Has anyone every deep-fried a turkey before?

Tell me a little about your experiences with this if you have deep-fried and turkey before.

Any troubles or problems? How did your turkey come out?
 

Leni

New member
It was wonderful! Very moist and tender. You do have to be very careful though. I sat out there while it cooked and shooed away a long haired kitty. Did not need him to become a flaming torch. Be sure that the bird is very dry otherwise the oil will spit.
 

Shermie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
I did it once.

My dear late brother taught me how to do it. I never tasted it until the first time that I went to visit him in Columbia, SC. He told me about it and he deep-fried two of them because his oldest son was getting married.

But the main shortcoming that I have with this is that you have to use a ton of oil to do it!! Peanut oil is recommend, since it has a high heat tolerance and won't smoke or burn easily.

But it is also astronomically expensive!!!! Too much of it has to be used to do it, and then, you're stuck with all that used oil if you don't deep-fry another turkey soon. The oil could go rancid over time!!
 

Shermie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Here's a pic of my turkey fryer, BTW.
 

Attachments

  • Turk'N'Surf Electric Turkey Fryer..jpg
    Turk'N'Surf Electric Turkey Fryer..jpg
    18.8 KB · Views: 275

Sass Muffin

Coffee Queen ☕
Gold Site Supporter
My BIL deep fried a turkey about 5? years ago.
It was delicious, but he never did it again after that.
Seems it was all the rage back then, and after that the family decided we'd stick to good old oven roasted birds for the holidays.
 

Shermie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Yeah, roast turkeys take longer to cook, but you don't have all that oil left over to deal with. I've roasted a turkey many times, and only deep-fried one just once.

Besides, you can't stuff the turkey if you want to deep-fry it. It WAS the rage back then. Everyone had "oooooh'd, ahhhhhh'd and went gaga over this then new-found sensation. Now, you don't hear much about it these days.

Also, you don't have all that oil residue that's left in the furkey fryer to have to clean up!
 

Shermie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Yeah, I remember seeing Alton do it several years ago on his cooking show, Good Eats. He even rigged up a ladder to help him!!
 

Doc

Administrator
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
I deep fried one once. It was good, and like Sherman said the oil was expensive and messy to deal with but overall that was worth it.
What I missed was the stuffing inside the turkey and gravy that you can make using turkey drippings if you roast the turkey. I prefer roasted to fried just because of that.
 

Shermie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
I deep fried one once. It was good, and like Sherman said the oil was expensive and messy to deal with but overall that was worth it.
What I missed was the stuffing inside the turkey and gravy that you can make using turkey drippings if you roast the turkey. I prefer roasted to fried just because of that.




Right you are, Doc!!

Seems that you're left with two options;

To roast it or deep-fry it.

If you deep-fry it, you'll miss the pleasure and enjoyment of stuffing it and the gravy from the drippings in the roaster.

Roasting it gives you the benefits of having the bird's juices run through and flavor the stuffing even more!!

And everyone just LOVES the gravy made from the drippings in the pan! I do!! And there IS far less of a mess to clean up, especially if you use a roasting bag!!

Also, I truly enjoy the dry crispy browned skin that's on the breast meat!! When I eat that, I'm in hog heaven!!! :chef:
 

Sass Muffin

Coffee Queen ☕
Gold Site Supporter
Also, I truly enjoy the dry crispy browned skin that's on the breast meat!! When I eat that, I'm in hog heaven!!! :chef:
yum yum Shermie!
I love the wings.. for the same reason.
Everyone knows better than to even touch the turkey wings in my family. :corn::yum:
Mine, all mine!
 

Doc

Administrator
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
One year I smoked a small Turkey and DW roasted the big bird. Mmmmm best of both worlds. Maybe deep fry one and roast another. I do believe enough of the family will be coming to turkey dinner at our house that we can handle two birds. Besides, I love the left overs. :D
 

Mountain man

Entree Cook
Gold Site Supporter
I deep fried a few when the boys were both stationed at Ft.Drum. I was a firefighter and you had to have a trained card to fry since they had several fires. The birds were good but did not impress me. I would go roasted any day. I have to have my gravy also.:D
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Yes, I've done them several times. Delicious and QUICK!

It's a great thing to do if you can get several friends or neighbors together (all of whom have paid for their own turkeys!) so you can do a bunch.

Lee
 
Peanut Oil is expensive, I agree with you on that Sherman!

I just feel as though deep-frying somehow locks in the moisture and flavor of the bird a way that no other cooking method can compare.

Deep-frying does have a lot of clean up, but it only takes a fraction of the time to actually have the bird done, prepared and ready to eat. (Especially good for those Thanksgiving holidays when everyone is waiting around ready to eat!)

@MountainMan, maybe you could try to flavor your turkey in some way? I have plenty of brine recipes, dry rubs and injection recipes that you could use to enhance the taste!
 

