Hi I’m Marty Richardson from chefmartyrich.com. Welcome back to our daily tip series.

Deep Fried Danger!

Today is the final episode of five straight days of  “Talking Turkey”.  I had a completely different topic in mind this morning, until my neighbor called looking for a stock pot deep enough to deep fry a turkey.  I said, “Hmm.  Maybe I have a different topic”.  I did a little research and found the United States Fire Association reported that there were 4,300 fires created last year, 15 deaths and $27,000,000 in property damages, directly related to deep fried turkey accidents.  There are huge consequences, but what are the benefits?

Worth The Trouble?

You are going to get a delicious, flavorful, moist turkey, fast.  I’m talking about 3 to 3 ½ minutes per pound to cook a turkey.  That is quick. The deep fryer is going to free up your oven, which is also a bonus on Thanksgiving Day.  And your husband is going to help… really?

Step-By-Step Instruction

Okay, buy a small turkey, 14 pounds or less.  Buy a deep fried turkey kit. Do not try to “jury-rig” something together.  This is far too dangerous for home made contraptions.  Buy 2 thermometers.  Make sure that you have 1 thermometer that is going to measure the temperature of your oil. The other themometer is going to measure the internal temperature of your turkey.  The desired frying oil is peanut oil, which is very expensive.  Make sure that you go to one of the warehouse stores to buy your peanut oil, both for avaiability and price.  Now, how much peanut oil will you need?  The best way to measure is to take your stock pot, put the turkey inside and fill the stock pot with water until the turkey is covered by an inch or two of water.  Put a mark on the inside of your stock pot at this waterline.  Take your turkey out and drain the remaining water.

Safety First

In order to get started, make sure that you set up your cooking station outside of your house.  Don’t set up in your garage, and not even on your deck.  Make sure you are somewhere that is not a flammable area.  Again, the consequences or mistakes are huge here.  Fill your stock pot up with oil, up to the line that you created.  Make sure that after you have measured with the water that you dry out your stock pot completely and dry off your turkey completely.  Hot oil and water do not mix.  If you have already measured in previous years and you have already have an idea of how much oil to use, make sure that you turkey is completely thawed before frying.  A chunk of ice left inside the cavity of your turkey will cause an explosion when it comes in contact with hot oil.  I hate to be overly dramatic, but that is why these USFA statistics are out of control.

Time To Fry

In order to get started, again, take the cooking area away from the house.  Fill up your stock pot with oil up to the desired level.  Then turn on the flame.  It is an open flame.  The open flame and hot oil that is where we have a potential problem.  Bring the oil temperature up to 375 degrees then turn off the heat source.  Take the turkey; it usually comes with a basket or some kind of hanger that you can lower the turkey into the hot oil, slowly.  Be very careful at this point.  Any moisture in the turkey is going to cause the oil to splatter and pop.  So make sure you are not wearing your best Thanksgiving clothes.  Once the turkey is full submerged in the hot oil, then reignite your heating source underneath.  Keep the temperature of the oil approximately 350 degrees.  The cooking time is 3 to 3 ½ minutes per pound.  Do not leave this boiling pot unattended… EVER…  Not even for a minute.  If this fire gets out of control, it can happen very quickly.  Several gallons of flammable, boiling oil is obviously, very dangerous.  There could be pets or children around, whatever.  Make sure that the turkey is constantly attended.  In case of an accident, do not try to fight this fire either with a fire extinguisher or worse yet, water.  Dial 911 in case of an emergency.

Crispy Turkey Skin

After your turkey is cooked completely according to your meat thermometer at 165 degrees, make sure that you drain the oil completely from the turkey.  You can reuse this oil if you don’t season the outside of your turkey. If you do, the spices are just going to burn and pollute your oil.  Most deep fried turkeys are seasoned by injection.  I could have gone into that a little bit more.  That is how self-basted turkeys are created.  You can find injection kits at the supermarket.  So that is basically it.  Just be careful.  I hope I haven’t scared you away from trying to deep fry a turkey.  The benefits are huge but the consequences are enormous.  I have two more videos on side dishes, and two more videos on desserts and it’s Thanksgiving!   I hope you are ready!  If not, go to the website and leave a comment, I’ll send you back an email.  Or register for a 30 minute consultation and I will call you and I will answer any question you have right up until Thanksgiving night.  Thank you for watching.  Talk to you soon.