Turkey Fryers - need some guidance

[rob_s]

I've toyed with getting one of these every Thanksgiving and have always run out of time, so now I'm starting early! Plus I have other applications for the burner and possibly the pot.

So who has one? What do you think of it? Would you buy it again? What would you buy if you were buying today?

Caveat: I'm primarily interested in a "kit", however I'd consider a propane burner on it's own and assemble the rest of the supplies later if the burner is of sufficient quality. The burner weight, stability, and quality is one of my primary concerns here.

[mhanna91]

We have fried turkeys for the last two years and they are great. Frying oil is expensive when you use alot of it, so you might look into the infared turkey cookers as well. The fryers are also great for ear-corn, if you are into that.

[rob_s]

We have fried turkeys for the last two years and they are great. Frying oil is expensive when you use alot of it, so you might look into the infared turkey cookers as well. The fryers are also great for ear-corn, if you are into that.

As mentioned, I have other uses for the burner and the pot, so the infrared thing isn't going to work for me.

never thought of doing corn though. that sounds pretty good.

[Todd.K]

Spend the extra for a stainless pot.

[rob_s]

Spend the extra for a stainless pot.

This is a necessity for my other endeavors, so I'm good to go on that!

[orionz06]

Have one very similar to this one. (http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=200729)

Works well and the price was right.

[Dano5326]

-get a kit costco & home depot had em IVO Thanksgiving
-get an insert bucket, you'll want more than just a big tremble hook
-peanut oil & canola oil 50/50 seen to work nicely
-water displace check (prep'd turkey) to get right amount of oil in pot day before
-thoroughly thaw and then air dry turkey for 1/2 day.. water and hot oil not nice
-I dry rubbed and injected (oil based) Thanksgiving & Xmas turkeys... nice!
-cook outside, with a safe out for the oil should it be knocked over
-takes 20-30min to get oil to temp before dropping the fowl in
-get a long meat thermometer, oil at 350F. check breast meat temp before finally pulling it out.
-maybe 12-13lb max size bird
-3 or 4 min per pound

I have screened/filtered the oil and reused it several times for poultry, fried potatoes, yams, and sweet potatoes

[Skyyr]

Blah. You guys are over-thinking this.

Just get a big 50-gallon drum, fill it full of peanut oil, place it over a fire and let it heat for about 25 minutes.

Then throw a frozen turkey in.

[Whootsinator]

Blah. You guys are over-thinking this.

Just get a big 50-gallon drum, fill it full of peanut oil, place it over a fire and let it heat for about 25 minutes.

Then throw a frozen turkey in.

Remind me to never come to YOUR house for Thanksgiving! :D

[MarkG]

Rob, forget the fryer! Get an Orion Convection Cooker (http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=orion+convection+cooker&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=14113204434871649652&ei=a6ZdTYPxLJDCsAOS29HACA&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CEUQ8wIwAA#). It is the bomb for cooking turkey, chicken and pork. I have used mine at least twice a week for the last several years. It will cook a 20 pound turkey to perfection in two hours and fifteen minutes. Seven minutes a pound for any white meat from the time you light the charcoal. If you buy one and don't like it, I'll buy it from you.

As for the other uses you alluded to using the fryer for, leave parkerizing to the professionals! :secret:

[CDDM416]

Spend the extra for a stainless pot.

Yes, a stainless pot is a must. You wont have to worry about it staining, when you go to Tye-Dyeing your shirts ant pants

[Watrdawg]

I've been frying turkeys for about 12 years now. I wouldn't do then any other way. About 4 years ago I got a Stainless kit from Sam's and it's still going strong. The most tedious part of the whole process is filtering out the oil to re-use and also disposing of old oil. Other than that the process is very easy.

This is the best piece of advice I can think of with turkey frying. The best way to determine how much oil to use is to take your frozen turkey still in the wrap and put it into the empty fry pot. Fill up the pot with enought water to completely cover the bird and then pull out the bird. Mark the waterline after pulling out the bird and that will also be your fill line for adding the oil. Or course before you add any oil make sure to dry out your pot. I use 100% peanut oil and with filtering I can usually get 3-4 uses out of the batch of oil. After that it's pretty much useless. Unless you run a diesel truck then you can mix the filtered oil at about a gallon of oil to 12-15 gallons of diesel. My truck runs great with it. That's a side bar though.

I always inject my birds the night before and let the marinade sit in the bird over night. I also cover the outside in cajun seasoning a couple of hours before frying. Get the oil temp to 350 degrees and cook you bird for about 3 to 3 1/2 minutes per pound. Once your time is up pull your bird out and your ready to carve it up. One last tip When you putting your bird in the oil make sure your wearing an oven mitt. The oil will be splattering up and you will get burnt if you don't wear a mitt. Also lower the bird very slowly so the splattring and splashing won't go all over the place. Once you get the bird in the oil should be covering all of the bird. The biggest bird I've done is right at 20lbs. That's the max my pot will hold.

This is a small drawback but when frying you don't have any drippings to make gravy with.

[skyugo]

Blah. You guys are over-thinking this.

Just get a big 50-gallon drum, fill it full of peanut oil, place it over a fire and let it heat for about 25 minutes.

Then throw a frozen turkey in.

everybody behind the blast shield :eek:

[skyugo]

I weber-grilled my turkey last thanksgiving. basically you put a drip pan under the grate, and put all the charcoal to the sides. came out good. :cool: