Posts Tagged ‘Thanksgiving’
When you are getting ready to deep fry a turkey, whether it is Thanksgiving, some other holiday, or just an any day, you want to make sure that you are prepared. There is a little bit more to it than just having a turkey fryer, (stock pot and outdoor propane cooker), frying oil, and a turkey. You need to be physically, mentally, and materially prepared.
First things first. If you have never fried a turkey before, read your manual before you begin. Next, use the fryer before the big day. In fact, use it more than once if you can. Even if you are just boiling water to start, this will help you get used to the nuances of your new outdoor propane deep fryer. This will give a chance to figure out the heat regulator and how to maintain a constant temperature.
When purchasing a turkey for your fryer, you want to make sure that you do not buy too large of a turkey for the size of your stock pot. There may be a suggested guideline in your manual, but here are some suggested sizes:
24 qt. fryer pot- 8-10 lb. turkey
30 qt. fryer pot – 10-12 lb. turkey
36 qt. fryer pot – 12-14 lb. turkey
42 qt. fryer pot – 15-18 lb. turkey
Buying the oil for your fryer may be seem expensive at first, but if you filter, strain, and store your used oil properly it can be used again.
To give you a rough idea, some typical oil amounts are:
26-Qt. – - – - – 2.75 Gallons
30-Qt. – - – - – - – - 3 Gallons
34-Qt. – - – - – - – - 4 Gallons
You want an oil with a high smoke point as you will be keeping your temperature around 350 degrees F for a long period of time. (For info. on smoke points see Frying Oil). Mixing different types of frying oils is not recommended as different
oils have different smoke points. Buy what is in your price range but make sure it has a high smoke point.
Decide if you are going to use an injection marinade or rub or both on your bird. There are many recipes out there on the world wide web, but you can always buy a pre-made injection kit, like The Butterball Turkey Seasoning Kit manufactured for Masterbuilt. Inject your thawed bird the night before or early morning. Make sure the turkey is dry of marinade drippings.
Make sure you have enough LP gas. Having a backup propane tank is always a great idea. It is not like it is going to bad, or won’t eventually get used. You do not want to be in the middle of deep frying a turkey and run out of gas.
Get yourself some protective clothing. A pair of good, long, high temperature gloves is recommended. Protective eye wear is an option. Some goggles against spit and splatter is something to keep in mind. Pants, sleeves, and shoes are highly recommended as well.
Get yourself an all purpose fire extinguisher. You never know when you might need one anyway. Hopefully you will never need to use it.
Have a bucket of sand ready to use.Remember: oil & water don’t mix. A hose will make things worse if you have a flare up.
Make sure that your thermometers are working properly.
Be sure that you have a perfect spot to place your fryer. Don’t wait until Thanksgiving Day and find that you have no stable, level surface to cook on. This should be a place well away from any combustible materials, like bushes, but also to include your wooden deck or in your garage. These traditional turkey fryers are meant for outdoors, and not on your patio 3 feet from your house. If it is raining or snowing it is NOT an option to deep fry in your garage. You are only looking for trouble if you go there.
Have a little table set up to keep everything handy: your meat thermometer, gloves, goggles, fire extinguisher, etc.
If there is wind on the day that you are frying, position your tank on the upside of the wind. You don’t want the heat from the flames of the jet cooker blowing right at your propane tank.
Make sure that someone is able to keep the kids and the dog occupied. Let them play inside or just well away from the hot cooker.
Being physically prepared is helpful. If you do not think that you are physically capable of slowly and carefully raising and lowering a 15 lb turkey into a vat of hot oil, then get a lift bar. A lift bar can be slid through the grab hook and two people can do the raising and lowering.
Lastly, you want to be mentally prepared. Relax, but take care. Be sober. Use common sense. Don’t let any drunken friends bully you and try to tell you what to do or not to do. In fact, use the common sense to tell them that they should be out playing with the kids and the dog and you’ll call when the foods ready.
Using a Bayou Classic turkey fryer or any traditional turkey fryer at Thanksgiving can cut your cooking time down immensely. Imagine taking a 14 lb. bird and having to roast it for almost 5 hours at 20 mins. perpound. Take that same bird, stick it in a deep fryer with the oil at 350 degrees F for 3 mins. per pound, plus an extra 5 mins at the end for good measure, and your Thanksgiving dinner is ready in less than an hour. There are always proper safety measures that you want to take, like reading your manual. Wear appropriate clothing, shoes, and have protective gloves. Here are a few other tips to make your holiday meal a
- 24 qt. fryer- 8-10 lb. turkey
- 30 qt. fryer – 10-12 lb. turkey
- 36 qt. fryer – 12-14 lb. turkey
- 42 qt. fryer – 15-18 lb. turkey
What kind of oil should you buy? You want an oil with a high smoke point. That means an oil that is going to hold a constant high temperature with out hitting the point that it starts to smoke and then hit flash point. Refined peanut oil has a high smoke point, 450 degrees F. Some people are allergic to peanut oil, though I heard that the more refined the more hypo-allergenic, but to be on the safe side, if you don’t know for sure, get some other form of vegetable oil. Besides peanut oil can be expensive. Corn oil and high oleic canola oil are more readily available, have a good smoke point, and are less expensive than peanut oil.
