Fearless Frying Cookbook: Deep-Fried Turkey Recipe

Deep-Fried Turkey Recipe

The Author says:
Whole fried turkey is the best illustration I know of just how delicious and greaseless fried food can be. I bet that once you've tried it fried, you'll never go back to roast turkey. While the turkey is resting, take advantage of the big pot of oil to fry something else, like French fries. You can serve the turkey as the center of a big meal, such as Thanksgiving dinner; it will only take about an hour from setup to serving. Or you can have your guests make turkey or club sandwiches, and serve them with fries.

You will need an outdoor cooker (suggested size is 140,000 Btu) and a 10-gallon pot, preferably one with a basket insert (available in hardware stores and stores where outdoor equipment is sold). The insert keeps the bird off the bottom of the pot and facilitates removing it from the oil.

Ingredients
4 to 5 gallons vegetable oil
1 whole turkey (12 to 15 pounds), at room temperature
Cayenne pepper (optional)

Instructions
Begin heating the oil in a 10-gallon pot over a very hot propane flame outdoors to 390 degrees F. Don't set the burner to its highest setting, as you may need to increase the heat after you've added the turkey. It will take about 20 minutes for the oil to heat.

Meanwhile, rinse the turkey well, pat it dry inside and out, and set it on end in a sink to drain.

When the oil reaches 375 degrees F., pat the turkey dry again, and sprinkle it with cayenne, if desired. If your cooker has a basket insert, place the turkey in the basket and set it over a baking sheet; if not, set an oven rack over a large baking sheet, place the turkey on it, and take them outside to the cooker.

Check the temperature of the oil. When the oil reaches 390 degrees F., carefully and slowly lower the basket with the turkey into the oil; or lower it holding it by its legs or by a long heavy tool such as a clean fireplace poker inserted into its cavity. Be careful! Immediately check the oil temperature and adjust the flame so that the temperature does not dip below 340 degrees F. You want to maintain the temperature at 365 degrees F. As it cooks, occasionally move the bird around in the oil so that it does not scorch (the oil near the heat source will be hotter). Whole turkeys take only 3 to 4 minutes per pound to fry to perfection: small ones, around 12 pounds, will take about 35 minutes; large ones, around 15 pounds, will take about 1 hour. When it is done, the turkey will float to the surface with a perfectly crispy, brown skin. If you are unsure, you can test the meat for doneness at the hip joint or insert a meat thermometer into the breast; it should register 180 degrees F.

Using the basket insert if there is one, or by again inserting a long heavy tool such as a clean fireplace poker into its cavity, carefully remove the turkey from the oil and hold it over the pot for a moment to allow any excess oil to drain back into the pot, then lay the bird on the oven rack.

Allow it to rest for 20 minutes before carving.

Yield: 20 servings

Credits
Recipe from: The Fearless Frying Cookbook John Martin Taylor (Workman Publishing)

Clay Johnson: Fry Time

Fry Time!

Now that prep is done, its time to actually fry the turkey. The first and only material you need for this (besides your fryer) is oil. Peanut Oil in fact. And a lot of it. It is your most expensive ingredient—and I’ve only been able to find it reliably in enough quantity at Costco.

Most fryers have a little line on the inside to tell you how much oil to put in. Put in that much. And start heating the oil. Give it an hour to heat up to 375 degrees and then, pop your turkey in there.

Wait 50 minutes at least. Its always better to err on the long-side with turkeys. I’ve left them in for an hour and a half and it seems the longer I leave them in for, the better they are when I pull them out. Unfortunately with company, they’re usually demanding turkey, so it is a delicate balance between getting them the best turkey, and getting them fed.

I usually wait till the turkey is 180 degrees in the center of one of the breasts. Just stick a meat thermometer right in the middle of a breast, and push it half-way down to the bone. If it hits 180, we’re talking perfect turkey. Once it is done, pull it out, put it somewhere and back away. Let it cool for about 5 minutes to give the skin a fighting chance for what’s about to happen.

Then, you’re done. Dig in!

If you’re frying more then one turkey, make sure to let your oil heat back up before putting the next one in. Chances are you cooled it down quite a bit with that last turkey, and it needs a chance to heat back up.

Finally—in terms of clean-up: Don’t just toss that oil! You can use it again. Go to your local hardware store and get yourself a cheesecloth and a funnel. Pour the oil back into the container that you got it in, and then stick it in a cool, dark place. Heat and sunlight will make that stuff go rancid, but if you can keep it cool (cooler than about 75 degrees F) dark and dry, and get most of the gunk out of the oil, you can use it for at least 6-8 turkeys.

In terms of how you can tell if its rancid? You’ll know. It turns black. And smells gross. Don’t cook with gross smelling black oil.

