Do you know what happens when you put a frozen turkey into a large container of boiling oil?
This.
That is awesome. I did not know you could do this. A deep desire of my heart has been to try a deep fried turkey. Some various factions of my family have tried it, but they seem to have made a coordinated effort to do so when I am not around.
The year of our Lord 2010 was the first time we have hosted a major holiday event. We have a (mostly completed) nice new kitchen, now, and putting it to good use was the whole reason for doing it, so we pestered my in-laws until they surrendered their turkey-hosting hats.
Eric asked if he could fry a turkey. I didn’t have to think too hard on that one. Eric is a fan of Alton Brown, and had seen his technique for frying a turkey. We chose to do it the same way.
Things You Need
A ladder.
Some rope.
A pulley.
A fryer.
A turkey.
Peanut oil.
A chump to do the work while you take pictures.
First, assemble a Turkey Derrick
Using a latter, some pulleys, and some line, create a scaffolding-like structure from which to lower the turkey into the deep fryer. This is a pretty critical safety concern, as you likely know after watching that video.
Eric tied one end of the rope to a rung on the left side of the ladder, and passed it through a pulley tied to a rung on the right side of the ladder. Click the pictures for a close-up. We have a tarp wrapped around the top because there was a chance of rain this Thanksgiving.
Second, prepare the turkey
Some key points, here. First, check out the recipe we used for more bird-prep instructions.
1. The turkey must be completely and utterly thawed. We bought a never-frozen one and kept it in the fridge to avoid any chance of frozen pockets. You can go watch that video again for a refresher as to why this is. Go ahead, it’s fun.
2. Don’t get a turkey that is too large for your fryer. The one pictured was 13lbs, and we wouldn’t have been comfortable going any larger for this fryer.
3. Test the volume the turkey will take in the fryer. Be sure to include the platform the turkey sits on when you do this. Place them together into the fryer and then fill it with water. Leave some room on top for the boiling action. Once full, remove the turkey and platform, and mark the outside of the fryer with a marker or tape at the water level. This is how much oil you will put in.
4. Empty the water, fill with oil, and place on the heat until 250F. Carefully lower the bird into the fryer using the pulley-system on the turkey derrick.
Eric stood a bit close to the ladder for comfort at first, but you get the idea. Once it’s in, turn up the heat and get it to 350F. Maintain 350F until the center of the bird is 150F. Pull it out and let it sit for 30 mins prior to carving..
Enjoy it! Ours was delicious. We had a 22lb roasted turkey and the 13lb fried one. I’m still enjoying the leftovers. Oh, and we used the carcasses to make soup!
