Deep Fried Turkey
Anyone interested? It is a Southern thing. I never heard of it, being raised in the Mid West and North and all; but since I have moved down here we have done it for the last 8 years. It is the best, most moist meat we have had. If anyone is interested I will continue the how to. Let me know.
No thanks. I bought a cast iron 8 qt with a basket and could theoretically deep fry a small turkey in it. If we do get a freebie, I will beer can it on the grill.
I love it too - my dad has the fryer! We do it at least once a year. Excellent for chicken too.
I was thinking about doing the deep fried turkey thing, but every year there are a lot of fires because people screw it up. At Costco this year, instead of the deep fried turkey thing, they've got a device that looks like it, but it uses infrared to cook it instead of oil.
It's like anything else - 90% preparation. Set it up on a nice level spot in the yard away from the house and you should be fine. I've not seen the infared type of unit, so I can't comment on that. The deep fryer is absolutely wonderful though.
Mmm yum, deep fried. I've been rather curious about that. All I know about it is that you have to defrost and pat dry the turkey beforehand to avoid an oil aerosol...all I ever needed to know, I learned from Mythbusters.
We are doing a small one next wed, we usually do two 16 pounders for big family days every other Thanksgiving.
Do you guys use peanut oil? How long do you cook it per pound of turkey?
One of my friends has a turkey fryer and makes frequent use of it.
Not only is the turkey awesome, but you also can do things like deep fry pillsbury biscuits and fries (reg or sweet potato) as you're waiting for the oil temp to climb up to turkey levels.
One thing that really scared me ... I saw one of my shithead neighbors bringing in a fryer and propane tank. Not sure what unit they're in or I'd drop a dime on him.
They don't allow conventional barbecuing in my highrise ... this could be catastrophic.
How big of a turkey can you fry with a 30 quart kit?
We've got the fryer, but only used it once. I guess we weren't that impressed with the results. And we missed the wonderful smell of roasting turkey in the house!
Please document.
Any turkey recipes.
kthx
(just vicarious eating)
I'm still speachless about people deep frying whole turkeys.
What's wrong with baking? Think of your arteries people!
Oh the humanity!!!
Ive never tasted a fried turkey or even seen it done (except for the youtubes of people burning down their houses with the fryers... not too tempting...).
We never stay home for Tgiving so I rarely roast my own, but I just bought one (fresh, despite the son insisting that the frozen ones are better because they're indestructible and make an excellent weapon) and plan to have it cooking while we're at my sis's so we come home to 'leftovers" ready to go. I haven't eaten Bobby-joe's* for days after Tgiving since I was a kid and I'm pretty excited about it.
PM me for my address if you want to send a sample of fried bird btw...
*
Thaw the bird to room temp. Clean and pat dry it. Make sure you take out the little plastic pop out thingy for oven cooking. Inject the turkey with your fav mix. Cook it 3 to 3.5 minutes per pound in peanut oil heated to 400 degrees. Never do it indoors. We do it on a heavy duty propane base with a pot big enough to hold the turkey comfortably. Do a water displacement test and the oil level should come up to about 4/5th the height of the turkey, don't worry as the thing boils up it will cook the top. Heat the oil to 400, this takes the longest. Slowly lower it in and start your timer. When it is done, pull it out and let it drip dry.
Typical kit:
I can never fry a turkey, because
the recipe I use is actually all about the
gravy, and the gravy can't be done right without the turkey being done alongside it. And if I did either Thanksgiving or Christmas without that gravy, I'd have a mutiny on my hands.
We do the dressing the gravy and everything else in the oven. Frees up lots of oven space and everything can come out at the same time without using the neighbors oven.
Here are some formal directions.
http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Turkey-Tips-Deep-Fried-Turkey/Detail.aspxDoing a turducken (?spelling) here
turkey friars are briars. there. i said it.
In the L.A. area, they have a couple of stores where you can go and buy a fresh turkey. How fresh? You come in and they kill the bird, pluck it, and bring it out to you still warm.
Someone I know got one of these last year and said it was the best turkey they ever ate. I'm wondering how well a bird like this would be if deep fried.
