As God is my witness, I swore turkeys could fly!
Posted on 11/25/2008 5:56:26 AM PST by GeorgiaDawg32
Feel free to cross-post this to other boards of which you may be a member.
In keeping with the Thanksgiving spirit, I thought I'd put this up for those who are going to deep fry their turkey and especially for those who will be attempting to deep fry their first turkey.
Make sure you use fresh peanut oil for the frying. You can reuse the oil up to 3 times (2 is preferable) if you're deep frying multiple turkeys.
NOTE: If you have a deep fryer that says it can hold an 18 lb. turkey, DO NOT use a turkey over 15 lbs. This will allow the legs and wings to open up and cook between the leg/body and the wing/body.
1) Make sure the turkey is dead and defeathered 2) Make sure, if you buy a frozen turkey, it is COMPLETELY thawed 3) Inject it with the sauce of your choice (We use a butter/garlic sauce. You can use hot sauce, italian etc. etc.). Inject it into the meat all over the turkey and leave in the fridge overnight so the sauce can saturate the meat 4) BEFORE you attempt to deep fry, perform the "Water test". Take the turkey out of the fridge and place it in the fryer exactly as you would if you were deep frying. 5) Fill the container with water to 1" below the top of the turkey (Hot oil expands and will cover the turkey during frying). 6) REMOVE the turkey from the fryer and mark the water line with a magic marker or some other sort of marker. 7) Fill oil to the line you have marked. DRY out the inside of the fryer. 8) Fire up the flame and using a thermometer, heat the oil to 400 degrees. 9) TURN THE FLAME OFF using the hose cutoff AND turn the tank off. MAKE SURE the turkey is set on the stand with legs at the bottom. 10) Using a broomstick or some other sort of handle (use 2 people for this), put it through the O-Ring (triangular on some model fryers) and gently lower the turkey into the oil. WATCH FOR SPLATTER. 11) Cook the turkey for 2 minutes 50 seconds per pound starting the clock when you have immersed the turkey in the oil. DO NOT EXCEED THIS TIME LIMIT or the turkey will be overcooked. (A 15 lb. turkey will be done in 42.5 minutes) 12)Once the turkey is in the oil and the splatter has stopped, re-open the gas tank and restart the flame. Using a thermometer, adjust the oil to 350 degrees. Cover the turkey but leave the top SLIGHTLY cracked. 13) When the time is done, TURN OFF the hose shutoff AND turn off the tank. 14) Using a broomstick or other suitable handle, SLOWLY raise the turkey out of the oil and hold for 60 seconds to allow oil to drip back into the fryer. 15) Using another thermometer, place it into the bird between a leg and the body. It should hold a minimum of 160 degrees for 20 seconds. 16) Place in an aluminum roaster (or other roaster if you prefer), take it in the house and enjoy.
Some things to remember: 1) DO NOT place the fryer on or near wood such as a house or deck. The smoky taste will not transfer from a burning structure to the turkey 2) TRY not to be inebriated when doing this, it's extremely dangerous 3) DO NOT use a turkey that is partially frozen. Talk about splatter from he*l.
Y'all can feel free to add any other do's and don't's (is that a word??) to this list.
Be prepared to be complimented on how good the turkey was.
Oh.....
THERE's my problem...
Ooooooooh. That's where I went wrong last year. It was no easy feat to get that squawking little b*st*rd into the deep fryer.
I am, and always follow *most* of those rules. You left out the part about opening 3 beers.... one to add to the injector mix, one to drink while injecting and dry rubbing the turkey, and one to drink while frying...
repeate the last step as necessary until turkey is cooked.
Dead...ok. See, that would explain the house fire last year. Had the danged bird defeathered, but missed that other step.
EVERY one of these tidbits are important to preserve skin and structure.
I heat the oil to 250 and put the turkey in. Then put the spurs to the heat up to 350. That's a good deal safer IMO.
Also pat the outside of the turkey dry with paper towels before putting it in the hot oil. This will cut down on splatters.
I've also had excellent results brining the bird instead of injecting it, but the choice is yours.
