Tips for Deep Frying a Turkey

Deep fried turkeys have become all the rage in recent years for a delightful Thanksgiving bird, and for good reason!  The skin is left crispy and full of flavor and the meat is moist and delicious without tasting greasy or oily.  Unfortunately, deep frying a turkey safely can present a challenge to the uninitiated.  With a bit of preparation and planning and a few key tools, these safety concerns can be left by the wayside on your journey toward a wonderfully tasty turkey.

Image by sayesbury via Flickr

There are a few key things to remember about deep frying a turkey:

Always keep gloves and a fire extinguisher nearby.  Not needing them is great, but not having them can lead to disaster.

If you purchase a kit to deep fry your turkey in, always read and follow the directions.  Most will be designed for a specific weight range of turkey and may have special instructions.

The optimal weight for a turkey to be deep fried is between 10 and 20 pounds.  At 10 pounds, it should take 3 minutes per pound and at 20, it should take 3.5 minutes per pound to cook through.

Always ensure that your turkey is completely thawed.  If there is any doubt, do not fry the turkey.  Hot oil tends to explode violently when exposed to cold water or ice, which can cause severe burns and even burn your house down.  A 20 pound turkey takes about 4 full days to thaw in the refrigerator.

Set up your turkey frying station outside on the pavement, never on a deck or in a garage.  You want to be free of overhangs and on a level surface.

Never leave your frying station unattended once the oil has begun heating.  Make sure to keep small children and pets away from the frying station.  The turkey could take up to an hour or more to cook and at least 3 hours for the oil to cool.

Use an oil with a high smoking point, 450 degrees F if possible.  The best options are canola or peanut oil.

Always lower the turkey into the oil carefully and slowly.  This is best achieved with a small pulley attached to a board, supported by a ladder.  Use gloves.  Hot oil will burn skin instantly if it splashes.  Using a pulley also means that you can allow the turkey to drain when finished without straining your arms or dripping scalding oil.

Once fried and drained, allow the turkey to sit for 10 to 20 minutes before carving.  This oil can be strained and used up to three times.

To avoid staining caused by oil splatters, place a flattened, broken down piece of cardboard under the fryer.  You can also use a large plastic drop cloth with sand or kitty litter to soak up the oil.

This dish is from the Cajun areas of Louisiana. The sausage and gravy are spicy with cayenne peppers. If you want it less spicy, use a mild sausage and decrease the cayenne or leave it out completely. Serve this dish of Andouille over rice covered in the red gravy.

6 tb Unsalted butter

1/2 c Diced green peppers

1 1/2 lb Andouille smoked sausage  cut in2-inch pieces

1 tsp Minced garlic

8 tsp Tomato sauce

3 c Onions, diced

1/4 c Chopped parsley

6 1/2 c Beef stock

1 c Chopped green onion tops

1 1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper

3 c Cooked rice

3/4 tsp Salt

1/2 c Chopped celery

Melt butter in a heavy pot or dutch oven. Add the sausage, cover and cook without stirring about 7 minutes.

Turn over and sprinkle 2 c. of onions on top. Cover and cook another 7 minutes.

There should be dark brown sediment on the bottom of the pan. Add 3/4 c. of stock and scrape the pan bottom to get all the flavor incorporated. Add pepper and salt, stirring and scraping.

Cover and cook 2 minutes, stirring once. Add celery, green peppers and garlic. Cover and cook 3 minutes, stirring once.

Add tomato sauce and cook uncovered 5 minutes, stirring and scrapping the bottom occasionally. Add 1/2 c. onions. Cook 8 minutes until large puddles of oil have broken out and tomato mixture is thick. Stir only if sticking.

Add parsley and 1/2 c. of the green onions. Add 3-1/4 c. more stock and scrape. Cook 20 minutes until liquid is thick dark red gravy. Stir occasionally.

Stir in remaining stock and onions. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring frequently, about 14 minutes, until gravy is noticeably thicker but still juicy. Remove from heat and serve immediately over rice.

These small scotch bonnet peppers pack a lot of heat. Photo by Nicolas*

This pepper sauce takes its heat from the scotch bonnet peppers. If you like less heat, use milder peppers. Store the finished sauce in the refrigerator.

