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.
Wow! You’re quick!
Have a working CO2 or dry chemical fire extinguisher within arm's reach.
I think the CO2 is probably preferable - more likely the turkey will be salvagable if you end up having to use it.
>>>>1) DO NOT place the fryer on or near wood such as a house or deck. <<<<<<
A friend who is a 20+ year volunteer fireman told me that cooking on the backyard deck is a significant problem, and that nationally thousands of guys set their deck on fire every single Thanksgiving without fail (including, he said, his pals at the VFD).
Also the water test above is important because that’s the main cause: dropping a 20 lb. turkey into a cauldron of boiling oil which immediately overflows the brim and catches fire.
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.
If there is any HTML commands in the post, it loses formatting..............
Where’s the
DO IT OUTSIDE AWAY FROM FLAMABLES
admonition?
You don’t need the crazy contraption Alton Brown came up with to fry a Turkey!
And seriously...Do not over consume when frying a bird. Moderate consumption is a-ok for the “experienced”! /sarc
Be safe and enjoy the bird freepers!
You gotta ruin all the fun!................
Skip the de-feathering part. When the explosion occurs the feathers will be burned off anyway.
And make sure you ship the bones to PETA headquarters in Norfolk Va. :-)
Do you dip it in beer batter first, or just egg and flour it?
I have an electric fryer, that keeps the oil at proper temp, had it for 3 years total success every time. Best can use it on counter top.
Seriously, if there is a way for the fryer to be downstream from the house everyone will be a lot happier if the worst occurs. (The worst is your friend at the other end of the broomstick getting the shakes and knocking over the fryer with the gallons of hot oil now running down the driveway and into the garage. No, on second thought, the worst is you forgetting to turn off the flame before the foregoing occurs).
OMG!!!!
Seriously, my FRiend. I often say I spew coffee when somthing is funny.
This time I did.
LOL!
Just a couple of thoughts. I do a dry rub a day or two before frying. Place the turkey in a kitchen sized garbage bag, rub him down with spicy mustard, then apply the dry rub liberally with your hands. (Tony Chachare’s, mostly, but a few other goodies). This creates a nice crusty outside on the bird after frying.
***Very important - A few years ago, I decided to do a couple of turkeys, and while indulging in pretty healthy doses of Wild Turkey (the drink), I forgot to pull the ‘giblet bag’ out of the turkey. You know, the plastic bag filled with the neck and other goodies. Well, I fried the turkey with this stuff inside of the carcass, and ended up ruining not only the turkey, but the oil.
400 degrees is too hot . . . 350 should be about the max.
Also, if this is your first turkey, DONT do it on the driveway or sidewalk, unless you cover it with towels or blankets. Otherwise, you will wind up with a 2 month slick spot. Be very cautious when dropping the bird into the oil. When the inside of the bird fills up with oil, sometimes a vacuum creates and ‘spits’ oil out of the top of the bird. Make sure to open up the neck of the bird an inch or two.
by PRE-heating to 400, then turning off the flame, when the turkey is dropped the temp will fall to about 250-275. That’s when you relight and bring the temp up to 350..
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