How much oil should you use? Measuring the oil is quite simple. Take the completely thawed bird, place it in the stock pot. Fill the pot with water to the fill line. Place the bird in the perforated basket or on the poultry rack that you will be using. Place everything in the pot. Fill your stock pot with water until the bird is covered, plus a LITTLE extra. Remove the turkey and rack or basket. Mark your water line. This is how much oil to use. Dry the pot and basket completely before adding the oil.
Make sure your fryer is sturdy, level ground or concrete, not in your garage or covered wooden deck, away from combustible materials. If windy, place your propane tank upwards of the wind, so that the flame is blowing away from the LP gas.
Make sure your cooker will not be in a walk through area.
Make sure the kids, the dog, and any possibly non-sober guests have somewhere else to play!
While the frying oil is heating up, dry your turkey completely. Please make sure your turkey is properly thawed. Cooking times may vary if your poultry has not been properly thawed. Rule of thumb is to get the bird to room temp. an hour prior to deep frying. Sometimes a cold or frozen spot in a joint or deep in the turkey breast won’t allow that section to cook properly. Besides ice crystals left on the bird can cause a huge boil over and flare up.
meat thermometer, a bucket of sand and/or an all purpose fire extinguisher. No hoses! Hot oil and water don’t mix.
bird over, cover with plastic wrap, and inject the bottom side as well. There are portions of the breast that you may have missed by just injecting from the top side. Many people do the injection process the night before or early morning of. Some people like to use rubs as well, but much of the rub will come off during the cooking process, that is why injected seasonings are preferred. When using a dry powder marinade, mix with orange juice instead of water. The acidity in the orange juice enhances the marinade, plus it acts as a meat tenderizer. Wipe off any marinade they may have run with paper towels. You want to make sure that your turkey is nice and dry before lowering it into the hot frying oil.Place turkey upside down on rack, with legs facing up. Remember, poultry legs facing up. Put your measured frying oil into the pot. Attach thermometer to the top edge, making sure the stem of the thermometer is in the oil at least one inch… very important! When the oil is 350 degrees to 375°F it is time to place the turkey in the pot. Depending on the amount of oil used & weather conditions, it may take from 15 to 25 minutes for the oil to reach 350°F-375°F. You want to start the temp. a little higher than the optimum of 350 because your oil will drop in temp when you add the bird. Attach the grab hook to the top loop of the rack. Wearing protective gloves, very slowly & carefully lower poultry into pot. Almost like steeping a tea bag. The oil will spit and bubble at this point. Take your time until you are able to settle the turkey to the bottom without creating a severe boil over. It may take 60-90 seconds to completely lower poultry into the oil! If you feel more comfortable using two people for this process, get yourself a lift bar that two people can hold at the same time. Also, if you are afraid of a boil over and grease fire, just at the time of insertion, shut off the burner, slowly tea bag your turkey into the oil. When all is settled, relight the burner.
Now monitor your temp. As I said the oil temp. will drop a bit. Get it back to 350. You want to maintain that temp. as close as possible. Control frying temperature by turning the valve on the hose & regulator assembly. Reduce the flame to maintain a constant. PS: After passing 450°F, cooking oil can heat up rapidly to its flashpoint of spontaneous combustion, which is a serious grease fire! Therefore, never leave cooker unattended! Constantly monitor your thermometer. When the bird is done, turn the cooker off at the tank. Leaving pot on cooker, place grab hook through top loop of the rack and very carefully remove rack, with your turkey, from pot. Place rack with poultry on absorbent paper and allow to drain for few minutes, then remove from basket or rack and place on a platter to cool before carving. As I said, now is a great time to thicken the gravy and finish up your side dishes.
One last thing to keep in mind is your propane. Have an extra tank handy just in case. You do not want to run out halfway through a deep frying session.
Have fun, be safe. Use sober, common sense and you will have a Thanksgiving dinner to rival all your past ones.
It’s that time of year again. People start trying to remember where they packed the turkey fryer away. Is it in the garage, the shed, the attic?
