Deep Fried Turkey Preparations

I've been frying turkey for 7 or 8 years and Wednesday afternoon I prepared a 13 lb. bird for frying on Thanksgiving Day. I've written a few posts about how I like to do it in the past. Shake's Honey Brine is my favorite brine injection recipe. Lots of honey, salt, picking spice, cloves and Morton's Tender Quick do the trick.

I started thawing the turkey in the refrigerator on Monday and it was still a little bit frozen on the inside when I pulled it out this afternoon for injecting, but it turned out fine. It continued to thaw while the marinating process started. I finished injecting the thighs and breast; then I set the bird into the leftover brine and placed it back in the refrigerator.

I placed the Tupperware container in a plastic bag and return it to the refrigerator overnight.

These are not "food grade" plastic bags, but at least they are not "scented". I would have used clear plastic if I had some large enough, but as Clint Eastwood once said, "improvise, adapt, and overcome".


The things I do in the name of good food.

We had a light dusting of snow overnight and temps were in the mid-20's at turkey frying time.



Warming the oil

Almost ready

Into the oil

I heat the oil to 275 degrees, turn off the fryer, and then lower the turkey into the oil. I continue heating the oil to 300 degrees and then cut the heat back to maintain 300 -325 degrees consistently for about 1 hour or 4 minutes per pound depending on the size of the turkey. If you prefer to heat the oil to 325 degrees prior to putting the turkey in the oil, then something closer to 3 minutes per pound would probably work too. For safety I always prefer to undershoot on the front end and cook it a little longer on the back end.

Crispy skin close up

Sometimes the skin turns out darker than others. I think it depends on the type of oil that is used. I don't eat the skin anyway. I have used sunflower oil, safflower, and peanut oil in the past. I usually settle for whatever is available without searching all over town looking for it and this year it was safflower oil.

Slicing the turkey breast

I like to use an electric knife for slicing. It's quick, easy and efficient for me and usually turns out very well.

Drumsticks, left and right breast, and dark meat complete and ready to eat.

Fried turkey always turns out well. I've never had a bad one. I can't say the same for oven baked turkey. And besides the fool-proof nature of fried turkey, it's hard to beat Thanksgiving Dinner ready-in-an-hour versus the cook-all-morning-oven-baked-method.

Turkey breast, stuffing and peas. The deviled eggs and cranberries wouldn't fit on the plate,
but that didn't stop me from eating them the second time around!

 

Linda made an apple pie for desert

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