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Every Thanksgiving, I get together with friends, who don’t have family in San Francisco, and cook a big feast. It’s usually an East meets West affair, with a combination of traditional turkey day favorites along with a variety of asian dishes. A few years ago, we decided to deep-fry a turkey and it was a complete hit. Now it’s our preferred turkey preparation method.

Deep-frying turkey produces much moister meat than oven-roasted turkey, and it’s not greasy at all. The best part is not having to slave over the oven for a couple of hours. It takes less than 50 minutes (3.5 minutes per pound) to fry a 14 lb turkey. There’s no way I would go back to roasting a turkey in the oven again.

If you are apprehensive about deep-frying a turkey, it’s most likely due to the potential fire danger and health concerns. First off, let’s address the health concerns. From a great deep-fried turkey article on Epicurious.com,

“Today, though everyone from Martha to Emeril has gotten in the act, fried turkey is still a foreign concept to many, who think of it as a comically large, batter-fried, dripping-with-grease bird. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. When dropped in a vat of boiling peanut oil, the turkey becomes a crispy amber beacon of juicy deliciousness — to put it in technical terms. “The hot oil has a flash-frying effect on the turkey, which seals the skin and all the moisture in it,” says Aricka Westbrooks, owner of Jive Turkey, a fried turkey restaurant and distributor in Brooklyn, New York, of all places. Since the high temperature of the oil seals the skin, the result is moist, juicy meat with what Westbrooks describes as a velvety texture. I can vouch for this, having tasted the turkey she fried for our sizzling video demonstration.

The high temperature keeps it from absorbing much oil — some studies claim a whole turkey absorbs less than a tablespoon. The key is to keep the oil above 340°F. According to the National Turkey Federation, a 5.9-ounce serving of fried turkey prepared with a dry rub has approximately 383 calories and 21 grams of fat. Compare that to roast turkey’s 362 calories and 16 grams of fat. (Calories and fat grams of roast turkey vary according to preparation.)”

High oil temperature is the key in preventing greasy turkey meat. Most recipes call for an oil temp of 350 degrees F. From an oil 101 article,

“Maintain a frying temperature of 190 degrees C (375 degrees F). The batter-coated or breaded surface will quickly form a protective shield, preventing the oil from penetrating the cooled food and making it greasy. The food will cook by conduction or indirect heat.

If the oil is not hot enough, oil will reach the food before the coating cooks enough to form the protective layer. The result is greasy food. If the oil is too hot, the coating will burn from the direct heat of the oil before the food has had time to cook.”

Now let’s address the safety concerns of deep-frying a turkey. Deep-frying anything can be dangerous because of the bubbling vat of hot oil. It’s even more of a concern when there’s a big bird involved. If you watched the Epicurious.com video, there is some oil splattering over, which could possibly ignite. I won’t deny that it is dangerous to deep-fry a turkey, but if you take some safety precautions, you can mitigate the danger.

I highly recommend reading and following these safety tips from UL.com. A few other tips to highlight are:

Large stock pot - get the largest stock pot possible to prevent overflow of oil.
Smaller turkeys - for first timers, smaller turkeys (10 - 11 lbs) are going to be easier to handle than larger birds. I would generally recommend 12 lb turkeys or smaller to avoid any oil overflow. Additionally, larger turkeys don’t fry as evenly, as the outside maybe overdone and the inside underdone. It’s better to deep-fry two smaller birds, than risk the fire danger of frying a large bird.
Submerge your bird - dunk your turkey in your pot filled with water to determine the required oil level. Watch the Epicurious video for a demo.

I’ve used the traditional outdoor turkey fryer, which consists of a large stainless steel pot and an outdoor gas-burner stove/stand, and an electric deep fryer (shown top right). The oil heats up faster using the gas-burner type. Additionally, you’ll be able to fry, boil or steam larger amounts of food using the gas-burner models, but the electric fryers are safer because there’s no open flame to ignite the oil.

I’ve made delicious deep-fried turkey using both an electric deep fryer and a gas-burner model. But I prefer the electric deep fryer for safety reasons, and an adjustable thermostat makes it easer to maintain oil temperature. Electric deep fryers are more expensive but worth the extra money for the safety.

When performed with care, deep-frying a turkey can be safe and will produce the best turkey you’ll ever have. Give it a try this year and save some time in the kitchen. You’ll love deep-fried turkey.

Yum! Turkey Meal Deep-Frying Turkey Resources: