Deep Frying Your Bird This Thanksgiving

Hi there folks! I want to tell you about my Thanksgiving two years ago.

Oh boy, do I love this holiday! There is so much food flying around the kitchen that I get a good taste of everything on the table, so of course I’m thankful! (And I’m sure Ruby is too, with all the scraps making their way into her belly.)

A couple years ago though, we decided to try something different. It was the first time I decided to deep fry a turkey.  Now, in our house, we love a good turkey, Ruby especially, so when she saw me hauling that bird out the door, she must have really thought she hit the jackpot!

We took the turkey all the way outside to our concrete driveway. There was a large pot with hot peanut oil in it. After thoroughly drying the bird, we turned off the flame to the large pot and slowly put the whole turkey in to the oil! Boy did it bubble! No worries though, we had it under control – we had a red fire extinguisher and flour to put out any fire that could occur. My helpers and I also had big gloves to protect ourselves from being burned by the oil. We even had a thermometer to tell how hot the oil was to make sure it would not explode!

Well I will tell you it smelled amazing; all I could think about was eating turkey.  And you know what?  It tasted as good as it smelled - yum! After the turkey was done cooking I gave Ruby a good hunk, and if the dog’s opinion is important to you, she thought it was the best ever.

If you want to do it the way I did, check out this guy’s how to fry a turkey video and get some recipe ideas from Paula Dean.

Take Our Quiz

Did you catch all the safety tips we had about deep frying a turkey? Let’s Check;

1. Keep deep fryers away from the house, do not use them in a garage, wooden deck, or shed.
2. Deep fry preferably on a concert surface away from your house.
3. Use turkey deep fryers made to handle the weight of a turkey. Jimmy rigging can lead to fire hazards.
4. Use a oil with a high smoke point, such as peanut or canola.
5. Make sure the turkey is completely thawed and dry the more water on the bird the more the oil will bubble risking it to overflow the cooking pot. Use dry rubs for seasonings and paper towels to dry the bird inside and out.
6. Turn the flam off before putting the turkey in the oil to prevent a fire.
7. Use gloves when putting in and taking the turkey out of the oil.
8. Lower turkey in to the oil slowly to reduce the chance of the oil bubbling over.
9. Keep a fire extinguisher or flour near your cooking station. Water will spread a oil fire, flour will kill the flames.
10. Make sure to use a thermometer for the oil if it gets too hot the turkey will burn and the oil could explode if it is too cold the meat will just soak up the oil and will not cook correctly.

Give yourself 1 point for each number on our safety checklist you remembered from the story. Share our story or challenge your friends by  posting your score to Facebook.