How to fry a Turkey

[Gerald]

Tips for frying a turkey

1. Get a pot of the right size and shape. If the pot is too large in diameter, it will take a lot of extra oil to cover the bird. If the turkey barely fits into the pot it will be hard to control the temperature and not cook evenly.

2. To determine how much oil is needed? Before doing any preparation...place the turkey in cooking pot. Using a clean gallon size container, start adding water and count the amount of water needed until the bird is just covered. This will be the amount of oil needed. If the Turkey is frozen with neck, heart, etc still inside the bird, about 1 pint more oil will be needed. This is also a good way to unthaw a frozen turkey....in water. But be sure the water is cool....Bacteria grows at room temperature. Do not add "a little extra oil"; the oil will expand some when heated. The pot should be at least 5" taller than the oil level to keep it from splashing out. I cover my pot while cooking, but watch the temperature closely. If you don’t have a lid.....some grease will splash out and make a mess. Cook on the ground or put something under the cooking burner.

3 Heat oil to 375 F. (need a cooking thermometer that is about 12" long), and while wearing gloves, very slowly add turkey to the pot.

When the turkey goes into the hot oil...... it will violently boil off the water. So put the turkey in the oil very slowly. This may take 30 seconds or more to keep the oil from "boiling" too much. The oil will cool down quickly after the turkey is put in the oil while some of the excess water is boiling off. When buying a turkey frying pot, they usually come with a metal T - shaped piece to hold the turkey and it will have a hook shape to the top for lifting the bird. If you do not have this ....something must be improvised for lifting the bird! I also make a loop using a coat hanger wire to help lift the bird. To pick up the Turkey.....get a broom handle [or something similar] and with two people, stick the broom handle through the coat hanger wire "loop" so that you can stand away from the pot and can support the turkey better. Very slowly put the turkey into the hot grease….you may what to lift the bird completely out of the oil to let the water boil off a little.

4. After the turkey is put in the pot, the oil will cool down some. Adjust fire to cook at 350 F. Cook turkey for 3 ½ minutes per pound. [I.e. 12 lb. turkey = 42 minutes.] This time will vary a little depending on how close to 350 F the bird is cooked. If the oil is about 360 F a lot of the cooking time, it may be ready a couple of minutes sooner. If you are not sure it is done....cook it a little more.

5. As the turkey cooks, the water inside the bird is boiled off. The oil will start to get hotter [after say 5 minutes of cooking] and the fire MUST be turned down to maintain the 350 F cooking temperature. Fire must be adjusted every few minutes (just a little) to keep it close to 350 F.

6. Peanut oil is great, but vegetable oil is ok to use. After oil has cooled, it can be strained and saved.

7. When injecting marinade into the bird after injecting the first spot, pull the needle part way out and push it back down at several different angles to inject different areas. It is better to inject small amounts in a lot different places....this gets the marinade evenly spread out better. Doing this, you will have fewer holes in the skin for the marinade to come back out. After injecting the bird, allow bird to marinade for at least 30 minutes [One or two hours is better] before cooking.

8. On the marinade....I make my own with a blender using melted butter, onions, garlic, salt, Tony's, lemon juice and anything else you might like. If you buy a marinade, check carefully to see what is in it and taste it to see if you like. I find some store bought marinade BAD.
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9. Be sure the turkey is completely thawed. If not, the thicker parts may not get cooked properly. Take the bagged stuff (neck, heart, etc.) out of the chest cavity as soon as you can so it can unthaw better. But don’t allow the turkey to sit at room temperature too long.

10. If only half of the turkey is going to be eaten........Don’t slice it all up. Cutting it into slices allows the meat to dry out faster and it will not save very long. Cut the meat off in large chunks and freeze it for later use. Turkey meat is cheep.....buy a larger bird and freeze the extra. But see item one above.

Good eating!

[swamp snorkler]

good tips....... did you write this up?

[Feesherman]

Wouldn't you thaw the turkey? Seems like if you unthaw it you would freeze it?

[swamp snorkler]

Originally Posted by Feesherman

Wouldn't you thaw the turkey? Seems like if you unthaw it you would freeze it?

good point.....

[Bluechip]

Fixed it for him.

Thanks for the reminder Gerald.

[Top Dawg]

Get an electric fryer, set the heat, let er eat!

[eman]

If you are using a gas fryer. Heat the oil and TURN THE FIRE OFF BEFORE you put the bird in. Then relight the fire. no chance of flash fire if there is no flame.

[jchief]

Originally Posted by eman

If you are using a gas fryer. Heat the oil and TURN THE FIRE OFF BEFORE you put the bird in. Then relight the fire. no chance of flash fire if there is no flame.

THIS.

There are many fires every year due to this and many people get burned.

[Gerald]

Swamp.......I wrote that up several years ago and have edited it many times.

Guess I need to edit it one mort time to make it grammatically correct.

There are many fires every year due to this and many people get burned.

I tried to add lots of safety tips to hopefully not cause a fire or someone getting burned from the hot oil splashing. IMO....the best thing is to slow dip the bird about 2-3 inches into the oil and then lift it back up. Do this 3 or 4 times and then lower the bird a little deeper and repeat.

The oil temperature will fall from 375 F down to 325 F by the time you finally put the bird all the way into the oil. I then turn up the gas to reheat the oil. This will take maybe 5 minutes. When the temperature get up to 350 F, turn the gas down a little.

There will still be some water boiling and most of the bird is still fairly cold. In a few minutes most of the water will be boiled off so the gas needs to be turned down...just a little.

Then as the Turkey cooks [bird gets hotter], you don't need quite as much gas to maintain 350 F temperature.....so you will have to adjust the gas again.

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I fried a 20 lb Turkey a few years ago that my sister bought for Thanksgiving. I had told her that about 16-17 lbs was the biggest that would comfortably fit in my pot. That 20 pounder filled my pot and did not leave a lot of room for oil.

I had to watch the temperature closely and make adjustments every few minutes. I barely had time to get another beer and come back to check the temperature. About 1hour and 15 miuntes later we were ready to eat a perfect golden brown Turkey.