[GoRedwings19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PinkFloyd Yep and if your pan goes on fire don't throw a bucket of water on it as you'll make things a lot worse..... throw a towel over it to extinguish the flames.

Or you could throw a turkey over it. Think about it dudes. You would have fried and barbecued turkey.....hmm yummy

 

[chadbang]

I just saw a news special about frying turkeys. You have to be a loon to try it at home. They showed a man who lost his home to a turkey fry last year. He said it was a horrifying fire. And this guy was a CHICAGO FIREMAN! They showed what happens with these fires. It's like a volcano erupting. The oil spills out over the side and ignites and then you have a huge, bubbling boiling vat of fire. Horrible to try and put out. Huge flames. If the turkey's not completely thawed, the water boils out of the bird and starts the intial spill. The hell with it, roast the gd thing.

 

[Jahn]

One word - "Turducken."

 

[gsferrari]

I'll just fry mine with my soldering iron then

Or take it outside, soak in oil and attack it with a butane torch

 

[viator122]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chadbang I just saw a news special about frying turkeys. You have to be a loon to try it at home. They showed a man who lost his home to a turkey fry last year. He said it was a horrifying fire. And this guy was a CHICAGO FIREMAN! They showed what happens with these fires. It's like a volcano erupting. The oil spills out over the side and ignites and then you have a huge, bubbling boiling vat of fire. Horrible to try and put out. Huge flames. If the turkey's not completely thawed, the water boils out of the bird and starts the intial spill. The hell with it, roast the gd thing.

I'm no expert, but like I said in my above post, I've done this before. I really think that if you follow the instructions and basic safety, and WATCH the thing while it's cooking it can be done with no problems.

 

[Tuberoller]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chadbang I just saw a news special about frying turkeys. You have to be a loon to try it at home. They showed a man who lost his home to a turkey fry last year. He said it was a horrifying fire. And this guy was a CHICAGO FIREMAN! They showed what happens with these fires. It's like a volcano erupting. The oil spills out over the side and ignites and then you have a huge, bubbling boiling vat of fire. Horrible to try and put out. Huge flames. If the turkey's not completely thawed, the water boils out of the bird and starts the intial spill. The hell with it, roast the gd thing.

Well this Chicago Firefighter has mores sense than that. I have fried them in the past and they do taste great but I excercise the same cautions I advise here.

 

[domworld]

hmm let me know how it's going to taste, a fried turkey =P

 

[warubozu]

Two of my uncles have been frying their turkeys for the past 5 yrs without any problems and will do so again this year. As you have stated taking a little precaution to make sure that such problems as shown in the pics and video above doesn't happen will ensure a perfectly cooked turkey without any problems.

 

[Juergen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by viator122 Edwood, why no marinades?

My guess is that if you inject the turkey with a marinade, the pocket of liquid could burst when it gets boiling and cause a violent reaction with the hot oil.

 

[viator122]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juergen My guess is that if you inject the turkey with a marinade, the pocket of liquid could burst when it gets boiling and cause a violent reaction with the hot oil.

Right, I just did some research with the Cornell Cooperative Extension. Apparently marinades, while they can be used, increase the risk of accidents as Juergen pointed out. I will not be using any.

EDIT: I also had a conversation with a very knowledgeable woman named Janet at the Cornell Cooperative Extension who gave me some advice regarding the oil. I'll be using canola oil and she told me that if you strain the oil back into its original containers soon after it cools, and keep it in a cool place you can reuse it up to 2 times for 3-6 months. She said the more often you expose the oil to air the shorter the life span of the oil will be. Also she said you'll know when the oil shouldn't be used because it will look/smell funny but that even then it's not dangerous to use (what could live submerged in 350 degree canola oil?).

 

[Tuberoller]

Early run logs for Turkey Day say that there were 5 fires caused by turkey fryers. That's a huge drop and goes to show what factual information can do to save lives.

 

[viator122]

Ok, so we used a dry rub made from garlic, bay leaves, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. We injected the turkey with sherry.

First we did a test chicken - we didn't want to take chances with the Thanksgiving turkey. The chicken was less than 6lbs. so we cooked it for 2.5 minutes per pound, but it wasn't enough so it had to go back in.

The turkey came out wonderfully: juicy, tender meat with crispy skin. Fantastic.

Unfortunately, on Friday morning I came face to face with the downside to deep-frying your turkey: the cleanup. Straining the oil back into its containers wasn't too bad. The oil turned a nice shade of amber and after being strained through the cheesecloth it didn't have any crumbs or other particulate matter in it. The really nasty part was cleaning the pot. The bottom had all this gross stuff crusted on it so I had to use a special degreaser and lots of soap and hot water to scrub it all of.

Anyway, in the end it was great and I would recommend everyone try deep-frying a turkey or two. So go out and get those deep-fryers and be ready for next year.

 

[Mr.PD]

Thanks for the update. I was just thinking about this thread when I went to bed last night.

 

[dffman2001]

Quote:

Originally Posted by viator122 Also she said you'll know when the oil shouldn't be used because it will look/smell funny but that even then it's not dangerous to use (what could live submerged in 350 degree canola oil?).

well, actually the problem isn't bacteria, its oxidation. When the oil oxidises, it goes rancid, and may contain potential carcinogens. Not a good thing.

Also FYI, if you are heating oil and you overdo it a bit and the blue smoke comes out, dont use it. It can also contain carcinogens, I believe.

 

[cybertron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sacd lover I rarely get indigestion period. But the fryed turkey gets to me. Where I usually get them is at my wifes annual work get together. They do 3-4 and the guy calculates the weight and measures the right amount of oil and has a thermometer to monitor the temperature etc etc. Maybe he still doesnt do them right and they are to oily or fatty. They sure taste good though.

I'm not sure how my uncle or other family does it, but I just found out from a girl at school that you have to use peanut oil, or it will come out all fatty and oily, so maybe thats the trick *shrug*