CAUTION: The oils from hot peppers will put a serious burn on if you get it in your eye! (Been there!) I advise you to wear gloves when working with hot peppers because even a good hand washing may not get all the oils off your hands. In my case, I washed my hands thoroughly after working with hot peppers, then hours later, touched my eye. I thought I was going blind. The pain was intense and my eyes watered so badly that I couldn’t see. WEAR GLOVES.

Related Articles:

Pepper Sauces: Southern Hot Pepper Sauce and Habenero Pepper Sauce

By Kenny Leones

I always like to serve Seafood gumbo during Mardi Gras time, and this weather definitely screams SOUP to me. My family always enjoys this gumbo.

Don’t add the seafood until 10 minutes before serving. It cooks very quickly and will get tough if cooked too long.

Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp flour
2 onions chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tbsp red pepper
4 bay leaves
2 quarts water
1 pound crab meat
1 pint oysters
1 pound raw shrimp
1 cup green onion tops
1 tbsp file’
Cooked rice

Directions
Make a dark roux by cooking the flour and oil in a large Dutch oven until the flour is brown in color.

Add the onion, pepper, and celery to the roux. Add the water and the seasonings and cook for 1/2 hour.

Add shrimp and cook for 10 minutes. Add crabmeat, oysters and green onions, and simmer for 10 more minutes. Add file’.

Serve seafood gumbo over rice.

Another good Seafood Gumbo Recipe that I like has Andouille sausage and cooks in the crockpot all day. Find the recipe here: Crockpot Seafood Gumbo

I like to knead in dried fruits such as raisins and mixed candied fruits.

Place a small plastic baby in the dough before baking. The person who gets the piece of cake with the baby gets to be king or queen for the day and has to host the next celebration.

Ingredients
1/2 cup warm water (110°-115°)
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar plus 1 teaspoon sugar
3 1/2 to 4 1/2 cups of sifted flour
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup warm milk
5 egg yolks
1 stick butter cut into slices and softened
2 tablespoons more softened butter
1 egg slightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 one inch plastic baby doll (optional and a choking hazard)
Decorations
3 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 – 6 teaspoons water
Colored sugar
Directions for the Cake:

1. Pour the warm water into a small shallow bowl, and sprinkle yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar into it. Allow the yeast and sugar to rest for three minutes then mix thoroughly.
2. Set bowl in a warm place, for ten minutes or until yeast bubbles up and mixture almost doubles up in volume.
3. Combine 3 1/2 cups of flour, remaining sugar, nutmeg and salt, and sift into a large mixing bowl. Stir in lemon zest.
4. Separate center of mixture to form a hole and pour in yeast mixture and milk. Add egg yolks and using a wooden spoon slowly combine dry ingredients into the yeast/milk mixture.
5. When mixture is smooth, beat in 8 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon at a time and continue to beat 2 minutes or until dough can be formed into a medium soft ball.
6. Place ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and knead like bread. During this kneading, add up to 1 cup more of flour (1 tablespoon at a time) sprinkled over the dough. When dough is no longer sticky, knead 10 minutes more until shiny and elastic.
7. Using a pastry brush, coat the inside of a large bowl evenly with one tablespoon softened butter. Place dough ball in the bowl and rotate until the entire surface is buttered.
8. Cover bowl with a moderately thick kitchen towel and place in a draft free spot for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the dough doubles in volume.
9. Using a pastry brush, coat a large baking sheet with one tablespoon of butter and set aside.
10. Remove dough from bowl and place on lightly floured surface. Using your fist, punch dough down with a heavy blow. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top, pat and shake dough into a cylinder.
11. Twist dough to form a curled cylinder and loop cylinder onto the buttered baking sheet. Pinch the ends together to complete the circle.
12. Cover dough with towel and set it in draft free spot for 45 minutes until the circle of dough doubles in volume.
13. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Brush top and sides of cake with egg wash and bake on middle rack of oven for 25 to 35 minutes until golden brown.
14. Place cake on wire rack to cool. If desired, at this time, you can “hide” the plastic baby in the cake. The one who finds the baby in the piece of the cake is responsible for bring the King Cake to the next Mardi Gras party.

Directions for Icing:
Combine sugar, lemon juice and 3 teaspoons water until smooth. If icing is too stiff, add more water until spreadable. Spread icing over top of cake. Immediately sprinkle the colored sugars in individual rows consisting of about 2 rows of green, purple and yellow. Cake is served in 2″ – 3″ pieces.

In this video Cajun Cooking TV offers 10 tips for outdoor grilling.