Sooo, this year I am going to deep fry the thanksgiving turkey. I’m tired of my parents always bickering with one another the whole morning about how best to cook the turkey. Any tips? I especially don’t want to burn the house down.
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We use one of these… https://www.amazon.com/Char-Broil-TRU-Infrared-Oil-Less-Turkey-Fryer/dp/B001HBI7D8
No worry of fire and it does the same thing. Other than that pick out your favorite seasonings, grab and injector and stab the fucker till he is full of the good stuff.
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Been frying the turkey for the last three or four years and won’t ever do it any other way. The product is simply awesome and, almost as importantly, the speed in which it’s done and the fact it frees up the oven for other shit can’t be overstated.
I use a Butterball XL electric fryer that I picked up on sale at Home Depot and it works awesome. Like the idea I don’t have an open flame and a bomb in the propane tank siting in my backyard.
As for the prep., I follow Alton Brown’s brining recepie. Just need to make sure you really dry the bird out once you take it out of the brine and before dropping in the oil. I go through a half roll of papertowel probably just on that…
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I like the idea of the oil-less fryers; definitely something I will have to check out next year. Unfortunately, I’m stuck with the oil and propane tank this year.
So is there any method to injecting the marinade? Or do you just literally poke a million holes?
No real method to it. You just want to make sure you get it in all places. Nothing like having a few tasty pieces and then getting stuck with one that has nothing. If you are using really strong aromatics. Rosemary, garlic, etc those will permeate the meat.
To reiterate what others have said, have that sucker fully thawed out. Water and hot frying oil do not mix one bit, and ice compounds that issue a hundred fold. Water in the hot oil will cause it to flare up and bubble over, but the ice gets a moment to get into the middle of the oil, and cause that same reaction with a lot of hot oil above it, forcing all of that up at a much greater speed.
TL;DR: KABOOM!
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From a safety perspective I have two comments.
- You can test how much oil you need in the pot by first filling the pot with water and dunking the turkey (still in the bag) into the pot. When you pull it out, you know you need to be below that line.
- Like other people said, a wet turkey will cause a boil-over. Either way, be safe and kill the fire before you drop the turkey in. Also, try not to let the oil get above 350 F. You’ll limit your fire hazard that way. The horror story videos that the fire departments put out have the oil waaay hotter than that when they put the turkey in.
Lastly, don’t fucking listen to Digital. He’s an idiot. Frying a turkey in peanut oil is the best way to go.
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I didn’t say it was the best I said it’s what we use. He commented about fire and fire is no issue. We actually use our for roast more than turkey.
Yes I would rather have a turkey fried in peanut oil. 100%.
Damn…my wife wanted me to use more oil…
I think I need to lower my life insurance policy…
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Definitely turn off the burner while putting the turkey into the oil. I wear a glove when doing it to be safe.
I let the oil get up to 375, turn the burner off then slowly put the turkey in. You lose a lot of heat when you put the turkey in. Once the burner is back on it will take a while to get back to 350. I try to keep it at 350 for the remainder of the cook.
I also put a temp probe in the breast to take the guesswork out of when its done. It’s done when the temp is 165.
Cook the turkey somewhere where if you do get some oil on the ground its not a big deal. I used to put a piece of cardboard down on the driveway and cook on that. Keep the cooker away from the house and garage.
I used to inject the turkey with zesty Italian dressing. Deep fried turkey is my favorite. I haven’t cooked a turkey that way in a long time because I got tired of cleaning up the mess.
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Any suggestions to dry rubs? I have the injection recipe (off the top of my head its beer, butter, worcester sauce, salt, and garlic).
I have heat resistant gloves, meat thermo and oil thermo, but I don’t know how long to let it cool before eating.
Not sure you’d need a rub and inject it. Pay attention to the scraps and droppings that drop onto the plate or pan when your cutting the turkey up. The juice get soaked up in the scraps. Its the tastiest in my opinion.