<p>A friend offered her deep fryer for our use this Thanksgiving. I’ve eaten some deep fried turkey years ago, and remember its succulence. Any spice/herbal reccommendations, prep before submerging the turkey? Peanut oil was suggested, any other choices that work well?</p>
<p>We are very experienced Thanksgiving hosts, it has been our holiday for the last 30 years, this year will be a smaller group than usual and the smaller turkey, deep fried, sounds appealing.
Thanks for any advice.</p>
<ol>
<li> Fry your bird out in the yard, not on your deck.</li>
<li> Put the bird in the fry pot and put enough water in the pot to cover the turkey. Remove the turkey then draw a line on the pot at the water line. Use that line to know how much oil to put in.</li>
<li> Use peanut oil, it has a higher smoke point.</li>
</ol>
<p>Just one piece of advice- keep the fryer away from the garage! </p>
<p>Hundreds of the structures have burned on TG day since the fryer fad began.</p>
<p>We fry a turkey every Thanksgiving. It was something people taught us when we lived in SE Texas. There are injectable marinades, but somehow we always did something wrong, as the marinades seemed to cause the turkey to burn where we injected it. We decided that fried turkey was great without any marinade. Our fryer only holds an 18-20 lb. turkey.</p>
<p>Alton Brown, host of the “Good Eats” program on the Food Network has an excellent episode on the mechanics of doing this. The safety issues of introducing a moisture laden carcass into three to five gallons of hot cooking oil atop a high output propane appliance cannot be overemphasized.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.altonbrown.com/pdfs/AB_turkey_derrick.pdf[/url]”>http://www.altonbrown.com/pdfs/AB_turkey_derrick.pdf</a></p>
<p>Make certain the propane connections are properly tight. I saw a very impressive unplanned demonstration of a propane leak fire a couple of years ago. When the fire department arrived, they were afraid to go near it.</p>
<p>We have done the baked turkey and the deep-fried turkey lots of times. Really, IMHO, the only difference is the “cook” time. the deep fried version is quicker. The end. Otherwise, a properly basted turkey tastes about the same. If you are having a large party, and need more than one turkey, doing a second one in the fryer is a good option because it frees up oven space. But make sure you allow extra time if you are in a cold climate…keeping the temp. up can be a problem. </p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that it is expensive to buy all of that oil…and what do you do with it when you are finished? That is always a consideration when using your fryer…what to do with the partially used oil…not necessarily economical, or environmentally friendly…</p>
<p>Hint: We keep ours cold in the garage fridge and then do chicken wings for New Year’s Eve…plan ahead!</p>
<p>My husband begs to remind you…it is VERY MANLY…that cannot be discounted!! :)</p>
<p>My dad wears a big, long bathrobe to avoid getting hit by hot grease drops when it splatters dropping the bird in.</p>
<p>I used the Char-Broil Big Easy for my turkey last year and it was amazing! It’s an infrared cooker - no hot oil, no safety hazard and plenty of drippings for gravy.</p>
<p>[Char-Broil</a> | INFRARED - Grilling?s Juicy Little Secret?](<a href=“http://www.charbroil.com/default.aspx]Char-Broil”>http://www.charbroil.com/default.aspx)</p>
<p>I’ve also cooked plenty of chickens in the past year too.</p>
<p>And judging from the entries on the Big Easy User Forum, I’d say it is considered to be very manly too. :)</p>
<p>[Sizzle</a> on the Grill | Users Forums <br> ‘‘Dedicated to friendly conversations about cooking food on Char-Broil grills, smokers and cookers.’’ - Index](<a href=“http://sizzleonthegrill.com/user-forums/index.php#4]Sizzle”>http://sizzleonthegrill.com/user-forums/index.php#4)</p>
<p>I don’t think I’m allowed to post Youtube here, but google “Alton Brown deep fried turkey” and he’ll show you everything, A to Z. He’s also a safety nut, so you’ll get some good tips.</p>
<p>Edit: I see violadad also recommends Alton Brown, good show!</p>
<p>A.
</p>
<p>B.
</p>
<p>I think (B.) found a way to make it very unmanly indeed.</p>
<p>Don’t do it. Try BBQ instead - much safer and very tastey.</p>
<p>A Weber charcoal grill is best. Coals around the outside. A pan in the middle to catch drippings for gravy. Set the openings at about half open. Add more hickory chips and charcoal after about every hour. No fuss, no bother and no flammable hot oil.</p>
<p>Perhaps to overstate the obvious - Don’t use a frozen turkey. Ice and boiling oil are not friends.</p>
<p><<<considering deep=“” frying=“” a=“” turkey,=“” hints?=“”>>></considering></p>
<p>Just say no. ;)</p>
<p>Seems a bit early, but here’s the collective thanksgiving/turkey threads, and a weber grill thread as well.</p>
<p>I left out the turkey drops discussions.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/358078-questions-weber-gas-grills-grilling.html?highlight=turkey+rib+roast[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/358078-questions-weber-gas-grills-grilling.html?highlight=turkey+rib+roast</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/817565-anyone-else-considered-abandoning-turkey-tradition.html?highlight=deep+fried+turkey[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/817565-anyone-else-considered-abandoning-turkey-tradition.html?highlight=deep+fried+turkey</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/808878-having-thanksgiving-no-time-prepare-what-can-i-cook-ahead-freeze.html?highlight=deep+fried+turkey[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/808878-having-thanksgiving-no-time-prepare-what-can-i-cook-ahead-freeze.html?highlight=deep+fried+turkey</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/598347-your-household-christmas-traditions.html?highlight=deep+fried+turkey[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/598347-your-household-christmas-traditions.html?highlight=deep+fried+turkey</a> turkeys discussed within, I’m not pushing an early xmas.<br>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/413093-official-thanksgiving-thread.html?highlight=deep+fried+turkey[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/413093-official-thanksgiving-thread.html?highlight=deep+fried+turkey</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/112040-thanksgiving-menus.html?highlight=deep+fried+turkey[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/112040-thanksgiving-menus.html?highlight=deep+fried+turkey</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/812309-turkey.html?highlight=turkey[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/812309-turkey.html?highlight=turkey</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/789795-thanksgiving-turkey-tips.html?highlight=turkey[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/789795-thanksgiving-turkey-tips.html?highlight=turkey</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/604194-turkey-gravy.html?highlight=turkey[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/604194-turkey-gravy.html?highlight=turkey</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/593954-turkey-stuffing.html?highlight=turkey[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/593954-turkey-stuffing.html?highlight=turkey</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/263085-turkey-brine.html?highlight=turkey[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/263085-turkey-brine.html?highlight=turkey</a></p>
<p>The only time my brother tried to fry a turkey, it was quite cold outside, the wind howled, and the thing took forever - and he had to stand outside in that near-freezing wind trying to create a wind screeen on the fly.</p>
<p>I’ll never try it…</p>
<p>Last week I saw an infomercial for a new INDOOR deep fat turkey fryer made by Butterball. I’ve got to admit that I was enchanted by this thing. It looks like it could possibly make outdoor turkey fryers obsolete. The safety features were impressive as was the cleanup. I am going to look further into this product myself.</p>
<p>Why would anyone want to try to deep fry an entire turkey in their house? I would not want it within 10 feet and then I would want to use a boom to lower the turkey into the oil.</p>
<p>^^That’s what I thought at first too, edad, until I saw the thing in action. Check it out before you dismiss it, I was quite surprised!</p>