I know that some people use their turkey fryers year round, for all sorts of applications, like canning vegetables at the end of the summer or making chili for the tailgate. But, most people only use their stock pot and propane cooker for one thing, Thanksgiving. I just don’t understand why this versatile piece of cooking equipment would only be used for one holiday a year. The traditional turkey fryer can be used to steam, stew, and boil, beside being able to deep fry anything, like wings, fries, onion rings, etc.
If you don’t already own a turkey fryer but have been thinking about getting one, which one do you choose?
There are so many types of “fryers” to choose from on the market now. There are indoor electric counter top fryers that can hold a small turkey. There is a larger counter top model by Masterbuilt & Butterball that have made turkey frying more convenient and use less oil too. There are the traditional outdoor propane turkey fryers and larger outdoor professional style deep fryers that you can deep fry turkey in. There are outdoor electric turkey fryers, and “oil-free” turkey fryers. Which one is right for you?
This is a perfect time of year for a turkey fryer. Well, any time of year is a great time for a turkey fryer as you can use them for almost anything.
Fall, besides the obvious Turkey Day, is full of tailgating, canning, festivals, fairs, and football. Having a turkey fryer, a stock pot and outdoor propane cooker, can be handy for all sorts of fall festivities!
A traditional turkey fryer not only deep fries food, it can also steam, simmer, boil, & stew. A tailgate crew with a turkey fryer kit has it going on. You can steam corn, boil potatoes, deep fry turkey or Buffalo wings, make chili or have a Low Country Boil. Menu options are endless!
If you are an avid gardener, being able to cook down tomatoes or berries, without having to heat up the kitchen in those warm early fall days is great. Set up your stock pot and cooker outside and start the canning process on the patio. This goes the same for apple sauce, beets, blanching a ton of green beans, whatever. You can also cook down your maple sap in the spring to make syrup.
Fall festivals are great places for turkey fryers. Most Autumn fairs are held outdoors. Sometimes electric is not an option. Having an outdoor propane deep fryer can come in quite handy. Having mulled wine or hot
cider for fair goers on a cold Autumn afternoon is a great way to make some cash. Cooking up corned beef and cabbage for your local fire department’s Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day fund raiser, having a turkey fryer or 5 is a must! Tie Dying with scouts at a fall Halloween function, you need a turkey fryer stock pot. And don’t forget the football. A huge stock pot full of HOT chocolate or hot cider at an away night game. What could be better? Besides having a turkey fryer around for Thanksgiving is a must. Even if you are not deep frying a turkey, having a stock pot to make turkey stock with after the big day is great. A big old turkey carcass does not fit in most pans that you keep under the counter.
If you have a turkey fryer, but don’t use it that often, then it is time to get it out of the garage and dust it off. If you don’t have one, it’s time to get one. These multi-purpose cookers are a must have for any cook, be they amateur or pro.
Some of us think about turkey fryers all the time. For those of us that don’t, it is that time of year again.
School is about to start up again. That means football season. Tailgating is about to go into warp drive. If you don’t have a turkey fryer with your tailgating equipment, now is a great time to add one!
Turkey fryers are a very versatile and mobile piece of outdoor cooking equipment. They don’t just deep fry. You can boil, steam, and stew with them too. That first real cold weather game, you can make steaming hot bowls of chili. Steam up some corn on the cob while the steaks grill. These outdoor cookers run on LP gas, so they are as portable as any grill. And, yes, they do deep fry. While you are grilling up assorted meat products for your tailgating crew, you can deep fry french fries or onion rings for a side dish. Better yet, start off the tailgate party with a whole mess of deep fried Buffalo Wings.
Then comes Thanksgiving. Everyone loves deep fried turkey. Besides having an outdoor propane deep fryer to tailgate with, you now have the propane stove and stock pot to deep fry turkey for Thanksgiving! That goes for home as well as the stadium parking lot. I know plenty of tailgaters that have an annual traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings and deep fried bird for that Thanksgiving Day game. I mean, why not? It is an American tradition. Why give it up just because you are at a football game?
Now if you are worried about hot frying oil and a rowdy tailgate party, maybe a less conventional deep fryer is more your speed. They still run on propane. They are still portable. An R & V Works Cajun Fryer was made with safety in mind. The oil is heated with super hot air that flows through self contained tubes. It will heat the oil to a temperature worthy of deep frying anything. The flame for the unit is typically at the back. Any oil spillage would occur in the front. Therefore no oil and flame should ever come in contact. These units have a rolling caddy for mobility, but the caddy also makes the unit more stable than a traditional turkey fryer. If a non-sober compadre should accidentally knock into the unit, it is less likely to take a tumble than a stock pot on a propane jet cooker. But, you know your crew better than anyone. You just need to keep a distance between propane tanks, deep fryers, grills, and the party crowd.
