Thursday, December 29, 2011

Deep Fried Turkey


My brother-in-law Roupen had been obsessing over wanting to deep fry a turkey for the holidays. The rest of us were intrigued but not overly so. We finally tried it this week, adding a sublime new family tradition. It was by far the juiciest, most mouth watering turkey we had ever eaten. And it cooked in under an hour. Simply incredible. Just make sure you read and follow all of the manufacturer instructions.

Start with a cleaned turkey no bigger than 14 lbs. Dry it well. Generously season it inside and out with salt, pepper, poultry seasoning or your favorite spices like Cajun, and let it sit covered for up to 24 hours in the fridge. You can also do a brine injection. We didn't.


Before frying, bring the bird to room temperature first. Place in fryer basket and follow cooking instructions (we used a Butterball Masterbuilt Turkey Fryer). For safety reasons, it's essential you add the exact recommended amount of vegetable oil (we used canola) to the fryer to heat. Grease fires start when people add too much oil, creating a hot overspill when the turkey is lowered into it. This is serious business so don't screw up this step.


The fryer will indicate when the oil is hot enough. At this point, very slowly lower the turkey into the fryer and close the lid. We kept the fryer outside to avoid the smell and smoke released during cooking.

Cook until a meat thermometer hits between 160 - 170 degrees. Our 14 lb bird took a mere 45 minutes. 


Remove from fryer and let rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes, while you try to resist the urge to rip it apart with your hands. Carve up and feast. It has incredible flavor and a gorgeous crispy brown skin. There's no greasy taste either.

Now we're all obsessing over what to fry up next: chicken wings, calamari, Snickers bars. Any suggestions?

2 comments:

  1. I wanted to thank you for this special read. I definitely savored every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.
    public administration thesis paper topics

    ReplyDelete