I'd love to try a deep fried turkey some day. I hear they're de-e-licious. I'd only ever try frying one myself though if I had a large yard to lower the risk of burning anything down.

u a turkey
turkey

Darwin at his best...

Frying a turkey is easy. You have to be a complete moron to start a fire doing it.

I'm frying one and my brother is smoking one next week for Thanksgiving. Can't wait.

Spatchcocking is the way to go. 

Link

"More and more people have tried it," he continued, "instead of just sticking it in the oven, maybe found it was more exciting to cook it outside."


I guess that's one way to describe it.

Cythraul: I'd love to try a deep fried turkey some day. I hear they're de-e-licious. I'd only ever try frying one myself though if I had a large yard to lower the risk of burning anything down.

They are delicious.

You don't need a large yard, but you do need enough room that if the fryer starts to flame up, there is nothing around it to catch on fire. That means no garages, no decks, etc.

Pfft, I hickory smoke mine.

NASAM: Cythraul: I'd love to try a deep fried turkey some day. I hear they're de-e-licious. I'd only ever try frying one myself though if I had a large yard to lower the risk of burning anything down.

They are delicious.

You don't need a large yard, but you do need enough room that if the fryer starts to flame up, there is nothing around it to catch on fire. That means no garages, no decks, etc.

Exactly. Everyone on my friend's block fries one so they just close down the street in front of his house (rural area and it's easy to go around so the cops don't care), and there's generally half a dozen fryers setup. It makes for a fun community Thanksgiving if the weather is nice actually.

/and so delicious

We have a deep frying turkey party after thanksgiving at a friends house where people bring the ones they get free at the super market from buying food. Usually we do about 6 or 7 of them way out in the middle of his back yard. A good deal of people show up for this feast.

/they are very tasty

NASAM: Frying a turkey is easy. You have to be a complete moron to start a fire doing it.

I'm frying one and my brother is smoking one next week for Thanksgiving. Can't wait.

I smoked mine in apple wood after an apple cider brining last year.
I've been informed by the family that I'm not allowed to do it any other way from now on.

Cythraul: I'd love to try a deep fried turkey some day. I hear they're de-e-licious. I'd only ever try frying one myself though if I had a large yard to lower the risk of burning anything down.

Its really the only way to cook a Turkey. But gallons of hot oil requires some sort of care which most people can't muster any time of the year let alone on Thanksgiving with people and alcohol flowing.

/didn't realize frying a Turkey was some sort of "trend"
//this year will be the first year in a decade I won't be doing it

I tried deep fried turkey years ago, when it was all the redneck rage. I didn't think it was all that and certainly not worth the effort or the risk.

NASAM: Frying a turkey is easy. You have to be a complete moron to start a fire doing it.

I'm frying one and my brother is smoking one next week for Thanksgiving. Can't wait.

Challenge accepted!

http://youtu.be/KHrSXLuEx3U

NASAM: Cythraul: I'd love to try a deep fried turkey some day. I hear they're de-e-licious. I'd only ever try frying one myself though if I had a large yard to lower the risk of burning anything down.

They are delicious.

You don't need a large yard, but you do need enough room that if the fryer starts to flame up, there is nothing around it to catch on fire. That means no garages, no decks, etc.

Yup. A few big things that people don't do that make frying turkeys dangerous:

First off, defrost the turkey completely, and dry it as well as possible. Water makes oil pop and spray out, which can start fires.

Secondly, put the turkey in the empty pot (not cooking yet), and then fill it with water, leaving the turkey totally covered with water but as far away from the edge of the pot as you can. Take the turkey out, and the remaining water level is how high you want to fill it with oil. After you get used to the sizes of a turkey and the oil you can skip this step, but your first time, you better make sure you do it. Most fires are caused by people putting too much oil in, and not understanding the principle of displacement.

Then of course, make sure the pot is completely stable and level, lower the turkey in slowly (as well as removing it slowly and carefully), wear more than shorts and flip-flops, all the other things a normal, cautious person would do.

It can be more work than just roasting a turkey, but damn is it good.

Displacement how does it work?