With a Cajun Fryer, clean up is relatively easy. They come with an oil drain valve. While everyone is eating. Let your fryer cool a bit. Then hook up an adapted piece of radiator hose to your drain valve and drain your warm oil into metal Gerry cans. The cans can be placed out of harms way while folks head into the game. The fryer unit can be rolled out of way also, allowing it to fully cool while you are in watching the game. When the game is over, your fryer will be ready to pack up and take home.
With either unit, a traditional turkey fryer or some other outdoor propane deep fryer, you can open up whole new menu options for your tailgate or anywhere. You can have a fish fry at church, wings at the fire house, or deep fried mushrooms at home. It is time to get out there and deep fry your tailgate!
It’s that time of year! It is time to Dust off your Bayou Classic Turkey Fryer. “But, it’s springtime?”‘ you say. Yes, it is. It is time to start cooking outdoors again. Time to get your outdoor cooking gear up and running.
It has been a long, cold, snowy winter in our neck of the woods. I use my grill year round when possible, but this year we had some down time. Probably from New Years to March, my grill and R & V Works Cajun Fryer were idle. Too much snow this year.
Well, it is coming up on Memorial Day. A traditional time to start the barbecue. (I have already started grilling again, as I was missing fire grilled meat.) For those of us in coastal areas, this is a perfect time to start cooking fish again too. I know that many people were already out there using their outdoor propane deep fryers during the Lenten season. Fish doesn’t always have to be deep fried. Now is a great time to get out your turkey fryer and have a nice Low Country Boil. Have a surf and turf. Get a few lobsters and clams to steam in the stock pot while you are grilling the steak on your smoker grill. Make a big pot full of Manhattan style clam chowder to have as an appetizer for your holiday barbecue. Or just use your turkey fryer to steam corn on the cob for everyone.
Turkey fryers are versatile. You need not just use it for deep frying turkey. Though deep frying a turkey breast to eat with your other barbecue fair is a nice option too.
For those of you that tailgate during the summer, the turkey fryer is a great addition to your tailgating gear. You can make Philly Cheese Steaks at the baseball stadium. Have a New England style Clam Bake at the NASCAR race in Loudon or just for a day at the beach. For those of you without a blender you could probably even mix up a huge batch of margaritas in the stock pot while tailgating at a Jimmy Buffett concert.
There is no need to pack your turkey fryer away just because it is not Thanksgiving. Get it out. Use it! That huge family barbecue that you are planning is a perfect time to use it. Even if you are just going to cook corn in it. Don’t let it collect dust in the garage. Turkey fryers are not just for holidays anymore. Get that fryer out and make it pay itself off and then some.
Spring is starting be make itself known where I live. The spring equinox does not actually arrive for about 3 more weeks, but I have started seeing my bulbs popping up around the yard. No flowers yet, but I can see some foliage popping. We have had a winter here, to rival those of days gone by. I, all of my 44 years upon this earth, here on Long Island, have never seen this much snow. I remember having a good blast every February and it was usually cold enough to last for about 2 weeks. But, anyhow, it has been a long winter, which is kind of unusual for these parts. We are usually directly affected by the Gulf Stream. The snowy weather is not usually part of our region. Colder temps. but usually quite mild.
I am usually an all winter griller. My grill and outdoor propane deep fryer were under so much snow this year that it was too big of a deal to dig a path to the grill. We were shoveling out the driveway and the sidewalks like every other day. I didn’t have the gumption to did a path anywhere else. So I settled for all indoor cooking this winter. Slow cooker, cast iron Dutch oven, my Crock Pot BBQ Pit, my counter top deep fryer, and I used the broiler a few times. This really has to be the first winter that I did not grill outdoors at all.
Well, spring has finally sprung as far as I am concerned. All the snow has finally melted in my yard. I can get to my grill & my Cajun Fryer. I think that it is time for a good old fashioned barbecue and fish fry. Seeing that Fat Tuesday is upon us, I may just have to make this happen. I need to get a big old pot of jambalaya going, deep fry some fresh fish and grill up some brisket and ribs.