I think fresh turkey would be AMAZING!
Deep fried turkey can go wrong so quickly. One year we did it and it was left cooking for just a smidgen too long and the whole thing was disappointing, but when you get it right, man they are good.
Make sure you take out the little plastic pop out thingy for oven cooking.
and the neck/bag of fun from the body cavity
Merc, what do yo udo with all that oil when you are done cooking it? Looks like a couple of gallons to get rid of. And how much does all that oil cost? Do you buy like 20 bottles of peanut oil at the grocery store, or is there some wholesale seller of oil?
Merc, what do yo udo with all that oil when you are done cooking it? Looks like a couple of gallons to get rid of. And how much does all that oil cost? Do you buy like 20 bottles of peanut oil at the grocery store, or is there some wholesale seller of oil?
It is easily supplied in 5 gallon plastic cartons. They say you can use it again but we don't. After it cools, the next day usually, we pour it back into the container and trash it, or the last few years I have been mixing it with food or bird seed and putting it out for the various critters to eat in the woods. Gives them a good supply of fat for the winter. Clean up is a bit messy.
I'm still speachless about people deep frying whole turkeys.
What's wrong with baking? Think of your arteries people!
Oh the humanity!!!
Hehe :p Well, roasting's all well and good, but sometimes you just need it extra crispy. Plus, deep-frying is just too much fun to pass up :D
A guy at work was going to deep fry a turkey. I asked him how much it cost for the peanut oil. Over $30!!!
Add in the cost of the turkey and it makes more sense to order a deep fried turkey from Popeyes.
My daughter's roommate said $50 for oil.
Yea, the price nearly doubled this year for about 4.5 gallons. I think we paid around $40. But we only used a little over half of it. Check back in a day and I will have a link to the pics that show the step by step process as I did it. I took pics for the interested.
Cool, I'm looking forward to seeing them.
Add another viewer for the pics - am very interested.
I will add detailed captions over the next week.
What is it that you injected into the bird before seasoning?
Breast down or up? I've see it up, never down. But I think down is a great idea. IMHO.
What is it that you injected into the bird before seasoning?
Well you can do lots of things, including buying something from the store, but I find that stuff to be way to salty.
I have always made my own. This one was 3 sticks of butter melted in the microwave. To that I added half a jar of onion dressing (for salads), garlic, salt and pepper.
I have made others that were teryaki, hot and spicey, cajun, jamacian jerk and a few others. There are also plenty of recipies on the web but I have not found any from there that really jumped out at me.
Breast down or up? I've see it up, never down. But I think down is a great idea. IMHO.
Breast up for prep, there is more meat that needs to be injected. I do make sure and flip it on the side and get the thighs.
Here you go friends and others.
http://picasaweb.google.com/AnesMerc/HowToDeepFryATurkey#
Now complete with captions. :D
I don't know if I could ever do that, but if I did I would use the oil for something else first, maybe 30 pounds of sweet potato fries. I don't think I could reuse oil that was used to cook a turkey.
Actually I poured some of it on our wood pile for the out door fireplace. But I can't have it where the dogs can get into it or they will make a mess trying to eat it. We poured the rest of it out in the woods for the critters to eat.
Well Done Merc !!
I still dont have the HooHaz to try this ,
But we DO have a BIG Ass Wok , I have done Tempura for the masses when weh go camping ,
I am thinking about trying a Whole fried chicken first !!
You can do it zippy. It is so much fun to do because it is so unconventional. Just follow the pics and do some on-line reading and jump in. I may do it again for Xmas.
That bird looks great. I seriously want to do it next year. I should buy the stuff (other than the oil) now so my wife doesn't have a chance to complain next year when I want to do it. Do you make your own flavor injection stuff or do they have stuff you mix up?
Is that a welding glove? Good idea.
Anyone interested? It is a Southern thing. I never heard of it, being raised in the Mid West and North and all; but since I have moved down here we have done it for the last 8 years. It is the best, most moist meat we have had. If anyone is interested I will continue the how to. Let me know.
The Thanksgiving turkey spent 6 hours slow-cooking over hickory smoke. Try it sometime. You won't deep-fry turkey again.