Here is a top tip if you are unsure how much oil to use, check you displacement with water and your turkey before you have a pot of hot oil, oh and don't fry inside your garage or on a wood deck as has been mentioned.

gingerjet:

/didn't realize frying a Turkey was some sort of "trend"
//this year will be the first year in a decade I won't be doing it

So you're a hipster who's moving on to an un-trendy thing? ;-)

That number is huge for such a sparely populated state. There must be like 0.42222222 fires in Wyoming.

Pffft....I beer brine and smoke my turkey like a true Texan.

Pitabred: NASAM: Cythraul: I'd love to try a deep fried turkey some day. I hear they're de-e-licious. I'd only ever try frying one myself though if I had a large yard to lower the risk of burning anything down.

They are delicious.

You don't need a large yard, but you do need enough room that if the fryer starts to flame up, there is nothing around it to catch on fire. That means no garages, no decks, etc.

Yup. A few big things that people don't do that make frying turkeys dangerous:

First off, defrost the turkey completely, and dry it as well as possible. Water makes oil pop and spray out, which can start fires.

Secondly, put the turkey in the empty pot (not cooking yet), and then fill it with water, leaving the turkey totally covered with water but as far away from the edge of the pot as you can. Take the turkey out, and the remaining water level is how high you want to fill it with oil. After you get used to the sizes of a turkey and the oil you can skip this step, but your first time, you better make sure you do it. Most fires are caused by people putting too much oil in, and not understanding the principle of displacement.

Then of course, make sure the pot is completely stable and level, lower the turkey in slowly (as well as removing it slowly and carefully), wear more than shorts and flip-flops, all the other things a normal, cautious person would do.

It can be more work than just roasting a turkey, but damn is it good.

Gotta dry it again after step 2, of course.

BarkingUnicorn: So you're a hipster who's moving on to an un-trendy thing? ;-)

I'm a hipster who moved two thousand miles for a job and now lives in an apartment building - making it impractical. I was thinking of frying cornish hens this year. They will be all the rage in a year. :)

Usually I balance about ten gallons of oil in a big spaghetti pot on the Weber knock-off grill, which I bring into the kitchen. Once the charcoal is hot enough, and the oil has started to smoke, I drop the frozen turkey into the oil from about five feet up (a safe distance). Any excess oil gets absorbed by the burning charcoal, and any that spills over onto the floor gets washed away by the fire hoses. Last year the landlord let us stay in his garage until we found a new apartment.

arador: Pffft....I beer brine and smoke my turkey like a true Texan.

I'd be interested in hearing about a beer brine. I'm a homebrewer and love using my smoker for meat prep.

I smoked my first turkey this past weekend. We were supposed to host a Thanksgiving for friends and the event got canceled and we had a 18 pound bird that was going to go to waste.

It was way bigger than I wanted to do but it came out okay. Not great, but okay.

I just fried one last night. Delish. We do about 4 between November and January, just because they are so cheap, and the oil will only last so long.

Here are my two pro-tips (I've been doing this for 10 years):
1. Get the oil to 400 before you put the turkey in, because the turkey will take the temp down 50 degrees instantly. That way you can cook at 350 without having to worry about it getting back up to the right temp.
2. TURN OFF THE BURNER WHEN YOU PUT THE TURKEY IN. Any oil overflow won't catch fire if there is no fire. When the turkey is in and settled, light the burner again. Easy-peasy.

/ I get turkey left-overs this week. Yay me.

Pitabred: It can be more work than just roasting a turkey, but damn is it good.

Observing my brother's attempt to roast a turkey year after year - I would disput that.

/frying also makes for a more predictable dinner time

JamesSirBensonMum: I just fried one last night. Delish. We do about 4 between November and January, just because they are so cheap, and the oil will only last so long.

Here are my two pro-tips (I've been doing this for 10 years):

2. TURN OFF THE BURNER WHEN YOU PUT THE TURKEY IN. Any oil overflow won't catch fire if there is no fire. When the turkey is in and settled, light the burner again. Easy-peasy.


I do this as well. Excellent tip.

Skarekrough: arador: Pffft....I beer brine and smoke my turkey like a true Texan.

I'd be interested in hearing about a beer brine. I'm a homebrewer and love using my smoker for meat prep.

I smoked my first turkey this past weekend. We were supposed to host a Thanksgiving for friends and the event got canceled and we had a 18 pound bird that was going to go to waste.

It was way bigger than I wanted to do but it came out okay. Not great, but okay.

Sounds like it would use a lot of beer. But I'd be interested in the details too (I'm a home brewer also).

Tom_Slick: Displacement how does it work?



He knows...

One thing i MIGHT actually miss when my divorce is final...my son in law's fried turkeys

I've eaten these many times, they're great. And I don't typically care about turkey.

Notice the article says Texas is ahead of New York at second place.

Deep frying the turkey was the best decision my family ever made...hence the large spot on our lawn where grass no longer grows.

flaming turkey retard

Finally, my band has a name.

Deep frying is the only way we prepare turkey now and it has been that way for about the last 7-8 years. I will never prepare a turkey by putting it in the oven ever again.

I thought, after all the sanctimonious crap poured out on Fark regarding the retard who had help writing the letter to Anne Coulter, that all Farkers never ever ever used the word 'retard' because they would never ever be that insensitive.

littleray42: I thought, after all the sanctimonious crap poured out on Fark regarding the retard who had help writing the letter to Anne Coulter, that all Farkers never ever ever used the word 'retard' because they would never ever be that insensitive.

You sound potato

JamesSirBensonMum: littleray42: I thought, after all the sanctimonious crap poured out on Fark regarding the retard who had help writing the letter to Anne Coulter, that all Farkers never ever ever used the word 'retard' because they would never ever be that insensitive.

You sound potato

Don't make fun of the way I count.

littleray42: I thought, after all the sanctimonious crap poured out on Fark regarding the retard who had help writing the letter to Anne Coulter, that all Farkers never ever ever used the word 'retard' because they would never ever be that insensitive.

There's no way that retard wrote that letter himself.

m1ke: Deep frying is the only way we prepare turkey now and it has been that way for about the last 7-8 years. I will never prepare a turkey by putting it in the oven ever again.

Enjoy those cancer-causing free radicals that deep frying a turkey produces. I'll stick to roasting, which gives me far more options, produces a more tender bird, and is really much easier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t2dwP TnsyA&feature=g-all-bul

Maud Dib: Spatchcocking is the way to go. 

Link

How about turkey under a really big brick??

Maud Dib: Spatchcocking is the way to go. 

Link



Beat me to it. While frying is by far the best, I got tired of doing it and never using all that oil again. It finally dawned on me to cut the turkey into pieces, looked it up online, and found out I basically reinvented the wheel (not a huge cook, so I thought I was super clever).

Spatchcocking is a very close second place to frying. Whole-bird baking is almost never done correctly and a real pain in arse.

Most people have grown up on dried out, overcooked, oven turkey, and deep fried is better than that, but it's not better than a well roasted bird.

JackieRabbit: Enjoy those cancer-causing free radicals that deep frying a turkey produces. I'll stick to roasting, which gives me far more options, produces a more tender bird, and is really much easier.

I will, thanks. Cock.

Tried it. didn't like it.

I mean, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't special enough to plan a holiday meal around. There are dozens of ways to roast a turkey, with plenty of different spices, stuffings, gravies, etc. Fried turkey, I imagine, is pretty much always fried turkey.

Maud Dib: Spatchcocking is the way to go. 

Link

This sounds far more interesting....

JackieRabbit: m1ke: Deep frying is the only way we prepare turkey now and it has been that way for about the last 7-8 years. I will never prepare a turkey by putting it in the oven ever again.

Enjoy those cancer-causing free radicals that deep frying a turkey produces. I'll stick to roasting, which gives me far more options, produces a more tender bird, and is really much easier.

This is why no one likes you.

JackieRabbit: m1ke: Deep frying is the only way we prepare turkey now and it has been that way for about the last 7-8 years. I will never prepare a turkey by putting it in the oven ever again.

Enjoy those cancer-causing free radicals that deep frying a turkey produces. I'll stick to roasting, which gives me far more options, produces a more tender bird, and is really much easier.

Oh noes, free radicals.

Anyone else simply not all that interested in turkey or ham, the holiday staples?

I'd rather have a nice rack of ribs, prime rib, etc. I could live without ever eating ham or turkey again.