Of course, my outdoor cooking equipment has been outside, under wraps, but outside. It never gets put away because normally I could be seen in the middle of January grilling steak or doing Beer Can chicken. So seeing as my cooking gear has spent the winter under a pile of snow, I guess I will have to give it all a thorough once over. Check my hoses and regulators and my propane tanks. (Yes, I said tanks. I keep 3 at all times. One for my grill, one for my deep fryer, and one spare.) This should be done normally anyway, but as I said, this past winter has been an anomaly. My grill has never gone this long without food on it. I cooked a prime rib in my grill for Christmas dinner, and it hasn’t gotten any love since. My Cajun Fryer hasn’t been used since Thanksgiving. I had planned to deep fry half of my freezer stores on Superbowl Sunday and for The Daytona 500, but there has just been too much snow.
This week is the week I intend to give my cooking equipment a whole lotta love. I am going to deep fry a turkey breast, and some fish. I am going to fire up my grill. The gloves are off, or I guess I should be putting them on. It’s time to get back outside and start cooking again!
It is common to find that only about 20 percent of the United States population deep fries food on a normal basis. This does not include the commercial end, nor the occasional french fries while having dinner out, or fried dough or funnel cakes at the fair. I’m talking about people that own a counter top deep fryer, or cast iron stove top deep fryer that deep fry foods on a normal basis. Even half the people that own turkey fryers only use their turkey fryer at Thanksgiving or other holidays. I would have to say that of that 20 percent, at least 15 percent are located in the more southern regions of our country. I tend to think that the northern folks boil, steam, and stew their foods more often than frying. I don’t know if that is because of colder climates and ancestral histories and traditions, but that is my take on the matter.
The other 80 percent of America, I’m thinking are more health conscious. The fear of high cholesterol has put a damper on the deep frying world. But here again, if you deep fry the foods properly, there should not be a lot of oil absorption. If your temperatures are right, you bring your temperatures back up between batches of food, and don’t over crowd the food, a proper moisture barrier will be made, keeping food moisture in and the oil out. Anything in moderation is ok as well. If you eat deep fried foods every day you probably aren’t worrying about your cholesterol anyway.
Having a deep fryer of your own can be fun and add to your menu options though. You don’t need a large outdoor propane deep fryer, but having one of those to tailgate with or just to add to your outdoor cooking equipment is a nice option. An outdoor turkey fryer will not only deep fry, you can steam, boil, stew and simmer with them too. They are a great addition to any tailgater’s gear or for the back yard entertainer. Make chili outdoors for your big Superbowl party. Have a Low Country Boil at the end of the summer. Have the gang over for steamed lobster, corn, and clams on the 4th of July. If you have a turkey fryer, utilize it!
The point is, for those of us that choose to deep fry, we love it, and do it to add flavor and excitement to our lives. I don’t deep fry every day, but I like having the option of changing up my menu once in a while. I love to cook, and love to feed people. It makes me happy, and the people I feed usually go away happy too.
Well the holidays are over. Time to box your turkey fryer kit back up and put it in the back of the garage, in the shed, or the attic and get it out of the way until next Thanksgiving. Right? Totally, totally WRONG!
There is no need to put your fryer away because it is a multi-cooker. Not only do you want it out for deep fried wings for the playoffs, you want it out for that big pot of chili that you are going to make for the Superbowl party. You can take it tailgating to one of the playoff games. You can use it to steam corn on the cob for the next meeting at the fire house. Make a big pot of jambalaya for a church dinner. And don’t forget that racing season is right around the corner. Speed week starts right after the Superbowl as well as the NHRA drag racing season. For those of us that tailgate and BBQ all year long, packing your outdoor cooking equipment away at any point is just a ridiculous thought.
Not to mention the fact that the stock pot of a turkey fryer is just that. Perfect for making stock. Throw your turkey carcass in the pot with a bunch of water and some herbs and boil it into stock. Strain out the bones, pick through for meat. Add fresh celery, onions, carrots and potatoes. Throw in any leftover gravy and sliced turkey that you may have. Simmer until the vegetables are tender, and viola, turkey soup.
A turkey fryer is an outdoor cooker with a stock pot. You can steam, stew, boil, simmer and deep fry with it. It can go any place that a propane barbecue grill can go. Camping, tailgating, the beach, a picnic, or even just in your back yard.
You can even use your outdoor propane deep fryer to cook down maple sap into syrup. To get a small bottle of syrup you have to start with a lot of sap. It is not that easy to just do this in your house, though it has been done. Why not start it off outside with your turkey fryer, and cook it down until it is at a comfortable amount to bring inside to finish off?
The point is, is that there is no “off season” when it comes to your outdoor propane deep fryer. Use your imagination. Have a Low Country Boil in the middle of winter. Go cold weather camping or cold weather tailgating. Have a Friday night fish fry. Use it in the summer to steam lobster and clams. A turkey fryer is a piece of outdoor cooking equipment that you spent money on. Use it. Make it worth the investment. It’s not just for Thanksgiving anymore!