Mountain man

Entree Cook
Gold Site Supporter
Sadly I have to really watch my sodium intake. I guess I cured and brined enough meat in years back and it caught up to me. These days I work around it with other spices.
 

Shermie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Sadly I have to really watch my sodium intake. I guess I cured and brined enough meat in years back and it caught up to me. These days I work around it with other spices.


I, also, am on a low-sodium diet.

There are some injection wet marinades that you can get, depending on your location and availibility.

My dear late brother used it when HE deep-fried turkeys. Or it might be obtainable online. Some of these should be low sodium by now, I would think. :clap:
 

Shermie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Peanut Oil is expensive, I agree with you on that Sherman!

I just feel as though deep-frying somehow locks in the moisture and flavor of the bird a way that no other cooking method can compare.

Deep-frying does have a lot of clean up, but it only takes a fraction of the time to actually have the bird done, prepared and ready to eat. (Especially good for those Thanksgiving holidays when everyone is waiting around ready to eat!)

@MountainMan, maybe you could try to flavor your turkey in some way? I have plenty of brine recipes, dry rubs and injection recipes that you could use to enhance the taste!


1. About the only things beneficial, to me, in doing a deep-fried turkey is that the cooking time is reduced considerably to about 45 minutes, assuming of course, is that the oil is at a temp of at least 375 degrees. My unit's manual suggest that the thermostat be set to 400 degrees to acheive this cooking temp in a reasonable time. Of course, when the turkey is slowly lowered into the hot oil, the temp is reduced slightly, and recovery time is needed to bring the cooking temp back up to 375.

2. The turkey DOES taste very good, like no other cooked the normal way!! But still the same flavor can pretty much be acheived if you marinate the bird first before you decide to roast or smoke it.

3. The drawbacks or downsides are that you don't have or get any meat drippings in order to make a delicious gravy.

4. You can't and shouldn't stuff it if you want to deep fry it.

5. You don't get the soft flavorful taste from the stuffing because it's not inside the turkey.

I've weighed the pro and cons and decided that roasting the turkey is better, even though it takes longer.

Also, with deep frying, any meat that's not covered by skin usually is somewhat overcooked and tough, so I don't buy the argument that all of the meat is tender & juicy. :neutral:
 

Shermie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Here's a deep-fried turkey that my nephew did a while back. :bbq3:
 

Attachments

  • Dwayne Jr.'s. deep-fried turkiey!!.jpg
    Dwayne Jr.'s. deep-fried turkiey!!.jpg
    54.2 KB · Views: 215
Very nice picture! Looks delicious!

:smile:

Im just curious, what type of turkey does everyone buy?

I usually try to buy mine organic just because I feel that they taste better and I like knowing that certain standards are kept up for the way the turkey's produced, but that may just be me...what do you all think?
 

Shermie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
I usually get it freas or frozen, and a small one, the smallest one I can get. Five to 10 lbs.
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I've deep fried a couple without much trouble however I don't eat Turkey, chicken or duck but friends and family seemed to love it by the fact all they left was bones. I actually prefer smoking them which I've also done a number of times and again they don't last long at all.
 

Mama

Queen of Cornbread
Site Supporter
Deep frying a turkey at the right temperature (345-350) isn't going to absorb the grease. The high heat will sear the skin and keep the juices inside.

A 3 1/2-ounce portion of fried turkey from a recipe posted on the National Turkey Federation’s website has 230 calories, 12.6 grams of fat and 3.6 grams of saturated fat for a whole turkey including the skin.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a 3 1/2-ounce portion of roasted turkey, light meat with skin, has 207 calories, 9.4 grams of fat and 2.6 grams of saturated fat. Dark meat is a little higher in fat and calories.
 

Leni

New member
If the oil is hot enough very little oil is absorbed by the meat. What happens it that the outside is sealed and the inside is steamed. If done properly it is actually a very healthy way to cook. The problem is that most people do not get the oil hot enough or put too much food in at one time. That lowers the temperature way too much. The oil should be at least 350 minimum.

Since I use peanut oil there is no cholesterol involved as that comes only from meat. It also does not add any flavor to what I'm cooking.
 
Last edited:

Ironman

🍺
I scored an electric Butterball deep fryer last year at Walmart for $99 bucks. Quick, easy, juicy... does an excellent job. Picked up 4 gallons of peanut oil at Sam's club.

But, the best turkey I ever had was smoked - with hickory.

2148ly0.jpg
 

Mama

Queen of Cornbread
Site Supporter
I'm not understanding your question Rick. If you are concerned about the amount of calories and fat, they are pretty similar. If you've never tasted a deep fried turkey, they are amazing and well worth the small amount of extra calories and fat compared to a roasted/baked turkey. I don't know anyone who eats deep fried turkey everyday but it certainly is a treat when you get to have some.
 
Last edited:
Top