Turkey Frying Tips

The Holiday Season is upon us, and for many of us it’s time to break out the Turkey Fryers. Fried turkey has become extremely popular in Texas over the past few years. This method of cooking turkey creates a wonderful crisp outside while leaving the inside tender and juicy, even down to the very center of the breast. Most grocery stores or sporting good stores carry a good variety of injectable marinades ranging from Honey Bacon BBQ to the traditional Spicy Cajun for a quick easy way to season your turkey. As much fun as it is to hang out in the backyard enjoying a couple of beers watching your turkey fry, we must remember that safety comes first when dealing with this much hot oil. We have outlined some tips below to help you out with your fried turkey this holiday season. We have also included a video from UL (Underwriters Laboratories), about the dangers of frying turkey and just how dangerous this can be. So have fun, be careful, Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.

Turkey Frying Tips

Be sure to follow all safety instructions that came with your turkey frying kit.
Never fry a turkey in your garage, on your deck, under your patio or porch. Always do this in a wide open space, free from any kind of fire hazard. And have a fire extinguisher on hand.
Be sure not to use a turkey that is over the recommend weight for you pot. If you place the turkey in your pot and it touches the sides then the turkey is too big and you will need to get a smaller turkey.
Make sure your turkey is completely thawed before attempting to fry it. You will also need to remove the sack from inside the cavity of the turkey that contains the giblets.
Place your turkey in the empty pot; fill with water until you have just enough to completely cover the turkey or to the “Fill Here” line on the inside of your pot. There should still be a few inches between the surface of the water and the rim of the pot. If not, you need a smaller turkey or a deeper pot. You should fill your pot with cooking oil to this line and no more. This method keeps you from guessing at the oil level and risking an overflow of hot oil onto your burner. (Caution: An overflow will burn anything in the vicinity of the pot and could even spread, we all know how bad grease fires can be.)
Peanut oil is recommended for frying a turkey because of its high smoke point and great flavor. If peanut allergies exist, vegetable, corn or canola oil may also be substituted.
The store bought marinade kits with injectors work great for frying a turkey because all liquids are kept inside the turkey and will not affect the hot oil and the turkey will have great flavor throughout.
After injecting the turkey with marinade you will need to dry the inside and outside completely with paper towels. This is an important safety feature that will remove extra moisture from the turkey and reduce popping and overflowing of the oil when placing the turkey into pot.
Rub the outside of the turkey with your favorite dry rub.
Dust the outside of turkey with flour for a little extra crunch.
Place your turkey on the turkey rack/holder.
Use welding gloves or large oven mitts to protect your hands and arms. You can even attach your rack hook to a 2x4 which you can use to raise and lower your turkey with out having to stand over the hot oil.
Heat your oil to 350 degrees. The temperature will naturally drop when you put the turkey into the oil but it will slowly return.
Fry the turkey until a thermometer inserted in to the middle of the breast reaches 180 degrees.
Remove the turkey from the oil slowly allowing the oil to drain from the cavity of the turkey.
Allow the turkey to cool slightly before carving.