Oil For Deep Frying Turkeys?

Gramps

Gramps

New member
Looks like old Gramps needs some help yet again. My lady friend is insisting that we try a deep fried turkey this Thanksgiving. She even ran out and bought the deep fryer without me knowing about it. The label on the box says it's a "30 quart aluminum deep fryer than can cook an 18 pound turkey in a little over an hour." That's all I can tell you about it. Beyond that, I am pretty clueless.

I found this great post from last year and it answered many of my questions and concerns: http://netcookingtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12358&highlight=frying+turkey

But I also found a few other conflicting posts and so I need some more specific help.

It sounds like peanut oil is the preferred way to go but it is also the most expensive by far. 30 quarts at close to $4.00 per quart in my local market will break the bank! One post said that I'd need as much as 10 gallons (40 quarts!) presumably for evaporation while cooking(?)

That can't be right so I must ask:

1. Where do you turkey fryer folks buy your oil? I must assume that you are buying it cheaper in bulk, correct?
2. How much oil do I need to buy to cook a 14 to 16 pound turkey in this 30 quart fryer?
3. Is there a cheaper alternative to costly peanut oil that won't change or ruin the flavor?
4. What on earth do you do with all that oil after you have used it?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Take care,
Tom

ETA: I'm finding bulk cottonseed oil online for turkey frying and it is much cheaper than peanut oil. Any downside to it?
 
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I've always bought my Peanut Oil in a 5 gallon box. It's still expensive, and runs around 30 bucks for the 5 gallons. I used to get the box of oil at Sam's, but lately, since it's so popular now, I'm seeing those 5 gallon boxes at Wal-Mart and general super markets as well.

Peanut Oil is often chosen not so much for the flavor, but for it's higher smoke point than other oils. If you want to use another oil, Corn oil is a good choice, and has the same smoke point as peanut oil (450 degrees F). You'll be frying your Turkey at 350 degrees, so even Vegetable oil would work, but since Vegetable Oil's smoke point is around 360, I'd stick with Corn oil or Peanut Oil.

I've never needed more than 3-4 gallons of oil at one time to fry anything, usually around 3 for a Turkey.

To see how much oil you'll need, look inside your turkey frying pot. There should be a line stamped in the metal that says "Max Fill Line" or something similar.

Put your Turkey in the pot, then add enough water to either:

1. Cover the Turkey, or
2. To reach that max fill line.

Do NOT fill past that max fill line with the turkey in the pot!!

Now take the Turkey out and mark the water level on the pot with a magic marker. That is how much oil you need to fry the turkey. It should be around 3 to 4 gallons depending on the size of your pot and the size of your Turkey.

The oil can be reused. I typically get several fries (around 6 or so depending on what I'm frying) from a batch of oil, but will throw it out after 30 days even if I haven't used it a lot.

Get an additional large 4-5 gallon container with a lid. Then get a siphon pump like the ones used to siphon and pump kerosene into a kerosene heater. I've actually got a pump designed just for oil, and it is battery powered - paid 19.99 for it. Once the oil is cool (the next day), use the pump to siphon the oil out of the pot and into a 4-5 gallon container.

Do not pump the dirty oil back into the remainder of your clean oil! Use separate containers for dirty and clean oil. You can then re-use the dirty oil, adding a little clean oil to it as required, for future fries. Once the oil gets pretty dark, or has a lot of crud in it, then throw it out. If you don’t use the dirty oil again and 30 days passes by, I'd say throw it out.
 
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Gramps i don't know if this will help, but here it is for what it's worth.
[FONT=&quot]
First, different oils have different smoke points. The smoke point is the temperature at which you see little whiffs of smoke begin to appear over the oil and you begin to smell a funny burnt type odor. When oil is heated there is a chemical change that begins to make the oil deteriorate. The more times oil is heated and higher temperatures increase this chemical change and breakdown. Different types of oils have different temperatures at which they begin to smoke.

