Deep Fried Turkey

[dmb90260]

Have much air traffic??

After a little wine we almost did not notice but I did lean back and wave at Air Singapore flying over.

I suspect it was much heavier the day before but we got used to it. The good part is I live only 15 minutes away and got to sleep at home. My friend in the Cardinal had spent a couple nights there when her house was tented for termites. She said the take-offs kept up until 2Am and started back at 6AM.

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

1. Take into consideration the volume of the bird, so you don't end up over filling the kettle with oil...
2. Make sure that the bird is dry when you submerge it into the hot oil.
3. T F Once you've tried deep fried turkey you won't go back to baking... False.

[Joanne]

1. Take into consideration the volume of the bird, so you don't end up over filling the kettle with oil...
2. Make sure that the bird is dry when you submerge it into the hot oil.
3. T F Once you've tried deep fried turkey you won't go back to baking... False.

I've had deep fried turkey on a couple of occasions and I'm still not a convert. I don't know if it was prepared poorly, cooked at too high of a temp, or what, but both times there was an off taste to the meat. Maybe I just don't like the flavor of peanut oil.

The all-time best turkey I've ever eaten was smoked in a BBQ. The guy who cooked it promised to teach me how to do real BBQ, unfortunately he died a couple of weeks later. Years later I started to play with a smoker, but I've never done one as good as his was.

Joanne

Notice I didn't even mention a dutch oven in any of that discussion. Of course you can do a really good bird in one....

[Classic Finn]

But in any case either way you decide to go..

Cookem Good





Classic Finn

[Bayou Boy]

1. Take into consideration the volume of the bird, so you don't end up over filling the kettle with oil...
2. Make sure that the bird is dry when you submerge it into the hot oil.
3. T F Once you've tried deep fried turkey you won't go back to baking... False.

I've had deep fried turkey on a couple of occasions and I'm still not a convert. I don't know if it was prepared poorly, cooked at too high of a temp, or what, but both times there was an off taste to the meat. Maybe I just don't like the flavor of peanut oil.

The all-time best turkey I've ever eaten was smoked in a BBQ. The guy who cooked it promised to teach me how to do real BBQ, unfortunately he died a couple of weeks later. Years later I started to play with a smoker, but I've never done one as good as his was.

Joanne

Notice I didn't even mention a dutch oven in any of that discussion. Of course you can do a really good bird in one....

Joanne,
I used this recipe yesterday.
It came out wonderfully.
http://virtualweberbullet.com/turkey3.html

There's a few others on that page as well.
The secret is the brining.

[dmb90260]

1. Take into consideration the volume of the bird, so you don't end up over filling the kettle with oil...
2. Make sure that the bird is dry when you submerge it into the hot oil.
3. T F Once you've tried deep fried turkey you won't go back to baking... False.

Three additional rules:
1. Never try it indoors.,
2. Turn off the fire when you put the bird in and before you take it out.
3. When you put it in the oil, point the cavity away from you. The oil swirls in and out of the cavity spraying it all about.

I've done them in the oven, Weber Kettle w/smoke chips and Cajun. I prefer the oil with a bit of injected flavor. Done right you never taste the oil unless you eat the skin.
Next year I will look for a heritage turkey but Foster Farms did okay this time.

[George Kraus]

Dean brings up one of the big points many people overlook, the turkey must be dry, water and oil are an explosive combination. We deep fry very year at my sister's house and my brother-in-law built an A-frame on wheels with a boat winch at the top, he hangs the turkey off of the winch, wheels it over the oil and slowly lowers it down. Also if using an aluminum pot that has been used before inspect it just above the oil line, spitting oil will eventually eat holes through the aluminum, they will be pin hole size, but oil runs down them. That is from experience, we use stainless steel now, luckily we found the holes before we used the pot that time. Best tasting turkey there is, we generally use a three or four beer timer, depending on the size of the turkey.

George

[alabubba]

I have had fried turkey before, and it was so good. I was planning to fry another last Thursday, but the weather here turned rainy and I didn't have a good covered place outside to set up the turkey fryer.

But, I went ahead and prepared my turkey as if it would be deep fried, by injecting it with an injectable marinade (my own secret recipe) and letting the bird rest in the cooler for several hours. Rather than deep fry it, when I got it out of the cooler, I patted it down with barbecue rub (also my own secret recipe, you can ask but I'll never tell 'cause I don't wanna have to, well, you know... I don't wanna do nobody no harm), trussed it up, and cooked it in my rotisserie (the largest model of Showtime rotisserie, by the way).

After the 14 lb bird was completely devoured (nothing left but the carcass by noon the next day) my sons (22, 18 and 16) said it was the best, tatiest, most succulent turkey they had ever eaten BY FAR and would I please cook another (Friday), because they weren't even close to having had enough of that good turkey! They have NEVER had that kind of response to turkey before.

So yes, deep fried turkey, done properly, is absolutely delicious, but I now think that the moisture and flavor from a good injected marinade is a big part of that. The other major factor is that the hot oil immediately seals the moisture in the bird, keeping it very moist even in the breast, which can otherwise easily become dried out; plus it also cooks the bird quickly.

Well, what I discovered last Thursday was that the rotisserie also keeps the juices inside the bird, and is another reasonably quick cook as well, at right about two hours, so nothing was at all dried out. Plus, no dangerous pot of hot oil to deal with, etc.

[Ira]

I'm a smoker, although I'm tempted to try the deep fry thing.

Bought a frier a few week ago too, but I used it for other things.

[toypusher]

I'm a smoker, although I'm tempted to try the deep fry thing.

Bought a frier a few week ago too, but I used it for other things.

I guess they WOULD make a half decent beer cooler at that!!

[emiller]

It's the only way I cook it and will be doing another one at next weeks gathering in Parker, Arizona

[Ken Fincher]

emiller
We will see ya there, going to try and be there thurs we can't get out of Vegas till around 2 or 3 pm hopefully earlier.
We hope you folks had a good turkey day.

See ya soon
Ken F.
The Sin City Teardropper
( www.VegasTeardrop.com )

[Joanne]

Joanne,
I used this recipe yesterday.
It came out wonderfully.
http://virtualweberbullet.com/turkey3.html

There's a few others on that page as well.
The secret is the brining.

Hey BB!

I have to laugh a little bit at the link you posted 'cause after they guy passed away I started looking for info on smoking a turkey. Guess what website I found? Yep, that exact one! In fact I ended up buying a WSM smoker and learned to smoke a turkey from that website. I agree about the brining. I usually do it in a small cooler, although Alton Brown demonstrated brining in one of the big Igloo water coolers.

If anyone wants to get started in real BBQ, the link BB posted is a good place to start. I think I'm going to have to go back and revisit the whole site. My smoker is feeling a little neglected right now.

Joanne

[emiller]

Great Ken, I'll be there on Friday. It's a very nice camp ground.

[Ira]

In fact I ended up buying a WSM smoker and learned to smoke a turkey from that website.

A WSM--Weber Smokey Mountain--is like the #1 smoker available for home use. You simply can't go wrong with it.

I myself don't have one, because I like to cause problems for myself so I use different models.