Deep frying a turkey

350.

But I bring it up to around 380-390 before setting in the bird.

She'll bring it down to around 330 before it climbs back up.

I ferget the formula. is it 3.5 minutes a pound for whole birds and 7 minutes a pound for just the breast only birds?

I always had the hardest time remembering the right temp until I saw someone use 365. Hmmmmm....365 degrees...365 days in the year. Silly, but that's how I remember it and that's what I use for turkey, fish, or whatever else I fry up. 350 sounds a little low. You'll know it if you're cooking too low though, the meat gets all greasy and nasty.

Keeping along the same lines of the thread, our Bass Pro Shop down here is selling Cottonseed Oil at a pretty good price ($14 for 35# vs. $18 for 35#). They say it's for cooking but I've never heard of it. Anybody used this stuff before? I'm all about saving money but not sure if I want to use this to experiment on a half dozen turkeys to save a few bucks.

I use that cottonseed oil sometimes.......it browns up darker to me....only difference I can tell.....I get it @ the Bass Pro in Atlanta when we go up also.

I'm gonna throw 4 BOOBIES (2 whole BOOBIES) in the basket and see what happens.

Thanks.

I go with taking it to somewhere around 400 before putting it in and 375 after it comes back. This sometimes leads to exciting flameups however. To make it really good you need to inject (cajun stuff it's in the supermarket here - you yankees may have to make your own) or stufing little slivers of onions jalepenos garlic etc and rub something under the skin.

Fry? FRY? Heck, the way that my smokers cook turkey makes a fryer unnecessary and an oily hassle. However I watched a show called Top Gear while I was in the UK last year and found out that you can burn the old oil in your diesel powered car.

i fried once. Did it on the walkway on the side of the hose cause i didnt want to spill oil on my deck. Bad move. the side of the house got a thin coating of oil on it that i didnt notice, unitil it started attracting dust and dirt and anything else that will stick to it. whole side of the house had crap on it.. never do that again.

Just cuz your an idiot doesn;t mean you shouldnt fry. Duh, dont' fry near the house.

there is nothing like a fried bird. there is nothing like a smoked bird. I am so farking pissed, I am starting my own thread now.

We have this couple here that tried a fried bird last year and they both said it was bad. The female of the 2 even used the word gross to describe it. There is no accounting for taste.

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So you got PMS'd!

I fry around 350 3-3.5 minutes per lb. for a whole bird and check the internal temp before I pull it. Let it rest a few minutes (the temp will keep rising for about 5 minutes). I then debone the thing and slice cross sections of the boobs.

I only do fried turkey once a year on Thanksgiving Day so I don't save my oil. Don't wanna take a chance on using old oil and things tasting like crap. I've had my eyes open for the right kinda turkeys for a few weeks now. I don't think you can go bigger than a 12 lb bird to fit in the fryer. Around here, they put the 18-20# birds on sale but not the smaller ones. Just gotta keep watchin'.

If you filter the oil (the battery pumps work OK - cheese cloth would better but I don't use it either) and stay around 350 you could get 4-5 turkeys out of a batch of oil -- maybe more.

I usually rotate one bottle of oil (1.25 gallons) every go around. But, I got three fries out of the first batch. The older oil will give you a nicer brown on the skin but if it's too old it'll darken the bird before it's done.

I've been using canola because I'm too cheap to buy peanut oil

I don't think you can go bigger than a 12 lb bird to fit in the fryer.

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It depends on the size of your pot but generally 12-13 pounds is a big as you should go. I think the rule is you only want the oil to come up 2/3 the depth of your pot with the bird in it -- otherwise you could get boil over (not pretty -- don't ask, I know this!!).

This last weekend I watched a cooking demonstration by John Henry Abercrombie, of John Henry's rubs/spices/meats.

One of the things he cooked was Fried Turkey.

One way to prevent boilover is to s-l-o-w-l-y immerse the bird in the hot oil. It probably took JH one or two minutes to get the bird fully submersed.

He fried the turkey with the lid on, to help keep the heat in the pot.

He spilt one or two small drops of oil total. So frying a turkey can be done without a mess.

-egkor (Gary K)

I also unwrap my bird, put it on the skewer and then fill the pot with water until it just covers the bird. Take the bird out and mark the pot. That other method about the wrapped bird and the oil doesn't really make sense unless you were going to do it right away otherwise you've got a pot full of oil sitting there.

Trying to think of some more tips and tricks......

If'n you're buying frozen birds, give them enough time to thaw. A 12 lb'r usually takes about 4 days in my fridge. An 18 lb'r takes a full week. NEVER ever put a bird in the fryer unless it's completely thawed. I learned this lesson the hard way because I was too impatient to let it fully thaw. Not only did it boil over but it was poppin' and splatterin' like crazy. Not to mention it's just a scary sight. Reminds me of those volcanos you see at a science fair.

Make sure the bird is patted down as dry as you can before it goes for it's oil bath. Saves splatter.

As Gary said, putting the bird in slowly will save splatter too.

Also, make sure you pin that "neck flap" on the bird down too to cover the hole. If not, you'll have hot oil bubblin' and poppin' out of that hole.

After I'm done, I usually just borrow the parent's pressure washer to clean the concrete but some well placed cardboard would probably solve that problem.

And I guess I don't have to mention gloves and long sleeves, do I?