Here is a list of common cooking oils and their approximate smoke points when fresh:

Safflower - 509 degrees F - 265 degrees C
Sunflower - 474 degrees F - 246 degrees C
Soybean - 465 degrees F - 241 degrees C
Canola - 460 degrees F - 238 degrees C
Corn - 456 degrees F - 236 degrees C
Peanut - 447 degrees F - 231 degrees C
Sesame - 419 degrees F - 215 degrees C
Olive - 374 degrees F - 190 degrees C
Animal fats (tallow/lard) - 361 to 401 degrees F - 183 to 205 degrees C

The smoke point is lowered each time you use the oil by chemical changes and foreign matter contamination.

The optimal deep fat frying cooking temperature is between 350 and 375 degrees F or 176 and 190 degrees C. You should never heat your oil to greater than 375 degrees F or 190 degrees C.

All that said, there are some common sense guides to let you know when a cooking oil needs to be changed:
1. Taste, smell and appearance - The oil should not taste or smell bad and should be clear and light colored. Too much breakdown and foreign matter is evident in the smell and taste of the oil and in it's color.
2. The smoke point should not be below 375 degrees F. or 190 degrees C.
As a general rule, if you watch your temperatures and keep your oil free from too much extraneous matter (batter, salt, etc.) I find that I get good results and clean tasting food if I change my cooking oil after using it between 6 and 8 times. [/FONT]
 
One other thing, just to be clear. Your frying pot is 30 quarts, but you will NOT need 30 quarts of oil.

Ever.

You'll never put more oil in that pot than to fill it about halfway = 15 quarts = 3.75 to 4 gallons.

Again, look inside your pot, and you should see a line stamped in the metal that says Max Fill Line. To fry a big item like a Turkey do NOT fill your pot to that line first and THEN put your turkey in! If you do that, the size of the Turkey will displace the oil and cause it to rise above that line and then bubble over the pot and set it on fire.

What you need to do is:

1. Put the Turkey in the pot by itself.
2. Pour water into the pot to either:
......a. Cover the Turkey -or-
......b. reach that Max Fill line
3. Take the turkey out of the pot.
4. Mark the level of the water on the pot or measure the water in some fashion
5. Pour out the water and thoroughly dry your pot
6. Add the oil to the level that you marked and cook

The amount of water that it took to cover the turkey or to reach that fill line while the turkey was in the pot is how much oil you need.

Either make a mark on the pot so you know how much oil to pour in when you're ready to cook, or measure that amount of water by pouring it into gallon jugs. By measuring the water, you know how much oil to buy.

For your 14-16 pound Turkey in a 30 Qt pot, I'm GUESSING you'll need around 2.25 to 3.0 gallons of oil. That's a guess! To be sure, please do the water test!

After you have done the water test, thoroughly dry out the pot to remove all water. Now you can add your oil to the water level line you marked during the test.

I can not stress how critical this water test is! The first time I fried a turkey, I put too much oil in the pot by guessing how much I needed. When I lowered the turkey into the pot, the oil rose ABOVE that max fill line. Worse, as the turkey cooks, the oil bubbles and froths up a lot…..and I mean A LOT! The oil rose up and began spilling over the pot!!! I almost caught it on fire!

I had to kill the flame quickly, then pull the turkey out, let the oil cool, and then take some oil out!!

The max fill line on the pot is there to show you the highest the oil level should ever be INCLUDING the food you put into the oil. Naturally, if you fill the pot to that Max Fill line, and THEN drop your food in, the oil level will rise above that line. Then, as the cooking commences, the oil will bubble and froth up and rise even higher thus spilling over.

The Max Fill line is marked per pot to accommodate the bubbling and frothing of the cooking. If your oil level never rises above that fill line (and that includes oil + food) then it should never boil over if you keep the temp at around 345-350.

The water test is important for large items like Turkeys since a hunk of food that big will displace a lot of oil which can cause the resting level to rise above the Max Fill line.

However, for smaller cooks, let's say 10 breast, you can simply add a gallon or two to the pot (and that much oil should be well below the max fill line) and then drop in your chicken breasts or wings for easy cooking.

But for a large item like a Turkey, you should always do the water test!

Oh, and those Turkey Frying Kits come with a very long oil thermometer to measure the temp of your oil. It has a clip on it so that you can clip it onto the pot.

ALWAYS use that thermometer. When you start your cook, have the thermometer in and clipped onto the pot. Once the oil reaches 350 degrees, lower the flame on your cooker to it's lowest setting, take the thermometer out, and then carefully lower the turkey into the oil - SLOWLY.

