Safely Deep Fry a Turkey
I love the taste of deep fried turkey. I’m sure it’s amazingly unhealthy, but man does it taste good. But, whenever you deep fry a turkey, make sure you take the appropriate safety measures.
Safely Deep Fry a Turkey
Most of the potential dangers of deep frying involve the oil. If you can properly manage the hot oil, that is half the battle. Here are some great tips to safely deep fry your turkey.
- Turkey Fryer Setup- Setup the deep fryer on a flat, outdoor surface. Do not setup on wood or any other flammable surface (like a deck). Make sure you are a safe distance from any buildings.
- Prepare your Turkey- Oil and water don’t mix and the water can cause oil to spill over. Be careful how you marinate your turkey. Make sure the turkey is fully thawed. Frozen turkeys can cause a fire or even explode!
- Prepare your Fryer- Fryers get extremely hot even on the outside. Make sure you have proper gloves / oven mitts to handle the fryer and controls. Don’t overfill the fryer with oil. Test how much oil to use by trying it out with water first. Put in your turkey, and fill the fryer with water. Pull out the turkey and see how much oil to heat up. If you see the oil begin to smolder quickly turn down the heat.
- Other Tips- Make sure to keep children away from the fryer, and don’t leave it unattended. Keep a good fire extinguisher nearby. Here’s a post about selecting the right extinguisher. Never use water to put out a grease fire. Check out this post about grease fires for more info.
Happy Thanksgiving
Everyone at One Project Closer (Ethan & Jocie, Kim & Fred) wishes you a fun, and enjoyable T-day. Whether you are cooking a turkey, watching football, getting together with family, or any other Thanksgiving tradition we hope you have a good one.
What do you think? What’s your favorite way to cook a turkey? What did you do for Thanksgiving?
Image courtesy of Ukanda
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3 Responses to Safely Deep Fry a Turkey
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November 27th, 2008 2:04 pm
I’m partial to the old-fashioned (oven-baked) way, though in fairness, I’ve never had a deep-fried one.
In fact, the bird is roasting as we speak. Just stayin’ home and kickin’ back with the family.
November 27th, 2008 2:36 pm
And a Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!
November 27th, 2008 3:48 pm
Nicole,
So far, our experience with the fried turkey has been mixed. We opted for the traditional oven-baked variety ourselves this year. The one we did try ended up very burned, which is apparently not the norm for fried turkey.
Also, the cost of the oil is pretty high… I suppose you can reuse it but I wonder how many people really do.