Above all, DO NOT TAKE YOUR EYES OF THE FRYER.
L
Ha! Sage advice.
LOL..that reminds me of the WKRP show when Les threw the turkeys out of a plane for a radio advertising stunt.
Umm Bailey!
Wow! I thought you cooked 'em live like crabs and lobsters....
1) Make sure the turkey is dead and defeathered
2) Make sure, if you buy a frozen turkey, it is COMPLETELY thawed
3) Inject it with the sauce of your choice (We use a butter/garlic sauce. You can use hot sauce, italian etc. etc.). Inject it into the meat all over the turkey and leave in the fridge overnight so the sauce can saturate the meat
4) BEFORE you attempt to deep fry, perform the “Water test”. Take the turkey out of the fridge and place it in the fryer exactly as you would if you were deep frying.
5) Fill the container with water to 1” below the top of the turkey (Hot oil expands and will cover the turkey during frying).
6) REMOVE the turkey from the fryer and mark the water line with a magic marker or some other sort of marker.
7) Fill oil to the line you have marked. DRY out the inside of the fryer.
8) Fire up the flame and using a thermometer, heat the oil to 400 degrees.
9) TURN THE FLAME OFF using the hose cutoff AND turn the tank off. MAKE SURE the turkey is set on the stand with legs at the bottom.
10) Using a broomstick or some other sort of handle (use 2 people for this), put it through the O-Ring (triangular on some model fryers) and gently lower the turkey into the oil. WATCH FOR SPLATTER.
11) Cook the turkey for 2 minutes 50 seconds per pound starting the clock when you have immersed the turkey in the oil. DO NOT EXCEED THIS TIME LIMIT or the turkey will be overcooked. (A 15 lb. turkey will be done in 42.5 minutes)
12)Once the turkey is in the oil and the splatter has stopped, re-open the gas tank and restart the flame. Using a thermometer, adjust the oil to 350 degrees. Cover the turkey but leave the top SLIGHTLY cracked.
13) When the time is done, TURN OFF the hose shutoff AND turn off the tank.
14) Using a broomstick or other suitable handle, SLOWLY raise the turkey out of the oil and hold for 60 seconds to allow oil to drip back into the fryer.
15) Using another thermometer, place it into the bird between a leg and the body. It should hold a minimum of 160 degrees for 20 seconds.
16) Place in an aluminum roaster (or other roaster if you prefer), take it in the house and enjoy.
When I was growing up on a farm in Iowa, the standard rule concerning edible livestock was that any critter, that has a name, is safe from becoming Sunday dinner. My sister and I had a pet turkey named "Tom" (how original...hey, we were kids) that we raised from a 'chick' and he was imprinted with the image of us being his mom. He followed us around constantly like a spare shadow and always came out to meet us, getting off the school bus each afternoon. He'd come out and fan out his feathers and strut around a bit. It was his main, possibly only, talent. In early November, word leaked out to us that he was going to be the main course for Thanksgiving dinner. The old rule had been over-ridden and Tom was about to be "axed" literally. Come the day before Thanksgiving, we all dreaded what was about to happen and nobody would volunteer to be his executioner. Just thinking about it spread through the family to where we were all nearly in tears. Happy ending: We couldn't bear to kill Tom for dinner......... so we ate the dog.
As God is my witness, I swore turkeys could fly!
We’ve been deep frying our Thanksgiving turkey for about 7 or 8 years now. Love it! I don’t think I’ll ever cook one in the oven again.
heh..that’s the way I typed it, but it didn’t come out that way..
Wouldn’t the hot oil kill it and burn off those darned feathers, and save lots of time and effort, plus it would already be warm and take less time to cook :-}
It’s the best tasting turkey you can eat for sure..
Things not to do #4)
DO NOT conduct any “Hold muh beer, watch this” activities in close proximity to frying turkey, as this could turn into a Darwin Award candidate event.
Also, have at least one large fire extinguisher on hand and ready.
This is why you MUST follow ALL of the safety procedures:
http://www.ul.com/consumers/turkeys.html
WARNING: This is a shocking video showing what can happen if you don’t follow all of the safety procedures.
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