DEEP FRYING A TURKEY

[NAUTI-NOTIONS]

Like a virgin , dipping for the very first time.
willing to accept advice and tips

[marko]

I prefer mine cooked on my Weber, however, my in-laws do the deep fry thing every year for Christmas eve. It comes out moist and very good. Be sure to inject the basting as the instructions indicate. My brother-in-law used the teryaki last year and it was delicious.

[Grits]

Make sure the Turkey is thawed!!! Don't jump the gun and put it in the oil before the oil is up to temperature. Slowly lower the turkey into the oil.

I would have to check at home for my exact mix of spices I inject but I know it has: Italian dressing, Louisiana hot sauce, Cajun seasoning, garlic and onion powder. It seems like there is a few more ingredients and if you need a recipe I will get my tonight at home for you.

[Tanner]

My tip is to sell your oven. Once you have deep fried a turkey, you will never want to go back to roasting. YYYUUUUMMMMM. What time is dinner and what is your address? :grin:

[NAUTI-NOTIONS]

let me be a little more clear,,, I know nothing, nothing. have no book ,
oil temp?
cooking time?
cook to 140f i think?
Grits,
my mouth waters, however need to keep it kinda mild. i bought an off the shelf package of cajun liquid.

[FM2]

BC, I've got one of the cookers and they are awesome :smile:

Use peanut oil instead of vegetable oil, peanut oil cooks more evenly that veggie oil. I know Bi-Mart sells this in galloon jugs. It's spendier than veggie oil but you can reuse it a few times.

As a rule of thumb, figure 6 minutes per pound at 350 degrees. I usually heated my oil up to 400 then dropped the turkey in. The temp will drop as soon as you put the bird in. Then adjust your burner to maintain the 350 degrees. Also be real careful when you first drop the bird as the oil could boil over and you could get burnt. I usually add oil to a little over half full (I'm an optimist..LOL)of the pot then be sure after you put the bird in the oil covers it for the entire cooking time.

Be sure to use the injector, this really gives awesome taste, along with the dry spice rub on the outside.

Good Luck and Merry Christmas


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[ 12-21-2001: Message edited by: FM2 ]</p>

[James in Idaho]

Start by making sure your turkey is thawed. Since it is your first time, get the bird on the rack and put it in the pot. Fill with water until the bird is just covered. Pull the bird out and that will tell you how much oil to use. You don't want an overflow of hot oil. Let the bird drain until dry (don't forget to pull the "stuff" out of the bird).

Heat oil (I like peanut or peanut blend, cheap at Wal Mart here) to about 375. It will cool off when you put the bird in. Lower the bird slowly to avoid overflow. There will be a lot of steam and smoke, I always wear gloves and a long sleeve shirt. After the bird is in the oil, put the thermometer back in and the lid on. You want to try to keep the temp at about 350, so you will have to tweek the burner every so often. Cook for 3 mins per pound (don't forget to guess-ta-mate the weight of the gibblets and subtract from the total), plus 5 mins. I fryed one on Thanksgiving in Portland, and it seemed to cook a little faster a that altitude. It was a 21 pounder, and it was well done a 1 hr 8 mins. I think a hour would have been perfect.

I haven't worked one up with the injected stuff, but I usually use a rub of seasoning salt (Seasonal) on the outside. I also use a salt rub for a few hours prior to cooking (see the Morton Kosher salt box for details).

Frying sure does wonders for the bland old bird.

[Bait O' Eggs]

A few tips,

Try to use the same size bird each time and keep notes, so your time can get dialed in.

A 12 pound bird cooks up real nice, I have heard people say they had problems with bigger birds. I dont know for sure what they mean.

Get one of those long armed oven mitts when lowering the bird in the pot. The water on the bird will make the oil spatter and it dont feel good on the hand and arm.

Lower the bird slowly into the oil.

Do not, and I repeat, DO NOT have to much oil in the pot, it will overflow the pot and run down on the flame and you will get a visit from the boys who drive those big red trucks and squirt water. :shocked: :shocked:

Do this outside, away from structures that may burn.

[hawgcatcher]

Oh the smell of cooking turkey. That is probably the best method of cooking. I can't add anything to the previous posts, except use caution. I can remember a friend doing his that way and accidently igniting what ever oil he was using. It looked like a jet engine as it burned, nearly starting his car port on fire. The turkey was slightly overcooked, in fact I remember us going to the nearest McDonalds after the firemen put it all out.

I'm sure it will work for you with all this help. Merry Christmas and we will be over for the meal. We will watch for the bright lights and the wonderful turkey smell.

[Artwo]

BC,
I do a DF'd turkey every year for Xmas and all of the comments so far are right on the money. Two more that I have figured out (the hard way) are:

1) Put a piece of scrap plywood under your cooker if you are doing it on your concrete patio, if the oil biols over it will leave a big bad stain in the concrete that the wife will comment on for ever (jk).