As you lower the turkey in, the oil will begin to bubble and froth violently, so make sure to have protective oven mitts or gloves on to avoid burning your hand from any popping and splattering oil.

Lowering the turkey into the oil slowly should take you about 2-3 minutes. You do NOT want to just drop it all in at once. Lower it in a bit at a time until it is submerged.

Once the turkey is in, put the thermometer back into the oil and periodically adjust your flame to keep the temp at 350. You only took the thermometer out at the start to make room for the turkey. If you can get your turkey in without hitting that thermometer, then leave it in as you lower the turkey into the oil.

Initially, the heat of the oil will plummet when you put the turkey in, so crank up the flame a bit (medium-high). Once the temp of the oil begins to rise steadily and it reaches 340 - 345, lower the flame and the oil temp should climb to and rest at 350 easily. If it goes over 350, don’t panic, just turn your flame down really low (as low as it will go without going out) and watch the temp. Once it settles back to 345 or so, crank the flame back up just a tad and try to keep it at 350.

If the flame ever goes out because you turned it down to low, don't panic. Just get a long fireplace match or one of those long stick lighters and relight the flame.
 
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The cost of the peanut oil is high. Find a couple of friends who also want to fry their turkeys for Thanksgiving and split the cost of the oil. That way you also have a couple of other helpers around, which is always good :mrgreen:.
 
A HUGE "Thank You" to Keltin for taking the time to lay it all out for me! :smile: I'm starting to get it now! I printed out both of your posts and they will become the bible for next Thursday! :thumb:

Thanks also to Guts for the great explanation on cooking oils. I did a lot of shopping around yesterday and my options are becoming more clear now. Just a couple more places to check and I will make my decision.

Seems that not all peanut oils are 100% pure peanut oil. That kind of surprised me. Some are blends with other types of cooking oils.

Around here, the biggest size available on any of these cooking oils (or oil blends) is 3 gallons. Sounds like if I buy two of those 3 gallon containers I should be good to go.

It also looks like we are dropping the idea of doing one 14-16 pound turkey and will be going with two smaller ones of about 10-12 pounds each cooked back to back. This decision was handed down to me by my lady friend after she read that smaller turkeys would cook more quickly and more evenly. Besides, one 14-16 pound turkey alone would have left us a little light on the leftovers if not the main meal itself.

Or maybe she just wants to give me a second chance to prove myself if I manage to destroy the first bird! :shock:

Cooksie - Sure wish that I could share the cost of the cooking oil with someone else, but that is a non-starter. It's up to us to provide the turkey this year for a small group of family members. Wouldn't be right to make them pay an admission charge now, would it? :chef:

Take care,
Tom
 
Plus, two smaller turkeys will give you double the amount of SKIN, which is absolutely incredible on a fried bird!!

Lee
 
Excellent Gramps, I think you'll do great! Personally, I'd prefer two smaller birds, so I think you've made a good decision!

Just a few final points of clarification.

When you do the water test to see how much oil you need, you will add enough water to either cover the Turkey, or reach the Max Fill Line.

If you manage to cover the Turkey before the oil reaches the Max Fill line, that's great. Stop once the bird is covered. You'll use less oil and will be far safer from a boil over.

If you reach the Max Fill Line before the Turkey is completely covered STOP anyway.

Don't worry if the tips of the drumsticks aren't covered! It won't matter! When you put that turkey in the oil, the oil will bubble and froth and expand, and the tips of those legs, even if they aren't initially submerged, will get cooked just fine from the boiling and splattering oil. I guarantee it!

When lowering the turkey into the oil, take your time. As I said before, it should take you 2-3 minutes to get it all the way in.

The reason you are doing it so slowly is because adding that much cold and moist surface area to that much oil at once causes a very violent and bubbling reaction. To minimize the bubbling and expansion of the oil, you want to introduce the turkey a bit at a time.

Further, and this is even more important, as you are slowly lowering the turkey into the oil, the oil is actually cooling off and is falling below 350 degrees. This may seem counterproductive to your cause, but it is actually a very desirable effect. As the oil cools a bit, the bubbling and frothing reaction becomes less intense allowing you to get the turkey further and further into the oil safely.

