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anyone ever fried a turkey?

TN

Hey baby, want a hot dog?
Jul 9, 2002
14,301
1,353
Jimtown, CO
I will be frying 2 birds next week when we go see L's folks down south.
I know I should get the oil hotter than 350 cuz the turkey will lower the temp of the oil & I know about safety.

Anyone got any tips?
 

TN

Hey baby, want a hot dog?
Jul 9, 2002
14,301
1,353
Jimtown, CO
white witch? sounds good. they are fresh turkeys....one was just killed by my father in law. I love smoked turkey & would like to smoke one but that would entail me taking my smoker to TN.
 

sneakysnake

Monkey
Apr 2, 2006
875
1
NC
We do one most years, and the biggest thing is to make sure they've been in the fridge thawing for several days before you put them in the fryer. If you do it in a garage, just make sure to lay down some newspaper, because the oil will pop.

Enjoy it!
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
we fry our turkeys every year.

the turkey will significantly lower the oil temp once you put it in. whenever we fried ours, i never really got the oil temp that much hotter than 350 before putting the bird in. i usually crank up the heat to bring it back up to temp, but it still takes a while.

obviously make sure the bird is as dry as possible too. other than that, its pretty damn easy to do since you just watch the temp to make sure it doesnt get too hot.

 

denjen

Certified Lift Whore
Sep 16, 2001
1,691
36
Richmond VA
Fill the boiler all the way to the brim with oil before dropping the turkey in. This will help cook everything faster.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,562
24,182
media blackout
Fill the boiler all the way to the brim with oil before dropping the turkey in. This will help cook everything faster.
make sure the turkey is still fully frozen before you put it in. The larger the temperature difference, the faster thermal transfer will occur.
 

eaterofdog

ass grabber
Sep 8, 2006
8,189
1,431
Central Florida
To test if the oil is hot enough, wait till it's smoking and throw a pint of water in it.

The other thing is never, never listen to me.
 
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BACONANDBEER

Chimp
Oct 25, 2010
14
0
So Cal
I prep my pot before anything...make sure you have a proper oil line in your pot. Use water to replicate oil and drop one of the birds in the pot to give you a reference of where the bird will be covered by 1" of oil...make a line and add your oil.

-Use smaller birds...10-14 lbs. Thawed, cleaned, and dry inside/out.
-inject each birds with your favorite marinade in the thighs, breasts, and drumsticks but do not pull out the needle each time...insert, inject, pull slightly out of the same hole and make a new angle injection. The less holes in the bird the better.
-make a cut on each leg where they meet the body...allows oil to drain when you pull it out.
-slowly lower the bird into the oil legs up (DO NOT HEAT PAST 350!) turn the burner up a bit to quickly raise the oil temp back to 350. reduce heat when oil is optimum and allow 3 1/2 minutes per lb. to cook.

While cooking, stay close by and check the temp of the oil periodically. NEVER let it get beyond 350 or you might end up in a serious mess...beyond 450 degrees, oil can reach flash point temps quicker than you can slug a PBR tall boy. No need to ruin Thanksgiving at the trailer park so keep an eye on the oil temp.

Have a large cookie sheet with a towel in it to place the cooked bird on. Pour yourself a tasty pint of your favorite brew and enjoy!
 

denjen

Certified Lift Whore
Sep 16, 2001
1,691
36
Richmond VA
I've heard that stuffing the turkey with dry ice will help accelerate thermal exchange even faster
Thanks for the tip. Ive also heard you can pour some extra oil on the ground around the cooker. That way the fire burns longer and hotter to help cook everything.
 

TN

Hey baby, want a hot dog?
Jul 9, 2002
14,301
1,353
Jimtown, CO
good tips...thankx.

JK- should I stuff the bird with match heads? I bet that would be fun.
 

trib

not worthy of a Rux.
Jun 22, 2009
1,456
388
What kind of texture does the bird get after being fried rather than oven roasted? I'm intrigued. I'd guess it's similar to the difference between fried/roasted chicken, but with a much bigger bird?
 