2) Wear some type of eye protection when you are putting your turkey in and taking it out, a 350 deg. oil spatter in the eye doesn't feel very good at all (you really shouldn't say those kinds of words when your in-laws and kids are around-jk).

One last little tid bit, I drilled a small hole in the top of my pot lid over by the edge so I could put my long needle thermomitor through it so the lid stayed completely closed while cooking, it seemed to help with boil over during cooking and with cooking time. Remove that little spring clippy thing from the thermometer and just drop it down through the hole.

JK

[THE REEL HEY_YALL]

Stick a whole onion and potato in the bird's butt. The onion adds great flavor and the potato prevents burning.

Test your grease level first by filling the pot with water. MAKE SURE THE POT IS COMPLETELY DRIED OUT BEFORE ADDING GREASE.

There's southern advice for a dish that was created in the South. :cool:

[NAUTI-NOTIONS]

THE REEL HEY_YALL
whats up with that tater thing? theory?
bird goes in upside down?

[ 12-21-2001: Message edited by: Bumper_Chrome ]</p>

[Cohodependent]

As most of the others have stated so far every thing is right on. If you go to www.google.com (http://www.google.com) and type in deep fried turkey you will be hit with an abundance of information. I like to use Cajun spices. I will mix up various spices and then rub them inside and out, as thick as I can get them. I try to do this at least 3-4 hours before I want to cook the bird. Then about an hour before I will mix up my marinade and using an injector I will inject the marinade into all of the large muscles, breast thighs ect. You can by marinade mixes but I tend to get creative with my spices.

The others have all mentioned the dangers involved. They are true. As a Paramedic I have seen the end result of carelesness. I actually will turn off the burner while puting in the turkey. The other thing I do is make sure that I am under some kind of cover if it is raining. Water and hot oil do not mix well.

Once it is all in and cooking right along, relax and have a Home Brew...

[HarpMan]

Best if you inject the turkey anywhere from 12-24 hrs before frying... Peanut oil not only taste better but you have a higher flash point and you can get more birds cooked before changing out the oil as the oil dsoes not burn as easy. Strain oil through cheese cloth every three or four birds. Keep oil in cool place in the summer...North West Grocers/Cash and Carry generally has the best price on oil.

Try not to inject through the skin but go under where possible like the around the neck and lets, the less holes in the skin the better as yu want a good seal to hold in the juices.

Having Rep'd KingKooker for some time, I have had everything happen you can imagine. It's also great to cook hot dogs in the oil while you are waiting for the turkey to get done. Use long wood skewers in the the dogs as they become hard to find in the boiling oil. The dogs also fill up those waiting for the turkey so their is some left for you.

Many cookers out these days and marinades to choose from and they are all good.. The gas Connection stores have many turkey cooking accessories to choose from if your looking for any... Good Luck and be safe......

Plunker

[Trout,myster]

Everything here is great info. Though I've done this a couple of times, there were enough good tips here to print the mess out. Here's a couple I've learned.

Go buy an oil pump to get the oil back into the jugs! They're about 25 bucks and you can get them at the Gas Connection in Hillsboro or Cabela's, probably other places also. There's no handle on the bottom of the pot so pouring the oil becomes a mess! For whatever reason, I seem to have enough accumulation of oil on the bottom of the pot that it turns black and is a thick, gooey, crud mess. Old gloves are the rule. The pump is better idea, 2 D-batteries, warm the oil to about 75 degrees F and it pumps and filters all at once. Not the fastest, but certainly easier and less mess.

Leaving the lid on is a good idea. My instructions say to leave it off when cooking, but no idea why other than thermometer won't allow lid to be completely on. Hint above cures that with a hole.

DEFINTELY DO THIS OUTSIDE or at least in an open garage with something on the floor. My garage is the "country version" with gravel floor, but I still use a piece of old carpet to catch the oil splatters. Open the doors for ventilation.

Bi-mart is carrying the peanut oil now also, price is 19.99 for, I believe, 3 or 3.5 gals. They also have some cookers at decent prices. Gas Connection has about everything you would ever need including marinades.

As a question, has anyone came up with a good method of cleaning the pot other than dish soap and buckets of hot water outside? The cleanup on this after the cooking is done is a chore at best. Especially if you get the "black goo" on the bottom.

The hotdogs are neat idea, too. At a recent party, we did some large mushrooms floated on the oil and then some walleye which is far beyond excellent! All that plus two chickens and none of the flavors crossed thanks to the peanut oil. :wink:

[puddles]

i saw the one at bimart. and it was i think a 24 qt. the ones at fisherman werem 30 qt.any input on wether the 24qt. is sufficient or do you really need the 30 qt. thanks