Once you have the turkey all the way in, the oil will still by boiling away, but it won't be anywhere near as violent as that first 2 minutes is. You'll also notice the temp of the oil is down to 335 or 340, so crank your flame up to medium-high or so (personally, I crank mine up to high!), and get that temp back up to 350 - should only take 6-8 minutes of med-high to high heat to get there.

Finally, when is the turkey done?

Naturally, you'll want to use a meat thermometer to be sure, but there is a very easy way to get a good indication of when it is done or when you should use that thermometer to check the internal temperature of the turkey. The secret is - the oil. When the turkey is nearly done, the oil will begin to get quiet and won't be "talking" to you as much.

When you first add the turkey, the oil will scream violently for 2 or so minutes. Once the turkey is completely in the oil, the oil will boil and bubble away just like a big pot of pasta on high heat.

Once the turkey is about done, the boiling and bubbling begins to slow down a lot, and the oil begins to get quiet. Watch for this quieting of the oil as that is your indicator that the turkey is about done and should be checked with the thermometer.

The general rule of thumb is 3.5 minutes per pound, so a 10 pound turkey should cook in about 35 minutes. So, at the 30 minute mark, begin watching your oil and look for it to begin getting quiet.

Ok, I think that's all I have, good luck to you, and let us know how it turns out.

All this talk about Frying Turkey's has me psyched about doing one this year, so I'm thinking that will be on our menu! :thumb:
 
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here my favorite wierdo..lol

deep frying a turkey(one show in three parts)

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E270Qx5OpxU[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLNLYL24qUA[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9mq29BaLLk[/ame]
 
Hmmm......Alton screwed up twice in those vids. First, he says to fill the pot with water to cover the Turkey.....no matter the size. That can lead to over-filling your pot beyond the Max Fill Line on large birds and cause a boil over and fire.

Second, he said to heat to 250 degrees.

No.

250 is for SMOKING a Turkey.......THREE Fifty is for frying. Sorry Alton, I still love ya though.

ETA: Oops....Alton dropped his turkey at 250 to avoid the violent oil reaction, then went up to 350. Ok.....I see that, but that can lead to a greasy turkey since he lowered that turkey into a cold pot of oil (250) then brought it up to temp (350). That misses the point of frying which sears/seals the skin and keeps the oil out when the temp is right.

So again.....sorry Alton, but I still love ya.
 
what i got from filling the pot with water was... like u said in earlier post... put turkey in pot, cover with water until you get the line of oil that u need..empty water and mark... etc etc...but its been awhile since i actually looked at the whole video..lol

yah he screwed up with the temperature...if he just lowers it in very slowly,and turkey is absolutely dry, he wont have boil over.

as for smoking a turkey at 250* good...300 is better* and crank it up last 1/2 hour to crisp skin or grill...
 
Keltin said:
Excellent Gramps, I think you'll do great! Personally, I'd prefer two smaller birds, so I think you've made a good decision!

Just a few final points of clarification.

When you do the water test to see how much oil you need, you will add enough water to either cover the Turkey, or reach the Max Fill Line.

If you manage to cover the Turkey before the oil reaches the Max Fill line, that's great. Stop once the bird is covered. You'll use less oil and will be far safer from a boil over.

If you reach the Max Fill Line before the Turkey is completely covered STOP anyway.

Don't worry if the tips of the drumsticks aren't covered! It won't matter! When you put that turkey in the oil, the oil will bubble and froth and expand, and the tips of those legs, even if they aren't initially submerged, will get cooked just fine from the boiling and splattering oil. I guarantee it!

When lowering the turkey into the oil, take your time. As I said before, it should take you 2-3 minutes to get it all the way in.

The reason you are doing it so slowly is because adding that much cold and moist surface area to that much oil at once causes a very violent and bubbling reaction. To minimize the bubbling and expansion of the oil, you want to introduce the turkey a bit at a time.

Further, and this is even more important, as you are slowly lowering the turkey into the oil, the oil is actually cooling off and is falling below 350 degrees. This may seem counterproductive to your cause, but it is actually a very desirable effect. As the oil cools a bit, the bubbling and frothing reaction becomes less intense allowing you to get the turkey further and further into the oil safely.

