Posted by Switz on June 23, 2006 at 10:41:47:
In Reply to: Fried Turkey posted by Dave on June 20, 2006 at 12:05:00:
Here are some more tips (Part I) (11/5/2003 12:21:08 AM by JDB)
Yo to all, Some good advice has been given as to the safety aspects of deep frying turkeys in this thread and I thought I would repost this information that appeared on Stu Carpenter's Outdoor Cooking List. The following was written by Wiley Mixon and IMHO is good data for the novice and experienced:
The following has been cut and pasted with permission:
The Ten Commandments of Frying Turkeys:
"1) Don't get too big a turkey. The average pot that comes with these frying kits will hold about a 14 to 18 pound turkey. If that isn't enough, do two turkeys instead of trying to pack a huge one in a little pot.
2) Always fry your turkey outside on a flat even surface. Don't let kids or pets around while you are cooking. It might be a good idea to find a chair for drunk uncle Bubba to sit in also.
3) Be prepared in case of an accident. Fire extinguisher...good idea. Water hose...probably bad idea. If the pot tumps over and catches fire, where is the burning oil going to go??? Under your car? Down through the gaps between the boards of your wooden deck? It is best to do this out in the yard or on a driveway. Get a piece of plywood to set it on and that will help keep splattering oil of off your grass or driveway.
4) Know how much oil you will need. Don't fill the pot up and get it to 365° and then try to put a turkey in it. If you do then you need to re-read #3 because about 1/2 of that oil will leave the pot. A good tried and true way of figuring the amount of oil is the water method. Put the raw turkey in the pot and fill it with water just until the turkey is almost underwater. Now take the turkey out and mark where the water level is. That is the mount of oil you will need.
5) Get rid of all the water. Before you fill the pot with oil dry it as good as you can. That goes the same for the turkey. Pat it dry with paper towels. Shake it around to get the water out of the cavity. Hot oil and water do not mix very well.
6) Use good clean oil. Peanut oil is usually the preferred oil in that in can withstand the higher temp.'s better then other oils. Regular oil can be used but I spend the couple extra bucks and get peanut oil. You can use it for quite a while if you take care of it. Get a filter of some kind and use it. They can be bought all over the place and are made just for this. I found that coffee filters do not work unless you have about 6 days to kill filtering oil."
Continued in Part Two............