Now you're talking Turkey!

[Surfah]

Can someone please talk me off the ledge? I was at cabelas yesterday buying a coat for my daughter. On my way out, I noticed a display table with a delish scent emanating from within. Turns out the guy was doing a deep fried turkey demo. After wading through several overweight hunters, we grabbed some samples and I was blown away at how incredibly delish the deep fried turkey tasted. It had been injected with this mesquite mumbo jumbo that only made me want to jump directly into the deep fryer to lick the sides for any residue that had not been consumed.

Fast forward to about an hour ago. I'm flipping across the channels and I come across an infomercial for the Butterball deep fryer. I have been watching it on a loop for an hour and I'm pretty convinced that this is Deity telling me that I must own and consume deep fried turkey as a recurring ritual. The infomercial shows how to use this thing to cook wings, chicken, and even donuts.

Does anyone else own a deep fryer for turkeys? And nik, did you wind up doing the deep fry for thanksgiving? I'm concerned about the gravy, as you mentioned.

This butterball fryer looks sweet. What brands or models do you recommend deep fryers?

That was your first deep fried turkey? They're money. Just be sure to use peanut oil and do it away from your home.

[TripletDaddy]

That was your first deep fried turkey? They're money. Just be sure to use peanut oil and do it away from your home.

I never really bothered to try one.

The Butterball fryer claim to fame is that they are safety rated for indoor use. Is your suggestion related to safety or smell? Does it smell good or just smell like a bunch of grease?

[Surfah]

I never really bothered to try one.

The Butterball fryer claim to fame is that they are safety rated for indoor use. Is your suggestion related to safety or smell? Does it smell good or just smell like a bunch of grease?

Safety. I would never use a turkey fryer in a home.

I wouldn't go with a butterball either. I'd much rather have a propane burner for the turkey. Much more versatile. We use ours to do low country boils and other things. The butterball is just a turkey fryer basically. Kind of a waste of an appliance that does one thing that you may use once a year.

[Jeff Lebowski]

We did one at Lake Powell thus year. A friend brought the fryer. I was blown away by how good it was.

[TripletDaddy]

Safety. I would never use a turkey fryer in a home.

I wouldn't go with a butterball either. I'd much rather have a propane burner for the turkey. Much more versatile. We use ours to do low country boils and other things. The butterball is just a turkey fryer basically. Kind of a waste of an appliance that does one thing that you may use once a year.

What is a low country boil? I have no idea.

The infomercial showed it making 2 pounds of wings, shrimp, donuts, chicken, and other stuff, so I think I could get a little use out of it. Maybe once a month.

My concern on the safety is that if it somehow leaked, the oil would destroy the kitchen. But as I said, this one claimed to be designed for indoors. I don't think I would want to bother with an outside thing. I forgot to mention that the cabelas demo was not a propane fryer.

Sounds like you are talking me off the ledge.

[YOhio]

Alton Brown shows you how to make the whole thing a real PITA.

[YOUTUBE]E270Qx5OpxU[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]OLNLYL24qUA[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]i9mq29BaLLk[/YOUTUBE]

[Surfah]

What is a low country boil? I have no idea.

The infomercial showed it making 2 pounds of wings, shrimp, donuts, chicken, and other stuff, so I think I could get a little use out of it. Maybe once a month.

My concern on the safety is that if it somehow leaked, the oil would destroy the kitchen. But as I said, this one claimed to be designed for indoors. I don't think I would want to bother with an outside thing. I forgot to mention that the cabelas demo was not a propane fryer.

Sounds like you are talking me off the ledge.

Low country boil = red potatoes, smoked sausage, corn on the cob, shrimp, and crab. All boiled in a big pot with generous amounts of Old Bay seasoning. Strain and dump out onto a table. Everyone digs in. It's absurdly good.

[CJF]

I am a little scared to do a fried turkey. I smoked a turkey last year that was decent but not amazing. I want amazing. I'm going to try again this year but I'm going to use this technique and recipe.

http://www.amazingribs.com/recipes/c...ed_turkey.html

I've used this site for a few other things that turned out really good. Great technical smoking site.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Low country boil = red potatoes, smoked sausage, corn on the cob, shrimp, and crab. All boiled in a big pot with generous amounts of Old Bay seasoning. Strain and dump out onto a table. Everyone digs in. It's absurdly good.

Plus pearl onions.

[wuapinmon]

I never really bothered to try one.

The Butterball fryer claim to fame is that they are safety rated for indoor use. Is your suggestion related to safety or smell? Does it smell good or just smell like a bunch of grease?

Walmart's website lists the Butterball turkey fryer as UL approved, which is surprising. Even with that, the fire risk seems really high to me. I was on a scout campout once when someone overfilled a gigantic pan of oil and dumped in tater tots. The flames shot 15-20 ft in the air, and the heat was incredible. All from about a 3/4 of a gallon of peanut oil. I would only fry a turkey outside on level ground away from all structures.

And low country boils, crawfish boils, and cooking massive pots of pasta for spaghetti dinners are really easy with propane burners.

[TripletDaddy]

Those Alton brown vids freaked me out. Especially the one with the massive fire.

I don't want to bother with an outdoor fryer, I don't think.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Those Alton brown vids freaked me out. Especially the one with the massive fire.

I don't want to bother with an outdoor fryer, I don't think.

I think you only have a problem if the fowl is still frozen, which doesn't make it cook very well in a traditional oven either.

We've had multiple fried birds over the last 5 years and I have yet to catch myself on fire.

[Surfah]

My dad was frying a turkey a few years back. He didn't have enough peanut oil when he put the bird in, so he topped it off with canola or vegetable oil. He starts blowing leaves while the bird is cooking and then boom! Flames shoot out the top of the fryer 20' high. My dad at the time was between our deck, the fryer, and our home so he was kind of pinned in by the fire. He was screaming help. The neighbors called the fire department even though my dad was able to get it under control. In fact, my dad was back to blowing leaves the time they showed up. The only evidence of the fire was melted siding on the house.

[TripletDaddy]

I think you only have a problem if the fowl is still frozen, which doesn't make it cook very well in a traditional oven either.

We've had multiple fried birds over the last 5 years and I have yet to catch myself on fire.

Do you fry outside or indoors? Also, what type of fryer do you use?

[Pheidippides]

I think you only have a problem if the fowl is still frozen, which doesn't make it cook very well in a traditional oven either.

We've had multiple fried birds over the last 5 years and I have yet to catch myself on fire.

I have been responsible for the turkey at whatever iteration of thanksgiving and Christmas we do for the past 12 years. I have used every major method save smoking the bird. Frying is the best and fastest - I fry three or four birds a year now. You do have to take some precautions, but as long as you do it outdoors, make sure the bird is properly thawed, and don't use too much oil it's relatively easy. The Alton video was funny because he went so overboard with prep.