How to deep fry turkey
For people in the US, Thanksgiving is coming soon. For those outside the US, is there ever a bad time to cook a turkey?
Deep fried turkey is a Cajun-style dish that’s become popular in recent years. It’s nothing like fried chicken – there’s no breading (just nicely crispy skin) and it’s not greasy. It’s just moist and delicious in a way that oven roasted turkey isn’t, unless you cook it exactly right, which is notoriously difficult to do.
Deep frying turkey is less time-consuming than roasting it. But there are a couple of points to consider: you need to either do it outside in a well-ventilated area, or indoors with an indoor turkey fryer. Either way, you will need some particular equipment which is a bit of an investment, but well worth it if you enjoy turkey cooked this way. Plus, you can cook any other types of large meat cuts with it, too.
Turkey fryer options
Turkey fryers come in two varieties: outdoor or indoor. Some fryers don’t use oil, but rather infrared heat to cook the turkey. The result is that same juicy meat and crispy skin, but not using oil saves you money in the long run (turkeys need gallons of oil, which is expensive), is healthier, and makes cleanup much easier.
Fryers run from around $40 to $200. Some include absolutely everything you need, while with others you may need to buy some other pieces (such as meat thermometers or propane tanks) separately. Check with friends and read online reviews to get a sense which one is best for your needs and your budget. You don’t want to spend anymore than you have to, but on the other hand you don’t want to buy the cheapest machine only to find out it doesn’t really work as advertised and ends up sitting around not being used.
It’s worth noting that what makes deep frying turkey risky is the oil. Consumer Reports recommends oil-less fryers for that very reason. They specifically like the Char-Broil Big Easy Oil-Less Infrared Turkey Fryer, which also gets high marks from Amazon shoppers.
Tips for deep frying turkey
The basics of the how-to will depend on your individual fryer. It will come with instructions so you know how much oil to use (if any), and when to do what, and how to tell when it’s cooked. Beyond that, there are a number of tips and things you should know that will help you make the best fried turkey.
- No matter what your fryer can handle, you will get the best results with a bird about 8-12 pounds. Larger turkeys take longer to fry, which means the outside could get overcooked by the time the inside is done.
- Make sure the turkey is completely thawed before lowering it into oil, or the oil might pop and splatter.
- If your fryer uses oil, peanut oil is the traditional Cajun choice. It has a wonderful flavor and can take cooking at higher temperatures than most other oils.
- Some people recommend avoiding fryer models with tripod bases because they can tip easily, which is dangerous with all that hot oil.
- Outdoor cookers should be placed on grass or bare ground, nowhere near a building, deck or anything combustible.
Marinade tips
You’ll need to marinade the turkey at least 12 hours ahead of cooking time – up to 36 hours. For this step, you’ll use a liquid marinade injected under the skin and a dry rub. To inject liquid marinade, get a hypodermic meat injector from a kitchen supply store and lift the skin up gently to inject under it (rather than poking holes through the skin). Apply the dry rub under the turkey skin.
You can really marinade it with any flavoring you like, using commercial marinades or your own recipe. There are a lot of marinade recipes available online (just search for “fried turkey marinade recipe”), such as the classic Cajun marinade, a garlic lemon marinade, and a recipe the uses orange juice, cayenne and garlic. Ditto on the dry rub: there are commercial rubs you can buy, or you can make your own (search for “fried turkey rub recipe) from online recipes like this one with basil and thyme, this dry mustard and paprika blend from Chow, or this flavorful mix from the Food Network website.
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