Who's frying their bird on thursday?

All,

I finally got the OK from the wife to deep fry my turkey this year!  Stoke!!!

Anyone else frying their bird?  Tips?  Recipes?

I am gonna follow the Alton Brown recipe and brine it overnight before frying.  I'm probably gonna be cheap and fry in Soy oil instead of peanut.......  I just can't stomach paying 30 bucks for oil......

MolBasser

Anyone else frying their bird?  Tips?  Recipes?

   Yep brine it and BBQ on the weber much better.

Anyone else frying their bird?  Tips?  Recipes?

   Yep brine it and BBQ on the weber much better.

Been there, done that.  All about the frying this year.  I've heard way too many good things about fried bird, I have to at least try it once.

I'm excited to go for it.

MolBasser

Always wanted to try it too.  Mine goes in the brine tomorrow, and then off for a traditional baking.  Leah's turkey is DELICIOUS.  I love turkey dinner!

Thanksgiving is the best holiday.

Turkey dinner with all the trimmings..... mmmm...

I can't wait.

MolBasser

If you haven't tried the High Heat Turkey Method yet... give it a go this year. 

I've been doing them this way for the past four or five year.  It's the next best thing to frying them because it really does seal in the juices and makes for some extremely moist bird.  Fast too... I cooked two turkeys on Saturday night between 8:00 PM and 12:30 AM... one after the other... both about 12-14 lbs.  Took just over 2 hours per bird at 515 degrees.  And the gravy is the bomb!  You won't be disappointed.  Just make sure to keep the liquid level up in the pan so you don't smoke your family out of the house. 

Here's the recipe to follow:  http://www.chefmarc.com/videos/view_recipe_2

EK

Mol I was just kidding around one year we had the whole family for T day my mom roasted a bird in the oven, my bro in law deep fried one and I BBQ-ed mine. My bird won hands down and was devoured quick  Mom's was 2nd and the Deep fried was 3rd. The fried bird was very moist but didn't have that roasted flavor. Let me know how it turns out.   

I got 3 Tips

When you get your bird and it is still wrapped put it in the fryer than fill with enough water to cover the bird then you will know how much oil to use.

Season the brine and use kosher salt

Keep a Fire Extinguisher close.

Mol I was just kidding around one year we had the whole family for T day my mom roasted a bird in the oven, my bro in law deep fried one and I BBQ-ed mine. My bird won hands down and was devoured quick  Mom's was 2nd and the Deep fried was 3rd. The fried bird was very moist but didn't have that roasted flavor. Let me know how it turns out.   

I got 3 Tips

When you get your bird and it is still wrapped put it in the fryer than fill with enough water to cover the bird then you will know how much oil to use.

Season the brine and use kosher salt

Keep a Fire Extinguisher close.

Thanks  Kosher salt is all I use in the kitchen these days.

And yep, the wife is making me do it on the concrete driveway instead of our wood deck (probably wise) and the fire extinguisher will be handy.

I've never heard of the high heat method....I'll have to check that out.

MolBasser

I've never heard of the high heat method....I'll have to check that out.

MolBasser

It's the poor mans deep fryer...

High heat. 2 thumbs up! Used to Weberize for years then tried High heat. Still miss the smoke flavor, not the constan work of BBQ. Randall

Make sure you put the bird in the pot, add enough water to just cover the bird, then remove the bird from the pot. Mark the water level.
This is how much oil you need in the pot. Way too many people just fill the pot with oil, heat it then plop the bird in. Recipe for disaster. Oil spills over the top and then next thing they are doing is calling the fire department.
I have been asking many people how they are going to do their bird. One lady said she soaks her bird in apple cider for 24 hours. Sounded pretty good to me.

I go with a 24 -hour dry brine using Kosher salt, dry and rub with olive oil and spice rub and then the Weber.  The bomb.

I always fry and really can't see going any other way. Just remember though you will need to season the bird with an injector. My favorite injection is plain ole Italian dressing. Some people also dry rub the outside but I don't do that all the time.

If you want smokey flavor add some liquid smoke to your injection. If you fried turkey does not taste like you want it, it is the cooks fault not the method. I heard Chef Marc on the radio last week, doing to have to try high heat at some point, but it is going to take a lot to get me off the fried turkey.

Peanut works the best because of the high smoke point, I have seen people use cottonseed oil or saflour oil. I got a big thing of peanut oil for $23 from smart and final.

Good luck and the most important thing is the oil level DO NOT WING IT!!!. Bird in the pot, cover with water, bird out of the pot, then mark it with something semi permanent. Dump out the water dry the pot and the bird, fill with oil to the correct level and turn on the heat. Do not make the mistake I made and mark the water level with the bird in the pot, you will overflow hot oil for sure.

I'm headed to Costco to see what I can do for oil.  Soy actually has a decent smoke point also and is cheaper than peanut.  If I can get the peanut oil for a decent price I will.

I am doing a simple salt/brown sugar brining overnight.  Maybe some injection also.

MolBasser

I can't figure out why many of you want to salt your bird before cooking it.  Salt just draws the moisture out of the meat and in my opinion is never something that should be done until after the bird is cooked.  I like my bird juicy.

There... I got that off my chest.   Happy Thanksgiving.