Its November and that means American Thanksgiving. I LOVE Thanksgiving. My husband is from Louisiana and he and his family have been deep-frying turkey as long as he remembers. Last year I guest posted over at Taking Route prior to Thanksgiving and mentioned our turkey frying as a way to free up my precious oven space when getting ready for holiday meals. I've had quite a few of you get on to me for never having shared this before on Market to Meal. So…ask and you will receive. This post should contain all the information you need to fry your own turkey. This will be a little long and detailed--above all remember to BE SAFE with your pot of oil! If you have questions, just ask and I will try to help. This is officially the BEST way to eat a turkey--at least to us! (However, I'm following this with a guest post on baking a turkey in a mini-oven!)
How to: Fry a Turkey
Equipment Needed:
A large pot with lid
A large gas burner
A regulator
A tank of propane gas
A deep frying thermometer
A marinade injector
A large baking sheet with edge
Metal hangers and/or wire to rig a hook with
Timer
Food Needed:
Turkey (11-13 lbs is ideal)
Injectable marinade (see below for ideas)
Peanut Oil for frying
Olive oil or other
Seasoning to coat outside (We use Cayenne and Cajun Seasoning)
*You will need to assess how much oil you will need for frying. A simple way to do this is place your turkey in the pot you will be using and measure water to barely cover entire bird--you don't even need to unwrap it. This is how many liters of oil you will need. (Our pot requires us to use close to 10L.)
Prepping the Turkey:
1. Begin prepping the turkey 8-12 hours before you want to cook it. Allowing it to marinate gives it the best flavor.
2. Unwrap turkey. Remove the bag of parts and the neck from inside. Remove the plastic indicator that is inserted into the meat of the turkey on the outside. Trim unnecessary flaps of skin that are excess. Rinse well.
3. Once turkey is clean and all parts are removed, place the turkey on a baking sheet (make sure it has a lip or edge as turkey will release juices). Rub a generous amount of basic cooking oil or olive oil over the surface of the entire turkey.
4. Using an injector, generously inject the turkey with an injectable marinade. You will want to inject the turkey at 2-3 different points on the breast of the turkey. Insert the injector's needle deep into the meat and insert marinade. Without fully removing the needle, reinsert at a different angle. Repeat this 2-3 times at each location. Also inject the legs and dark meat sections on the underside of the bird. You will probably use about a cup worth of marinade.
5. Now it is time to coat the turkey. First, coat the outside of the turkey with ground red pepper (we use cayenne pepper). The turkey should be mostly red and you should no longer see much of the skin. Finish coating the turkey with Cajun seasoning until there is no more white from the skin visible. Using any seasoning salt or spice mix would work as well. All these seasonings will seal to the bird when you drop it in the oil.
6. Allow the turkey to marinate in the fridge for 8-12 hours. If you are having a noon time meal you should do this the night before. If you aren't eating til evening, then you can do it the morning of or the night before as well.
7. Before frying, you'll need to use some metal wire or a metal hanger to rig a type of ring that you can use to hold onto to drop the turkey in the pot. We've made a ring by looping the wire through the turkey on either side of the tail. The hooks you see in our pictures come from an actual turkey frying kit/set. You can then use the hook of a metal hanger or tongs or whatever you have to hold the ring to put turkey in and out of oil.
Frying the Turkey:
*Safety first! This is not something you can do in your kitchen. It is best done in an outside area or on a patio. Keep kids away from the hot oil!
1. Preheat the oil to 350-375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Once the oil has reached the appropriate temperature, SLOWLY lower the turkey into the oil. Be careful and do not allow the oil to spill over the top of the pot.
3. Replace the lid. You may need to increase the gas flow to regain the appropriate cooking temperature of 350-375 degrees. Regularly check the temperature to ensure that it remains in the appropriate zone. Do not let oil reach 400 degrees as it would be a fire hazard.
4. Cook the turkey for 3 1/2 minutes per pound.
5. Once the appropriate amount of time has passed, carefully remove the turkey and allow to cool slightly before slicing and serving.
Injectable Marinade:
We often use Tony Chachere's Injectable Butter-flavored Marinade if someone can bring or send from the US. I've made my own version before as well. There are many ideas online. I have used an approximation of the following:
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup oil
2-3 tsp butter extract
2-3 Tbs Cajun seasoning
garlic powder
onion powder
You could also use water, oil and any other salt/spice blend that you like (maybe Lawry's seasoned salt or Jane's Krazy Salt or other).
A few tips and tricks:
* Your oil can fry several turkeys. Rebottle it and save it to use at both Thanksgiving and Christmas.
*Peanut Oil has a high smoke point. It is the best for frying.
* Our bird is Cajun fried, but none of these Cajun seasonings and cayenne make the turkey spicy. Just super flavorful and the marinade is essential to making it wonderfully juicy.
* If you don't have a propane tank, we sometimes borrow one just for the day from a local hot pot restaurant! They weigh it and we give them a deposit, then when we return it they just charge us for how much propane we used.
*In China, you can buy the burners and propane regulators at a place that sells and refills propane tanks.
*I think our pot holds about 30 quarts. It probably has a diameter of about 12-14 inches and a height of 18-20 inches. The bigger your pot, the more oil it will take.
How to: Fry a Turkey
Equipment Needed:
A large pot with lid
A large gas burner
A regulator
A tank of propane gas
A deep frying thermometer
A marinade injector
A large baking sheet with edge
Metal hangers and/or wire to rig a hook with
Timer
 |
| This is what the propane burner we use looks like. |
Food Needed:
Turkey (11-13 lbs is ideal)
Injectable marinade (see below for ideas)
Peanut Oil for frying
Olive oil or other
Seasoning to coat outside (We use Cayenne and Cajun Seasoning)
*You will need to assess how much oil you will need for frying. A simple way to do this is place your turkey in the pot you will be using and measure water to barely cover entire bird--you don't even need to unwrap it. This is how many liters of oil you will need. (Our pot requires us to use close to 10L.)
Prepping the Turkey:
1. Begin prepping the turkey 8-12 hours before you want to cook it. Allowing it to marinate gives it the best flavor.
2. Unwrap turkey. Remove the bag of parts and the neck from inside. Remove the plastic indicator that is inserted into the meat of the turkey on the outside. Trim unnecessary flaps of skin that are excess. Rinse well.
3. Once turkey is clean and all parts are removed, place the turkey on a baking sheet (make sure it has a lip or edge as turkey will release juices). Rub a generous amount of basic cooking oil or olive oil over the surface of the entire turkey.
4. Using an injector, generously inject the turkey with an injectable marinade. You will want to inject the turkey at 2-3 different points on the breast of the turkey. Insert the injector's needle deep into the meat and insert marinade. Without fully removing the needle, reinsert at a different angle. Repeat this 2-3 times at each location. Also inject the legs and dark meat sections on the underside of the bird. You will probably use about a cup worth of marinade.
5. Now it is time to coat the turkey. First, coat the outside of the turkey with ground red pepper (we use cayenne pepper). The turkey should be mostly red and you should no longer see much of the skin. Finish coating the turkey with Cajun seasoning until there is no more white from the skin visible. Using any seasoning salt or spice mix would work as well. All these seasonings will seal to the bird when you drop it in the oil.
6. Allow the turkey to marinate in the fridge for 8-12 hours. If you are having a noon time meal you should do this the night before. If you aren't eating til evening, then you can do it the morning of or the night before as well.
7. Before frying, you'll need to use some metal wire or a metal hanger to rig a type of ring that you can use to hold onto to drop the turkey in the pot. We've made a ring by looping the wire through the turkey on either side of the tail. The hooks you see in our pictures come from an actual turkey frying kit/set. You can then use the hook of a metal hanger or tongs or whatever you have to hold the ring to put turkey in and out of oil.
Frying the Turkey:
*Safety first! This is not something you can do in your kitchen. It is best done in an outside area or on a patio. Keep kids away from the hot oil!
1. Preheat the oil to 350-375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Once the oil has reached the appropriate temperature, SLOWLY lower the turkey into the oil. Be careful and do not allow the oil to spill over the top of the pot.
3. Replace the lid. You may need to increase the gas flow to regain the appropriate cooking temperature of 350-375 degrees. Regularly check the temperature to ensure that it remains in the appropriate zone. Do not let oil reach 400 degrees as it would be a fire hazard.
4. Cook the turkey for 3 1/2 minutes per pound.
5. Once the appropriate amount of time has passed, carefully remove the turkey and allow to cool slightly before slicing and serving.
Injectable Marinade:
We often use Tony Chachere's Injectable Butter-flavored Marinade if someone can bring or send from the US. I've made my own version before as well. There are many ideas online. I have used an approximation of the following:
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup oil
2-3 tsp butter extract
2-3 Tbs Cajun seasoning
garlic powder
onion powder
You could also use water, oil and any other salt/spice blend that you like (maybe Lawry's seasoned salt or Jane's Krazy Salt or other).
A few tips and tricks:
* Your oil can fry several turkeys. Rebottle it and save it to use at both Thanksgiving and Christmas.
*Peanut Oil has a high smoke point. It is the best for frying.
* Our bird is Cajun fried, but none of these Cajun seasonings and cayenne make the turkey spicy. Just super flavorful and the marinade is essential to making it wonderfully juicy.
* If you don't have a propane tank, we sometimes borrow one just for the day from a local hot pot restaurant! They weigh it and we give them a deposit, then when we return it they just charge us for how much propane we used.
*In China, you can buy the burners and propane regulators at a place that sells and refills propane tanks.
*I think our pot holds about 30 quarts. It probably has a diameter of about 12-14 inches and a height of 18-20 inches. The bigger your pot, the more oil it will take.
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