Deep Fried Turkey

[LasciviousXXX]

Hey there CA fam!!!

I just bought one of those Masterbuilt Butterball indoor turkey fryers (the X-Large one) so that I can finally have some deep fried turkey for Thanksgiving. Always wanted to try it but never got around to getting an indoor one. Now that has all changed!

I went to Costco today and bought a huge box of Peanut Oil and a couple of turkeys. I want to give it a trial run this weekend so that I know what I'm doing before Thanksgiving rolls around.

Any tips/suggestions/pics of previous efforts you'd care to share with a turkey frying noob? I was thinking of injecting some marinade and doing a dry rub but haven't decided on specifics yet. Feel free to shoot me some ideas.

Thanks everybody!

[forgop]

Best turkey ever. I honestly got away from it because of the cost of the peanut oil because I only used it once a year. I guess if I used it to do fish fries or make turkeys more often, I could have a greater appreciation to have kept it around. I now use the Char Broiler Big Easy for the "oil less infrared turkey fryer" method.

I've used this brand of marinade and had good results: http://www.cajuninjector.com/cajun-fried-turkey.html I'm pretty sure it was the creole butter I liked.

The way I made it at first was from listening to the local FM guys (now syndicated nationwide) talk about how great it was: http://archive.bobandtom.com/frames/fried_turkey.htm

[Stevez]

Wow. Indoor trukey frying. That scares me thinking of it from a safety perspective. For my outside rig, it is very, very important to put the right amount of oil in there so that it doesn't boil over and that's what causes the fires. They recommend you test the exact turkey in water to get the perfect level to put your oil. Just make sure your turkey is really dry before you drop it in hot oil. I love, love deep fried turkey. It's the best I've ever eaten.

Agree that I've cut back alot because peanut oil is outrageously expensive and I don't re-use mine. Pain in the arse to strain, clean and store. Did that one time and it sat in my basement fridge for a year before I finally threw it out. Good luck. Steve

[363]

Test fill the frier with the turkey with water 1st to get a mark of how much oil u need

[joeobx]

Make DAM sure the turkey is COMPLETELY thawed....ice and hot oil don't play well together.

Originally Posted by joeobx

Make DAM sure the turkey is COMPLETELY thawed....ice and hot oil don't play well together.

+1

[T.G]

Make sure your turkey is completely thawed and dry.
Put the turkey in the empty (cold) fryer.
Pour enough oil to cover the turkey and a bit extra.
Pull the turkey out, set it in a pan.
Now heat your oil up and when hot, add the turkey to fry. This helps to keep you from overflowing the oil and burning your house down.


Best deep fried turkey I had was one where someone took a giant food service size can of jalapenos in escabeche, and used an injector to suck all the vinegar-oil brine up and inject throughout the turkey. This tenderized, flavored and moisturized the meat.

Plus we got to snack on the jalapenos while we were waiting.

I've found that commercial injector marinades tend to be jars of chemical ****, and they taste appropriately. Plus the leftover meat seems to develop a funky texture when it cools.

I think a dry rub would just burn up in the fryer and contaminate the oil.

[jjirons69]

Tyr, good advice so far. I will add one thing. I have a rub that is fantastic! It has a little pepper bite to it and it's the perfect balance of flavors. You rub the bird one day, put in the frig over night and that allows it to sit and soak. Once fried, the skin will be crispy and the rub flavor will damn near make you eat the whole bird. The rub sort of soaks in and melds to the skin, so there is never any burning of the spices. We've done dozens of birds and I always come back to this turkey rub. I'll post the recipe once I get home. I use it on chicken, also.

[TJarv]

My favorite injectable marinade is the cajun butter

[dwoodward]

I've had turkey a lot of ways, Deep fried is awesome. Not as good as a Salt Dome turkey, but it's a very close second.

And I second want T.G said, always fill the fryer with the turkey in already. Grease fires are no joking matter.

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by dwoodward

I've had turkey a lot of ways, Deep fried is awesome. Not as good as a Salt Dome turkey, but it's a very close second.

And I second want T.G said, always fill the fryer with the turkey in already. Grease fires are no joking matter.

What rub/marinade/injection have you used that you recommend?

[dwoodward]

Originally Posted by pnoon

What rub/marinade/injection have you used that you recommend?

None. Just turkey deep fried. A marinade is never required for anything, turkey is a great meat just by itself. Especially when fired.

[363]

Originally Posted by 363

Test fill the frier with the turkey with water 1st to get a mark of how much oil u need

Originally Posted by dwoodward

And I second want T.G said, always fill the fryer with the turkey in already. Grease fires are no joking matter.

[T.G]

Tyr,

I just looked back at your post and realized you are using an electric fryer, so some additional operational comments:

-If you can, cook it outdoors. I know it's an "indoor fryer", but they still smell and if you have a boil over, it's much easier to clean up (and god forbid, extinguish) if it's outside.
-when you plug it in, you ideally want to put it on a circuit that is completely unloaded (no other equipment or appliances plugged in), these things draw a lot of juice.
-Try to avoid using an extension cord. If you must, use very short, large gauge cord. Like 20+ amp rated, 10-12 gauge, 20' or less. Don't even think about 14-16 GA or long cords.

[iaMkcK]

This thread interests me, I shall be following extensively. Never had a deep fried turkey, must be amazing -- May take the risk.

[jjirons69]

Here's the turkey rub. It's awesome on chicken, too. I sent some to Svillekid as bird rub. You can leave out the crushed red pepper if you'd like.

This recipe makes enough for 4 turkeys! Make and split up in bags.

1 box salt
2 oz chili powder
2 oz black pepper
2 oz crushed red pepper
2 oz garlic powder
2 oz Accent

Rub on thawed turkey 24 hours prior to cooking. Refrigerate.

Cooking outdoors:

Pre-measure the amount of oil to start heating (see postings above). Use a large pot with thermometer clipped on side. Heat oil to 250F. Submerse pat-dried turkey slowly. Keep at 250F. Cook 5 minutes per pound. ENJOY!

[T.G]

Originally Posted by jjirons69

Here's the turkey rub. It's awesome on chicken, too. I sent some to Svillekid as bird rub. You can leave out the crushed red pepper if you'd like.

This recipe makes enough for 4 turkeys! Make and split up in bags.

1 box salt
2 oz chili powder
2 oz black pepper
2 oz crushed red pepper
2 oz garlic powder
2 oz Accent

Rub on thawed turkey 24 hours prior to cooking. Refrigerate.

Standard 3lb box of kosher salt?

[jjirons69]

Sorry, grew up with "round" boxes of salt. It's all different now. And yes the rub as a lot of salt, but it is just right on the bird.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by jjirons69

Sorry, grew up with "round" boxes of salt. It's all different now. And yes the rub as a lot of salt, but it is just right on the bird.

Thanks Jamie. 75+% salt with a 24 hour rest and possibly a paper towel pat down of the bird before frying, I can see how that rub would work out well.

The dry rubs I typically make and use would not work, since they have very little salt in them and lots of dried herbs that would burn in the hot oil.

[forgop]

Originally Posted by jjirons69

Pre-measure the amount of oil to start heating (see postings above). Use a large pot with thermometer clipped on side. Heat oil to 250F. Submerse pat-dried turkey slowly. Keep at 250F. Cook 5 minutes per pound. ENJOY!

250 seems way too low-everywhere else I've seen and done in the past myself has been in the 350 range.