Clay Johnson: Brining the bird

Brining is the next key step in getting your fried turkey done right. This step, which can be done before the turkey is really done thawing, involves taking the turkey out of its wrapping, taking the “bag-o-guts” out of the inside, and submerging it in salty wanter (brine)

If your turkey is already thawed by the time you put it in there, make sure to add some ice to the mix to keep it cold and sanitary. If it hasn’t thawed, cold water does the trick just fine. Brine the turkey for a maximum of 12-20 hours.

Between 4-8 hours before your turkey fry, you want to inject and rub down your turkeys. Generally I’ve found the marinades that they sell to be useful only for the injectors they sell. The marinades themselves tend to be bland and tasteless compared to other ingredients you can pick up. Generally out of all of them, the Teryaki one tends to be the best. If I’m frying multiple turkeys, I tend to use this sauce for the guests who are too weak and feeble to eat real (read: spicy) foods.

I generally use the following:

1. 1 Bottle (I use the entire bottle) of the green Jalapeno tobasco sauce. —This stuff is easily the best I’ve had. It is renowned and generally out of everybody who tries my fried turkey, this is easily their favorite.

2. 1 Bottle of Firehouse Carribiean Jerk Marinade. I’ve done this once, and people loved it. The trick is with this stuff—it has herbs and stuff in the marinade, so I actually recommend that you use a paper-towel and strain the bottle before injection. Otherwise the junk gets in your syringe needle.

3. The aforementioned “Cajun Flavor Injector” Teryiaki sauce.

But you should also experiment. You can use anything that’s not very dense. Things like tobasco sauce (Next time I may try a turkey with their new Chipotle smoked pepper sauce), soy sauce—the sauces that are very thin are your friends. Thick things—barbecue sauce, ketchup, that stuff is not going to work out well for you. And generally if you think that injecting your turkey with Ketchup is a good idea, maybe you should just stick with the happy-meals.

After you’ve injected your turkey (and the more injection the better. I’ve never over injected my turkeys. Just keep injecting them in as many places as you can find until it is saturated)

Finally, you need to put a good rub on the turkey. My favorite rub of all time comes from ButtRubb.com. It leaves the skin amazingly tasty. It is really my secret ingredient. Put as much of this stuff as you can on the turkey and then stick it back in the refrigerator.

Clay Johnson: Picking the right kind of Fryer

Picking the right kind of Fryer

You are going to burn your house down is the nonsense I hear most of the time when I tell people I'm going to fry a turkey. One lousy commercial from AllState and all the sudden a turkey fry is going to kill us all:

WASHINGTON — The makers of deep-fat fryers have a message for ambitious chefs this Thanksgiving: Turkeys don't burn houses down, people do. As the trend toward fried — instead of roasted — turkey has grown, so has the concern over the possible dangers of deep-fat fryers. Allstate Insurance said 15 homes burned to the ground around the country last Thanksgiving as a result of the improper use of turkey fryers. The product-testing company Underwriters Laboratory Inc. refuses to certify as safe any turkey fryer model currently on the market. In 1999, the last year figures were available, the National Fire Protection Association (search) reported that 500 fires involving a deep-fat fryer took place around the nation, resulting in over $6.8 million dollars in damage.

I am fairly certain that more people will be killed by spinach this year than deep fat fryers. The hype machine is right about one thing-- one part boiling oil, one part burning flame and one part drunken idiot may equal total unmitigated disaster, but as long as you're safe things can go well. I've used both propane-based and electronic turkey fryers. While the propane-based ones tend to be more fun, I've seen consistently better results using an electric turkey fryer. I believe the heat is more regulated and you have a more solid chance of providing a consistent level of heat to the bird. This fryer seems to be the upgraded version of my model. You can go propane too. There's a bit more to look out for, however. Some of these "turkey frying kits" are really just an alumninum tub without any propane. Sometimes they give you a basket if you're lucky. When shopping for this, I went through two before going electric. The Eastman Whole Enchilada seems to be your best bet here-- you get a high quality burner, a large bowl and all the accessories you need. Propane is obviously more portable than your electric fryer, and let's be honest... there's something about an open flame that just screams "fun."

Clay Johnson: Which birds to get?

Which Birds to Get?

With several dozen people having attended one of my turkey fries in the past, I believe its time for me to start spreading the knowledge of how to fry a turkey the right way.

Step one is to get the right kind of turkey from the right place. I have to say, I have had the best luck with Empire Kosher turkeys. They’re very juicy, and since they’re kosher, they don’t have the “bag-o-stuff-that-my-grandmother-used-to-eat” sack that the Butterball’s do. I order them from PeaPod and usually get hens which from Peapod are usually between 12-16lbs.

Once you get them, just stick them in the fridge for about 4 days.

