Posted on 11/25/2008 5:56:26 AM PST by GeorgiaDawg32
Maybe you should tell 'em you'll be smoking a joint? ;^)
Fried turkey-—invented in South Louisiana (the Cajuns needed something to do with crawfish boilers outside of crawfish season).
Given how dangerous deep frying turkeys seems to be, make sure you are 50 feet from any structure and dig a three foot moat around the cooking area.
No, after three days in camp, we’re all just going to breathe on it and it should self ignite.
Thaks for the advice. I found a site that discussed that and suggested buidling a fire inside the can and burning off the galvanic finish.
I guess I’ll be doing that that this weekend.
bump
Don’t worry, after a few minutes in the 10W30 it’ll be both.
We've actually got a bunker built from an old storm shelter, sitting about a half mile back from the frying site. Working on getting an air tanker on standby, but the flight manager says they're all working in California for some reason.
That method sounds like a poor man’s caja china. That’s the next thing I’m looking at trying cooking with.
I’ve never fried a turkey, but I’ve had some and their tasty. One question though: What do you do with all that oil when you’re done?
wait for it to cool, use a pump, put it into a container and recycle it..
The performance cooking was exceptional, and I'll post a followup after Thanksgiving day. There is a programmable interface that includes the type of meal you are frying (can do any fried food) and is as easy to use as pushing a few buttons. I selected turkey at 5 lbs for my trial, and the unit immediately went into a preheating mode for the peanut oil I had used. Around 20 minutes later the temperature had reached 400 degrees and a beeper sounded from my patio (this unit is specifically designed for indoor use but a covered patio is fine.) I lowered my thawed, dried chicken into the pot and hit "Start". The timer began a countdown from 20 minutes per the programming.
That was enough time to microwave some vegetables and do some other small sides for the chicken. Soon enough, the timer went off and I was able to pull the bird out, shielded by welding gloves, goggles and the lid of the fryer. No splatter or anything, I put the bird on the pan I laid out and brought it inside.
Since we already had the oil heated to the right temperate, I decided to toss in some battered onions and make onion rings while the turkey cooled. This was from a premix with fresh onions. It took about 6 minutes and they came out perfectly. We brought those inside and devoured half of them before even looking at the chicken. They were delicious.
The chicken came out great! It was noticeably the juiciest chicken I'd ever had, and the injected flavors I used came out very tasty. It didn't last long after the kids arrived.
I'm really looking forward to seeing how the turkey comes out! It has a max of 14 lbs, but that's not a problem for us, we'll have so much other stuff to eat.
Great thread - Hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving - CHEERS!
"7) Fill oil to the line you have marked. DRY out the inside of the fryer. "
You need to dry out the inside of the fryer BEFORE you fill it with oil. It's a little hard to do afterwards.
Well, that depends. How rare do you like your bird?
The bird:
About 12 pounds is really as big as you want to go. It takes less than an hour to cook. A 20 pound bird (IF it fits in your fryer) will NEVER cook all the way through. The cooking time is so fast, that you can cook 2 if you want a lot of turkey. In fact, you can cook as many as you want.
The bird should be warm and dry. A wet bird will cause considerable excitement as the oil spills over the top of the pot. Take it out and place it on the counter before you set up your rig. By the time you are ready to drop it, it will be warm enough. After it is done, wrap in heavy duty foil, and the bird will stay hot for about 4 hours sitting on the counter.
The rig:
I only use Stainless. Aluminum is fine, but burned on oil is there to stay, forever. I have 3 thermometers: 2 dial type go into the oil, and one is a digital plunge type. I put 2 in the oil so that I can be ABSOLUTELY sure what the temperature is.
The third is to check the interior of the bird when he comes out of the oil. If he is 160, then it is perfect. Wrapped in foil, it will coast to 180 easy. Just leave the plunge thermometer in the bird until you are ready to carve. The rig should be at least 10 feet from any structure, and on the grass. Never set up on concrete. The stain will look like Jesus and you will spend the rest of the year chasing pilgrims out of your yard. Put down cardboard to protect the grass.
NEVER LET THE OIL GO ABOVE 450 DEGREES. Oil is ruined if the temp goes over that, and oil will not burn below that temp, and fires are bad. BAD!! Serious smoke indicates that your oil is too hot.
Nothing, NOTHING comes closer than 5 feet to the hot pot. Anything that can fall over (chairs, tables, ladders) should be able to do so without hitting the pot. You do not own the wind. While heating up and cooling down, keep the lid on. Bugs, leaves, and other assorted foreign items do not enhance flavor. There is no excuse for not having a fire extinguisher at the scene. Once the fire is lit, the pot should never be left alone. If it is too cold, then place the rig where it can be observed from inside.
Oh, and NO DRINKING while cooking.
Oil:
I have never used anything but peanut oil, so I have absolutely no experience dealing with any other type.
Buy your oil in gallon jugs. It may cost more, but if you have a 3 or 5 gallon jug, and you do not use it all, what is left in the jug will be contaminated when you pour the used oil back in. The oil will keep, and you can re-use it again at Christmas. Simply strain it back into the jugs, and keep them in a cool, dark place until December 25th.
As long as you do not burn the oil, you can literally cook as many birds as you wish.
Bob, you brought back a lot of good memories with that old flyer. Life was a lot simpler back then!
Ping to turkey thread
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