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Gkyr
Chef
It is a little late to be posting this, so bookmark it for next year.
If you like to cook and Thanksgiving has become a formulaic drag, consider doing deep-fried turkey next year. When your family has expectations that this dish or that dish must be present, they are almost always side-dishes like yams, mashed potatoes or green bean casserole. No one bothers you about the turkey - so live it up. Here are all the little tips that make it a success:
PROS: tender, juicy white meat, cooks in 45 minutes, tastes great, leaves oven free for dressing and pies.
CONS: no gravy (workaround follows), dressing not in bird cavity (+ or -, depending on how foodsafe preoccupied). Oil costs more than the bird. You need to buy equipment, including a long-stem deep-frying thermometer (not very costly). You need a crab-boil setup, i.e. an 8 to 10 gallon pot and a gazillion BTU propane burner. Oh, yes, and a propane tank.
This can be done indoors (screened-in porch) or outdoors. Wherever you do it, place plenty of corrugated cardboard around it (further out than you would think) and leave a pair of old shoes to wear at the pot if you are traipsing in and out of the house, change shoes. It will splatter.
Do not allow the bird to touch the sides of the pot - it may scorch the skin. Overpriced turkey fry setups have an inner basket to prevent that but here is what I do: truss the legs of the turkey together with a long thin chain (or cable or old rope) and suspend the turkey from an overhead fixture. I have used a ceiling fan in a porch (it is not heavy), a hook under the eaves and the branch of a tree. Just make sure the drop of the supporting line is centered over the pot before you fill the pot. It is harder to move 20 lb. of oil plus burner. You will lower the bird into the hot oil from above so make sure the line is free to move up and down and can be secured at the depth you want it.
Preparation: Since the oil costs more than the bird, plan to do at least two turkeys. Freeze one; you won't regret it. Since it is Thanksgiving, line up friends and neighbors to bring their prepared birds and help them fry them. One of them can pay you back by providing the propane tank (make sure it is full, the friend may not know). Since frying only takes 45 minutes (+/-) it is possible to turn out 4 or 5 perfectly fried turkeys in a morning without any rush.
Do use dry rub and do consider buying Konrico.
Buy a 5 gallon jug of peanut oil. Do not use any other oil, it won't be as good.
For you who have never done this before, Marth Stewart's recipe is excellent:
The oil should be at 350 degrees F but the turkey is a big heat-sink so start the oil at 400 degrees and let it decrease. I keep a large saucepan of oil at 350 on the stove. Here's why: you fill the pot only 2/3 full of oil because when you lower the bird into the oil there is a large amount of boilover that you do not want to boil over; that's what can cause fires. When the turkey is in the oil it will float and bob a little; put a little tension on the chain to keep it off the pot bottom and top up the oil in the kettle with the oil from the stove so that the drumsticks are covered.
You can use the time per pound formula if you have kept the oil at 350 degrees because this method is way more dependable than an oven. I use a meat thermometer into the thigh to test doneness and I always have the oil thermometer in the pot.
A great way to make gravy is to fry your first bird. Then while your neighbor is frying theirs, cut the meat off of the bone (keeping this one in the freezer, cut up) and simmer the bones in water or (richer) chicken stock. After your neighbors are finished with their birds, fry your second one. Add a few tablespoons of the cooking oil to a skillet, stir in some flour and cook a minute then slowly pour in your bone broth to make gravy. It wont be as dark and rich as using traditional pan drippings, but the flavor of the bird will compensate for that. Pour gravy over the dressing balls. Here is the recipe:
Cleaning up: Now you are stuck with about 4-5 gallons of used oil. What to do? One year I left it out on the curb and a battered old man with a battered old pickup truck asked me if there was any motor oil in it or if it was just food oil. He took it away. It can be strained and stored in jars in a chest freezer to stop the aging and you will have a year's supply of good cooking oil. Or you can donate it to a biodiesel container in town.
I never paid the exorbitant prices that big box stores expect for the pot and burner cooking setup. Between now and next Thanksgiving the chances are good that you can pick one up for a reasonable price at a garage sale.