Once you have the turkey all the way in, the oil will still by boiling away, but it won't be anywhere near as violent as that first 2 minutes is. You'll also notice the temp of the oil is down to 335 or 340, so crank your flame up to medium-high or so (personally, I crank mine up to high!), and get that temp back up to 350 - should only take 6-8 minutes of med-high to high heat to get there.

Finally, when is the turkey done?

Naturally, you'll want to use a meat thermometer to be sure, but there is a very easy way to get a good indication of when it is done or when you should use that thermometer to check the internal temperature of the turkey. The secret is - the oil. When the turkey is nearly done, the oil will begin to get quiet and won't be "talking" to you as much.

When you first add the turkey, the oil will scream violently for 2 or so minutes. Once the turkey is completely in the oil, the oil will boil and bubble away just like a big pot of pasta on high heat.

Once the turkey is about done, the boiling and bubbling begins to slow down a lot, and the oil begins to get quiet. Watch for this quieting of the oil as that is your indicator that the turkey is about done and should be checked with the thermometer.

The general rule of thumb is 3.5 minutes per pound, so a 10 pound turkey should cook in about 35 minutes. So, at the 30 minute mark, begin watching your oil and look for it to begin getting quiet.

Ok, I think that's all I have, good luck to you, and let us know how it turns out.

All this talk about Frying Turkey's has me psyched about doing one this year, so I'm thinking that will be on our menu! :thumb:
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More good information! :clap: Thanks again Keltin! :thumb:

I did manage to find a pretty good deal (relatively speaking) on what is supposed to be 100% pure peanut oil. It was $22.99 for 3 gallons at our local BJ's Wholesale Club. I bought two containers (6 gallons).

One last question and I hope that is it. How much propane can I expect to use cooking those two 10-12 pound turkeys? I am not a big propane grilling guy (real charcoal is my thing) so I have no idea how much propane will be enough.

I have access to one 20 pound propane tank that is near empty and I can get it filled today. I also have access to a second identical tank that is currently about two-thirds full. I can borrow either tank, but not both unless I make a special arrangement with the owner today.

What should I do here? Borrow the empty tank only and get it filled? Borrow the partially-filled tank alone? Or should I make an arrangement to borrow both?

Take care,
Tom
 
Gramps said:
More good information! :clap: Thanks again Keltin! :thumb:

I did manage to find a pretty good deal (relatively speaking) on what is supposed to be 100% pure peanut oil. It was $22.99 for 3 gallons at our local BJ's Wholesale Club. I bought two containers (6 gallons).

One last question and I hope that is it. How much propane can I expect to use cooking those two 10-12 pound turkeys? I am not a big propane grilling guy (real charcoal is my thing) so I have no idea how much propane will be enough.

I have access to one 20 pound propane tank that is near empty and I can get it filled today. I also have access to a second identical tank that is currently about two-thirds full. I can borrow either tank, but not both unless I make a special arrangement with the owner today.

What should I do here? Borrow the empty tank only and get it filled? Borrow the partially-filled tank alone? Or should I make an arrangement to borrow both?

Take care,
Tom
Click to expand...


The 3/4 full tank is more than enough.

You’ll only be running for about 1 hour and 30 minutes for preheating the oil and cooking the two birds back to back.

A 20lb tank provides about 440,000 BTUs.

A lot of the 30 qt Turkey Fryer kits have 32,000 BTU burners, but I have seen them as high as 55,000.

Check your rig and see how many BTUs it supplies. That is BTUs per hour.

If it is 32,000 then 440,000 / 32,000 = 13.75 hours for a full tank.

If it is 55,000 then 440,000 / 55,000 = 8 hours for a full tank.

Worse case scenario, you have a 55,000 @ 3/4 = 8 hours x 0.75 = 6 hours.

Best case is a 32,000 @ 3/4 = 13.75 x 0.75 = 10.3 hours.

No matter the scenario, that 3/4 tank is more than enough to cook your turkeys!!
 
Keltin said:
The 3/4 full tank is more than enough.

You’ll only be running for about 1 hour and 30 minutes for preheating the oil and cooking the two birds back to back.

A 20lb tank provides about 440,000 BTUs.

A lot of the 30 qt Turkey Fryer kits have 32,000 BTU burners, but I have seen them as high as 55,000.

Check your rig and see how many BTUs it supplies. That is BTUs per hour.

If it is 32,000 then 440,000 / 32,000 = 13.75 hours for a full tank.

If it is 55,000 then 440,000 / 55,000 = 8 hours for a full tank.

Worse case scenario, you have a 55,000 @ 3/4 = 8 hours x 0.75 = 6 hours.

Best case is a 32,000 @ 3/4 = 13.75 x 0.75 = 10.3 hours.

No matter the scenario, that 3/4 tank is more than enough to cook your turkeys!!
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The fryer instructions say it's a 58,000 BTU burner.

That second propane tank is only 2/3rds full, not 3/4 full. In fact, just to be conservative, I'd say consider it just a bit over half full knowing the owner's crude estimating methods.

Still sounds okay, but we can borrow the empty tank instead and have it filled beforehand just to play it 200% safe. I think we can afford it! :yum:

Main thing is that your numbers say we won't need both tanks. That's a good thing. :lol:

Take care,
Tom
 
Gramps said:
The fryer instructions say it's a 58,000 BTU burner.

That second propane tank is only 2/3rds full, not 3/4 full. In fact, just to be conservative, I'd say consider it just a bit over half full knowing the owner's crude estimating methods.

Still sounds okay, but we can borrow the empty tank instead and have it filled beforehand just to play it 200% safe. I think we can afford it! :yum:

Main thing is that your numbers say we won't need both tanks. That's a good thing. :lol:

Take care,
Tom
Click to expand...

58,000, whew, that's a scorcher! Nice unit! You can get 7.5 hours of cook out of a 20# tank, so yeah, just to be safe, go ahead and fill one of those tanks up, and you're good to go for at least 3-4 fries with that tank!

You can fry other stuff besides Turkey in that. Fry whole chickens, wings, fish (but that will be the end of your oil because of the fishy taste), potatoes, etc. Also, it's not just a fry rig, you can also boil water in it for corn boils, Frogmire Stew, crawfish, shrimp, lobster, etc. You can also use large CI skillets on that burner outdoors to sear steaks, make blackened dishes, etc. Or even use a Wok on the burner for authentic stir-fry.

That 20# of propane will come in real handy!
 
Keltin said:
58,000, whew, that's a scorcher! Nice unit! You can get 7.5 hours of cook out of a 20# tank, so yeah, just to be safe, go ahead and fill one of those tanks up, and you're good to go for at least 3-4 fries with that tank!

You can fry other stuff besides Turkey in that. Fry whole chickens, wings, fish (but that will be the end of your oil because of the fishy taste), potatoes, etc. Also, it's not just a fry rig, you can also boil water in it for corn boils, Frogmire Stew, crawfish, shrimp, lobster, etc. You can also use large CI skillets on that burner outdoors to sear steaks, make blackened dishes, etc. Or even use a Wok on the burner for authentic stir-fry.

That 20# of propane will come in real handy!
Click to expand...
Okay, we will borrow the empty tank and get it filled. Better safe than sorry!

Sounds like we should probably think about buying our own tank. Maybe we will do so after this first adventure if all goes well! :)

Thanks again for all your help! :chef:

Take care,
Tom
 
Every post I see regarding frying turkeys talks about frying at 350 degrees. This is not needed. I fry over 50 turkeys a year and have been frying turkeys for 20+ years. I cook using simple propane jet cookers.
I start with the grease at 300 degrees. When I put the bird in I turn up the heat for a few minutes. The temp will drop to 275 but recover. Watch the temp and cook between 290 & 300 degrees. I use 14 - 16# turkeys and a blended peanut and soy oil. Cook time is 50 - 60 mins. Internal temp 160 degrees. Instant digital read thermometer a big plus.
To make frying turkeys economically resonable you need to cook at least 10 birds per pot of grease. cooking at this lower temp will let the grease last for as many as 14 + birds.
 
dawson said:
To make frying turkeys economically resonable you need to cook at least 10 birds per pot of grease. cooking at this lower temp will let the grease last for as many as 14 + birds.
Click to expand...

So the home cooks have to pay the price. Figures.

Welcome to NCT. :)
 
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