Let's Talk Turkey

With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching, I find it an appropriate time to talk turkey. Deep fried turkey to be exact. Deep-fried turkey is a concept that started in the south (the deep frying capital of the United States) but has risen in popularity nationwide. It’s one of the most moist, most flavorful ways to serve a (normally dry) bird. If you’ve never tasted a turkey that’s been deep fried, I highly recommend that you do at some point in your life. Matt and I fried a bird on Sunday, and it was delicious.

It sounds like a lot of work, when you think about deep frying a turkey but, it’s really not too bad. If you make preparations and have the proper equipment, it’s really easy. Matt and I picked up a 30-quart Propane fryer at Walmart® (minor assembly required) for around $50.00 and it came with everything we needed (pot and lid, automatic timer, welded stand, cast iron burner, T-star and lifter, 10 PSIG regulator and 12” thermometer) minus the propane tank (and turkey).

Obviously, deep frying a whole bird should be done with caution. The oil is hot and very flammable. You should never deep fry a turkey indoors and you should place the cooker on a level dirt or grassy area, away from buildings. Avoid wooden surfaces that can catch on fire and you also want to avoid concrete surfaces that you don’t want oil stained.
 
The first thing we did was place our (13lb) turkey into the pot and cover it with water - doing this helps determine how much oil is needed for cooking. Once the water was about 2” above the bird, we removed the turkey and marked the water level. After the pot was emptied and dry, we filled it up to our mark with oil for cooking.  

There are several ways to prepare a bird, from injecting marinade to marinade rubs for the outside. We decided to prep our turkey with a marinade rub, and we let the bird sit for a couple of hours before frying. Once the turkey was ready for cooking, we heated up our cooking oil to about 350⁰ (this took about 20 minutes). With the oil temperature ready for the bird, we lowered the turkey into the oil (slowly) and waited.

You can estimate about 3 minutes per pound to deep fry a turkey. Checking with a meat thermometer, the temperature should be 170⁰F in the breast and 180⁰ in the thigh. After about 45 minutes, our turkey was done! With the hook provided, we lifted the turkey out of the oil (slowly) and let it cool for about 15 to 20 minutes. Once the bird was cool enough to slice, we dug in to some moist, delicious turkey meat.

Matt and I love to grill out and I think we’ve added deep frying to our list of “favorite ways to cook meat”. It’s fun to try different marinades and ways of cooking. Deep frying another turkey is definitely on our “to do” list. We plan on frying a bird for our family on Thanksgiving this year (wish us luck)!

Helpful Hints:
-Do not stuff a turkey that you plan on frying
-Be sure to measure for the amount of oil you need BEFORE you marinate the turkey
-Wash hands, utensils, surfaces and equipment that have come in contact with raw turkey
-Keep an eye on the timer, fried turkeys cook quickly
-Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours of cooking
-NEVER leave hot oil unattended
-Don’t allow children or pets near the cooking area
-Allow oil to cool completely before disposing or storing
 
Recipes
Deep-Fried Turkey Recipe - Allrecipes.com
Deep-Fried Turkey Recipe : Alton Brown : Recipes : Food Network
Deep-Fried Turkey Recipe : Paula Deen : Recipes : Food Network

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