Common sense says read the directions and COMPLETELY thaw the turkey.

Common sense says, put the turkey in the pot, pour water in until the turkey is just about covered (I leave an inch of space there for the "bubble effect"). Take the turkey out, make a line where the water settles to.....guess what? That is the maximum oil to put in the #&%!$ing pot.

Problem is this...

people don't thaw the turkey which causes it to damn near exlode in the hot oil

people dont measure the oil, just pour it in...bad idea when it overflows

people try this trick while drinking

and number one #&%!$ up....people dont read the damn directions”

“I fry mine OUTSIDE.”

“chili - my pot has graduated markings for how much oil to put based on the weight of the turkey. It seems to be right on.

I have been wanting to deep fry a prime rib. Anyone have any suggestions for rubs or marinades (or what not to do)?”

“never heard of deep fried prime rib... sounds good.

i like the wings (on a deep fried turkey) or what is left of them. :)”

“Jimmy - I like the wings also!

Deep fried prime rib was on the video tape that came with my deep fryer. Just wondering what experiences others have had.”