How to Deep Fry A Turkey

Not only is deep fried turkey delicious, moist and non-greasy, but it is an enormous time saver. Deep frying the bird takes much less time, only 3 minutes per pound, than cooking it in the oven. There are a variety of ways that you can prepare a fried turkey before you stick it in the fryer, so if you want to brine it or add some flavoring under the skin, you will find that you end up with an extremely tasty bird once it is cooked.

There are safety considerations to keep in mind, but deep frying a turkey does not need to be a hazardous undertaking if you keep some safety tips in mind. If you have a purpose-built Turkey fryer, you can set it up in your back yard and remove a lot of the safety concerns about frying turkeys. We'll start with safety tips first, and then get into how exactly you should go about frying the turkey.

This is most important. Due to the enormous amount of oil used to deep fry turkeys, you should only ever do this outside! So take everything you need out to the driveway in the open. I recommend asphalt over a back porch, just in case. You don't want your patio deck to get set on fire. If you have a fire pit in your backyard, that's also an appropriate place to do your turkey frying. Just make sure there's nothing near by that can catch fire -- such as overhanging tree branches.

If you're planning on making deep fried turkey a Thanksgiving tradition, it makes sense to get a cooker designed for the task. You'll need a 30-60 qt container for the bird anyway and since most of us don't have them lying around the kitchen, you'll have to buy equipment anyway so you might as well get a turkey fryer.

Most turkey fryers are sturdy and designed for use outdoors. Kits include both the basket and fry pot, and frequently come with thermometers and meat injectors as well. So it will cut down on all the stuff you need to buy.

Since it makes cooking turkey so much easier, you'll find yourself likely to get more use out of it than once a year anyway. Why not fry up another turkey for Christmas? And don't forget, you can also use the turkey fryer for other meats and vegetables. They aren't just for turkeys.

In order to deep fry safely, you'll need a quality pair of outdoor cooking gloves to protect your hands from spitting oil, fat and scalding steam. Your regular kitchen mitts won't do the job, so get a nice sturdy pair of insulated outdoor cooking gloves while you are shopping for a turkey fryer.

Safety glasses are also a good idea. A pair of cheap welding glasses should do the trick.

1. Determine the amount of oil needed by putting the turkey in a deep fry basket and dipping it into a 40-60 quart pot for frying. Add water until about two inches on top of the bird. Remove the basket with turkey and measure the amount of water. You'll need the same quantity of oil.

2. Marinade the turkey with flavors and seasonings before deep frying. You can also inject it with seasonings and marinades to increase the flavor.

3. Use a candy thermometer and heat the oil in the pot to about 325 degree Fahrenheit. After about 20 minutes, the temperature should be reached and you can start slowly dipping in the basket with turkey.

4. It takes around 3 minutes for each pound of turkey. Do a little math and calculate how much it would take based on the total weight in pounds of the bird. The turkey's temperature should be at least 170 degrees in the breast meat and at least 180 degrees in the thigh of the bird.

In 30-45 minutes for most birds, you would have your deep fried turkey ready for the table. Dinner should be eaten immediately and any leftovers refrigerated within two hours.

The following videos are Alton Brown's episode on Deep Frying a Turkey. Definitely worth watching if you have the time and really want to get into the nitty gritty.