I Deep-Fat Fried My Turkey For The First Time

[mudwhistle]

I'd send pics but my wife already started ripping into it.

I didn't become a burn victim and she says it tastes really good.

The last time I asked someone what they stuffed it with, they said it was already stuffed.

You shouldn't put stuff in a deep fry turkey. You're asking for disaster if you do.

 

[kwc57]

I'd send pics but my wife already started ripping into it.

I didn't become a burn victim and she says it tastes really good.

Yep!

 

[kwc57]

We tried a new method my wife found that country singer Trisha Yearwood swears by in one of her cookbooks. You butter, salt and pepper the bird along with some stuffing of things like onions, carrots, celery, etc. You crank the oven up to 500 degrees, pour 2 cups of boiling water into the pan, cover it tightly and stick it in the oven for exactly 1 hour. At 1 hour, you turn off the oven and do NOT open the door. Let the oven cool down over the next few hours. The bird came out perfectly browned and was very tender and moist.

Of course my favorite method is our Boy Scout troop's annual Turkey Cookout. We dig a pit about 30 feet long and 3 feet wide. We load it with brush and small stuff and light the fire at midnight. For the next 6 hours, the adults take shifts feeding the fire with wood we've cut thru the year. The boys butter and season their turkeys, wrpa them in multiple layers of foil, lace them into a "basket" of chicken wire, wire the basket to a pole we lay across the pit and lower them into the bed of coals. Then we throw some dirt on top of the coals and let them cook for a few hours. We use the poles to lift the basket out of the pit and let them cool down enough to unwrap them. Damn good turkey. We cook about 15 turkeys per year this way as we are a large troop. It's been going on for at least 30 years now. Damn fine tasting turkey!

 

[Ernie S.]

My neighbor watched me put the bird in and I guess he was expecting one of those "American's Funniest Home Videos" moments.

It's pretty neat cooking like that.

And FAST. My friend Dave and I did a 16 pounder in 48 minutes. The 24 pounder I roasted took 6 1/2 hours.
Both birds turned out great and they are now bare carcasses. We had maybe 5 pounds of leftover meat from 40 pounds we served.

 

[mudwhistle]

Would you do it again?

In a heart-beat.

It's fun.

 

[mudwhistle]

To anyone who does it a strange thing happens.

You almost lose the urge to eat because that smell coming from the cooking seems to fill you up.

Unless you're really hungry try to avoid smelling the fumes coming off of the cooker because by the time I got done I really didn't feel like eating a whole lot. I ate some turkey and some stuffing and German potato salad, but I didn't eat much at all. It smells great when it's cooking but that's what happened.
But that could just be me.

And you have to stay there with it to make sure proper temperatures are maintained and the cooker doesn't start a fire.


Losing weight on Thanksgiving.

What a concept.

 

[April]

I'd send pics but my wife already started ripping into it.

I didn't become a burn victim and she says it tastes really good.

"I didn't become a burn victim..."
Well, thank goodness for that!

I hear if done properly it's the best tasting and juciest compared to convential oven baking.

I'm a walking fire hazard as a person (I can set not only my own smoke alarms off, but the neighbors as well when I cook) <----sad, oh so very sad.

Glad it turned out for you..

 

[Zoom]

I'd send pics but my wife already started ripping into it.

I didn't become a burn victim and she says it tastes really good.

Hopefully you wrapped it in foil for at least an hour before she started eating it. I swear,I will never traditionally cook a turkey again. Deep frying them is the only way to do it.

Good choice.

 

[JoeB131]

My Neice's husband tried this a couple years ago... I thought it tasted way too oily.. especially the dark meat.

 

[Sarah G]

I'd send pics but my wife already started ripping into it.

I didn't become a burn victim and she says it tastes really good.

Hopefully you wrapped it in foil for at least an hour before she started eating it. I swear,I will never traditionally cook a turkey again. Deep frying them is the only way to do it.

Good choice.

Why do you wrap it in foil?

 

[koshergrl]

To anyone who does it a strange thing happens.

You almost lose the urge to eat because that smell coming from the cooking seems to fill you up.

Unless you're really hungry try to avoid smelling the fumes coming off of the cooker because by the time I got done I really didn't feel like eating a whole lot. I ate some turkey and some stuffing and German potato salad, but I didn't eat much at all. It smells great when it's cooking but that's what happened.
But that could just be me.

And you have to stay there with it to make sure proper temperatures are maintained and the cooker doesn't start a fire.


Losing weight on Thanksgiving.

What a concept.

Pretty common for me...after the hellacious prep that goes into a meal, the last thing in the world I usually want to do is sit down and eat it. I want to take a shower and a nap, lol.

 

[koshergrl]

Ppl, oil is not infused into the bird by frying it. The fried skin seals the juices and the fat in..that's why it's more juicy.

I stuffed and cooked mine in the traditional way....325 in the oven, 20 lb turkey = 6-6.5 hours and it was done. I wrapped the drumstick ends in foil to prevent them from burning/drying/shriveling up like they usually do.

It turned out beautiful..i don't think I've ever seen better color on a bird of mine. It was really no-fuss, I rubbed it with a "buttery baking stick" (I sent my son to pick up butter, that's what he got, lol) every hour or two...the buttery baking stick did okay, I guess. We still have a huge casserole dish full of turkey. I think by tomorrow we'll make a big dent in that, and then maybe a day more of sandwiches and that will be the end of it. Monday night is probably turkey noodle soup night...and we'll have the carcass for another turkey noodle soup night down the road..

 

[whitehall]

I did one too. It's fast and easy and safe if you aren't stupid or drunk. Follow instructions, keep the oil about 350 degrees, use peanut oil and rub it down with your choice of a variety of spices and you never had a more juicy and tasty turkey in about a half hour from dry thawed to cooked..