TreeSaw

Mama Monkey
Oct 30, 2003
17,669
1,847
Dancin' over rocks n' roots!
I prep my pot before anything...make sure you have a proper oil line in your pot. Use water to replicate oil and drop one of the birds in the pot to give you a reference of where the bird will be covered by 1" of oil...make a line and add your oil.

-Use smaller birds...10-14 lbs. Thawed, cleaned, and dry inside/out.
-inject each birds with your favorite marinade in the thighs, breasts, and drumsticks but do not pull out the needle each time...insert, inject, pull slightly out of the same hole and make a new angle injection. The less holes in the bird the better.
-make a cut on each leg where they meet the body...allows oil to drain when you pull it out.
-slowly lower the bird into the oil legs up (DO NOT HEAT PAST 350!) turn the burner up a bit to quickly raise the oil temp back to 350. reduce heat when oil is optimum and allow 3 1/2 minutes per lb. to cook.

While cooking, stay close by and check the temp of the oil periodically. NEVER let it get beyond 350 or you might end up in a serious mess...beyond 450 degrees, oil can reach flash point temps quicker than you can slug a PBR tall boy. No need to ruin Thanksgiving at the trailer park so keep an eye on the oil temp.

Have a large cookie sheet with a towel in it to place the cooked bird on. Pour yourself a tasty pint of your favorite brew and enjoy!
Exactly what he said! We fry a couple each year and they're always tasty!!!
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
Check this out:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/11/the-food-lab-deep-fried-turkey-how-to-fry-a-turkey-thanksgiving.html

Food science dude first said "frying sucks" but then changed his mind after trying again, and came up with good tips.

Aside from all the safety stuff, seems one of the most important things to remember is how much more residual cooking will happen when resting a fried bird as compared to a roasted bird. The temperature of a fried bird will rise more while resting, so you want to pull it out of the oil before you would pull a roasted bird.
 

Salami

Turbo Monkey
Jul 17, 2003
1,784
118
Waxhaw, NC
Anyone got any tips?
Here is what worked for me. Get two thermometers. One to monitor the temp of the oil. Second one digital with a probe you can check the temp of the bird.

Like mentioned towards the end the bird temp goes up quick. Real quick. When the temp is about 15 degrees from your target temp start getting the bird out of the oil. For me by the time the bird was safely out of the oil and in the house it was done cooking.

Done this way it is the most moist turkey I have ever eaten.
 

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,195
4,419
I did once as at a work thanksgiving party... they had me, the new guy do one of 6 (!)

We made sure it was completely defrosted and away from anything that could burn. Everyone made jokes about burning down the whole place as well as sending around a safety video of what happens when you do it inside. Ours was completely uneventful.

When it came down to eating, I didn't actually like the taste as much as a baked bird... maybe it was just the smell of cooking (the hot/frying oil) that kind of ruined it for me. The whole thing seemed like a bit of a waste and based on this experience, I wouldn't recommend it.
 

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
Staff member
Nov 7, 2001
24,658
63
behind the viewfinder
When it came down to eating, I didn't actually like the taste as much as a baked bird... maybe it was just the smell of cooking (the hot/frying oil) that kind of ruined it for me. The whole thing seemed like a bit of a waste and based on this experience, I wouldn't recommend it.
:thumb:

people who crow about cooking turkeys this way seem to be more into the experience than the end product.
 

Brian HCM#1

MMMMMMMMM BEER!!!!!!!!!!
Sep 7, 2001
32,119
378
Bay Area, California
I like both, I have a deep fryer and it did take several attempts to get it right. As far as an over bird, cook it with the breast side down. It doesn't look as pretty when you remove it from the oven, but the breast is very moist.
 

DirtMcGirk

<b>WAY</b> Dumber than N8 (to the power of ten alm
Feb 21, 2008
6,379
1
Oz
We deep fried a Turducken once in NOLA. The next year we went back and did a Turducken Cordon Bleu. I can't eat any of it, but from the people I was with, who were admittedly plastered, they said it was one of the best creations of the Tulane Grad Rugby Team.

Mind you we also would host a 300+ person by invite only pig roast a few times a year. These folk liked the Turducken Cordon Bleu better.