If you like to cook and Thanksgiving has become a formulaic drag, consider doing deep-fried turkey next year. When your family has expectations that this dish or that dish must be present, they are almost always side-dishes like yams, mashed potatoes or green bean casserole. No one bothers you about the turkey - so live it up. Here are all the little tips that make it a success:
PROS: tender, juicy white meat, cooks in 45 minutes, tastes great, leaves oven free for dressing and pies.
CONS: no gravy (workaround follows), dressing not in bird cavity (+ or -, depending on how foodsafe preoccupied). Oil costs more than the bird. You need to buy equipment, including a long-stem deep-frying thermometer (not very costly). You need a crab-boil setup, i.e. an 8 to 10 gallon pot and a gazillion BTU propane burner. Oh, yes, and a propane tank.
This can be done indoors (screened-in porch) or outdoors. Wherever you do it, place plenty of corrugated cardboard around it (further out than you would think) and leave a pair of old shoes to wear at the pot if you are traipsing in and out of the house, change shoes. It will splatter.
Do not allow the bird to touch the sides of the pot - it may scorch the skin. Overpriced turkey fry setups have an inner basket to prevent that but here is what I do: truss the legs of the turkey together with a long thin chain (or cable or old rope) and suspend the turkey from an overhead fixture. I have used a ceiling fan in a porch (it is not heavy), a hook under the eaves and the branch of a tree. Just make sure the drop of the supporting line is centered over the pot before you fill the pot. It is harder to move 20 lb. of oil plus burner. You will lower the bird into the hot oil from above so make sure the line is free to move up and down and can be secured at the depth you want it.
Preparation: Since the oil costs more than the bird, plan to do at least two turkeys. Freeze one; you won't regret it. Since it is Thanksgiving, line up friends and neighbors to bring their prepared birds and help them fry them. One of them can pay you back by providing the propane tank (make sure it is full, the friend may not know). Since frying only takes 45 minutes (+/-) it is possible to turn out 4 or 5 perfectly fried turkeys in a morning without any rush.
Do use dry rub and do consider buying Konrico.
Buy a 5 gallon jug of peanut oil. Do not use any other oil, it won't be as good.
For you who have never done this before, Marth Stewart's recipe is excellent:
The oil should be at 350 degrees F but the turkey is a big heat-sink so start the oil at 400 degrees and let it decrease. I keep a large saucepan of oil at 350 on the stove. Here's why: you fill the pot only 2/3 full of oil because when you lower the bird into the oil there is a large amount of boilover that you do not want to boil over; that's what can cause fires. When the turkey is in the oil it will float and bob a little; put a little tension on the chain to keep it off the pot bottom and top up the oil in the kettle with the oil from the stove so that the drumsticks are covered.
You can use the time per pound formula if you have kept the oil at 350 degrees because this method is way more dependable than an oven. I use a meat thermometer into the thigh to test doneness and I always have the oil thermometer in the pot.
A great way to make gravy is to fry your first bird. Then while your neighbor is frying theirs, cut the meat off of the bone (keeping this one in the freezer, cut up) and simmer the bones in water or (richer) chicken stock. After your neighbors are finished with their birds, fry your second one. Add a few tablespoons of the cooking oil to a skillet, stir in some flour and cook a minute then slowly pour in your bone broth to make gravy. It wont be as dark and rich as using traditional pan drippings, but the flavor of the bird will compensate for that. Pour gravy over the dressing balls. Here is the recipe:
Cleaning up: Now you are stuck with about 4-5 gallons of used oil. What to do? One year I left it out on the curb and a battered old man with a battered old pickup truck asked me if there was any motor oil in it or if it was just food oil. He took it away. It can be strained and stored in jars in a chest freezer to stop the aging and you will have a year's supply of good cooking oil. Or you can donate it to a biodiesel container in town.
I never paid the exorbitant prices that big box stores expect for the pot and burner cooking setup. Between now and next Thanksgiving the chances are good that you can pick one up for a reasonable price at a garage sale.
Last edited:
I have to many kitchen fires lolol . Did you know …you don’t throw water on a burning pan of oil ??? See @crackies avatar lolol