Oh the drama on Christmas morning when it finally registered that my dad was going to deep fry the turkey. He had been saying it for a week but it didn’t click until I was sitting there and my mother was telling him to make sure there wasn’t too much oil in the pot. Something clicked and I immediately remembered all the horror stories I had read about involving deep fried turkey accidents. I grabbed my phone and googled “danger of deep frying a turkey” and then started reading all the stories and freaking out. In the end it turned out to be a delicious turkey but those 36 minutes of watching over that pot to make sure nothing exploded or caught on fire are not ones I want to repeat anytime soon.
If you decide to undertake deep frying a turkey, check out this article that talks about the dangers of frying a turkey and this site that tells you how to deep fry a turkey. I’m just giving basic info but those two sites would be helpful if you are brave and try this method.
Dad’s Deep Fried Turkey
Ingredients:
12 lb turkey
3 gallons peanut oil
Italian dressing
Supplies:
Turkey fryer
Injector
Instructions:
The night before you fry your turkey, place the turkey in the pot and fill with enough water to cover the turkey by at least an inch of water. Remove the turkey and mark the spot where the water ends so you will know how much oil is needed. You want to make sure there is enough space in the pot to allow for the oil to bubble up when you put it in to fry. Discard the water. Completely dry the pot and the turkey. Inject some of the Italian dressing into the thawed turkey.
The turkey will take about 3 minutes per pound to fry. I’ve read different oil temperatures needed to fry the turkey so you may need to research that. My dad heated the oil to 350 degrees. Now my mother and I were so freaked about how much oil was in the pot we had my dad turn off the flame while he put the turkey in, just in case the oil overflowed. You have to slowly and carefully lower the turkey because that is one of the most dangerous times of the process. Once it seemed ok, he started the flame again and cooked it for 36 minutes. When he pulled it out we checked the temperature on the breast to make sure it was cooked to the correct temp. The crust was especially tasty and we all enjoyed the turkey. It was very moist as well.
After we ate my dad said “the next time I do this” and I immediately said oh no, there won’t be a next time. That was too stressful.
