I'm having a bunch of bachelor friends come for Thanksgiving. While we're roasting one turkey, we need two, so I'm considering frying the other one. Is it worth it? Are there turkey fryers I should stay away from? Does brining help the flavor of deep-fried turkeys? Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated. Also, funny stories about almost killing yourself with a turkey fryer will get you repped.
I fry one every year for Christmas, and smoke a prime rib. No near death experiences though. I've got one of those electric ones that can't burn down your house. Tips: 1-Soak your turkey in a brine for at least a day. 2-Inject it with some spices before frying. 3-Be sure it's not frozen when you drop it in. 4-Be sure to take the giblets and neck out. 5-Use peanut oil & the cheapest place to get it is at Costco. Now there's nothing better than fried turkey meat, but the skin is no good. As long as you soak it in brine and use an injector before you fry it, you shouldn't need anything else when you serve it...including salt & pepper. The flavor is already packed in the meat!
2 years ago, I bought one frozen on Thanksgiving Day so I could cook it that night. I found out that you don't do that. About 1987 my ex-wife and I cooked one in a microwave. Microwaves were the new thing, so we tried it. What we got was a pond of grease with a skeleton on top. You might try this if you need ingredients for homemade soap. And permanent stains on your microwave. This post won't help you to fry one but there you go.
There is an episode of Good Eats about frying turkeys that is really informative, try and see it if you can.
Never tried fried turkey, but I hear it's good. They fry chicken and that's good If I were looking to experiment on the 2nd bird, I'd consider.... TurDuckEn. Looks like a lot of prep work, but it also looks like it'd be very tasty. The duck might have a bit of fat to it, but I suspect a lot less than anything deep fried.
My brother in law set his house on fire smoking a turkey some years back. Pretty cool. As to fried turkey, I've tried and it and thought it was pretty tasty. Of course, anything that hardens your arteries while you eat it is OK in my book.