Tako's Deep Fried Turkey

Tako’s Deep Fried Turkey from Tako’s Deep Fried Turkey Clicktoon Game
Ingredients: One 10-12 lb turkey 3.5-4 gallons peanut oil Kosher salt for brining Tako’s Secret Spice Rub or Tako’s Cajun Marinade
Welcome to “Backyard Conflagrations,” otherwise known as deep-frying a turkey, Tako-style. Today we’ll be taking a page out of the Medieval Castle Defense Methods cookbook and boiling a whole turkey in a vat of hot oil. Not much to the big picture (put turkey in oil; fry), but the subtleties of the process do require rapt attention, otherwise you may end up boiling more than just a turkey. Remember, tentacles grow back, but those little digits of yours are single serving, so watch out. To get things started, let’s talk turkey, specifically a 10 to 12 pound turkey since a small bird means less oil and less chance of a visit to the emergency room. If you have more people to feed, make a couple of turkeys. It’s a pain to recycle the oil, so economies of scale say once you start frying, keep frying until you’ve fed your entire family, film crew, or whoever happens to stop by on Thanksgiving. (Tako’s Turkey Tips # 1: if your turkey has one of those little red and white pop-up thermometers, remove it now or forever will it be attached to your turkey. If you like deep-fried plastic, by all means leave it.) When it comes to deep-frying a turkey, peanut oil has long been the choice of those in the know thanks to its bird-friendly flavor. There’s just something about nuts that makes a turkey taste better. If you really, REALLY like the flavor, try Chinese peanut oil, which tends to be a bit stronger than the American stuff. Another good reason to use peanut oil is it’s high smoke point. Smoke what? Perhaps a little deep-fried theory is in order. Smoke on This When fats are heated to a specific temperature, their molecules begin to break down into free fatty acids. This process results in bits of acrid smoke floating on top of a pool of fat, which funks up the fried food flavors, and not in a good way. Free fatty acids are more or less responsible for lowering the smoke point, and once you get a fat smoking, it’s a short trip from there to a bad-tasting turkey and a backyard full of Firemen (not a bad thing if your spending this Thanksgiving alone, but…). Other oil “contaminants” such as emulsifiers, artificial flavorings, and leftover food chunks from past fries also do their part to lower the smoke point. Solution: use an oil with a high smoke point. How high? We’re going to be cooking the bird at 350-360 degrees. (Why? I’ll explain in a moment.) Assuming we’re going to see some deterioration of the oil during the cooking process, we’ll need a little temperature clearance, thus peanut oil, with its heady 410 degrees F smoke point, fits the bill nicely. Other oil options include canola (SP: 435) and safflower (SP: 450), but the peanut oil flavor is superior to both. Avoiding (un)Natural Disasters How much oil do you use? For a single turkey, I use a 10-gallon fry bucket and 3.5 to 4 gallons of peanut oil. The trick is to completely submerge your bird and still have room for error between the oil and the top of the bucket. To check if your fryer fits the bill, place your turkey and fry basket into the fry bucket and fill it with water until it is a couple inches above the bird, yet still several inches from the top of the fryer. If you don’t have several inches of either side of the water line, you need a bigger bucket. If you do, remove the turkey and measure the water. That’s how much oil you need. Now, you’re probably saying to yourself “4 gallons of peanut oil… I wonder if I can get that on the web?” Yes, you can, but the cost to ship it will effectively double the price so I recommend checking local Asian markets, specialty barbeque stores, or even hardware stores, which tend to stock large quantities of peanut oil during the holidays. Another downside to the peanut oil investment is that it’ll likely cost roughly four times that of the turkey itself. (No one said taste was cheap.) This is why it makes sense to fry multiple turkeys each time you fire up the deep fryer. Thus, when mom asks if she can bring along your long lost Uncle Squiggly and Aunt Inkblot you say, “Sure, mom, the more the merrier,” and order another turkey and a nice bottle of port. I suggest keeping the port to yourself, thus making the extra-extended family experience more enjoyable. Turkey Tools of the Trade We at Deep Fried, Live! strongly encourage, nay, we command you to perform this cooking adventure outdoors, on a fire-resistant surface, and with the proper tools. In addition to the turkey and oil, said tools include: (1) a propane burner with a sturdy enough stand to hold (2) a big honkin’ pot, with (3) a lid, (4) a thermometer that reads up to 450 degrees and can reach the oil from the top of the pot (a candy thermometer works nicely), and (5) a fry basket or some contraption to keep the turkey from sitting on the bottom of the pot during the fry. (6) Extra cardboard or newspapers under the rig helps in the cleanup process. If you’re new to the fry game, there are kits available online and at specialty barbeque stores that come with everything needed to deep-fry your holiday. Flavor and Fry-Sci-Fi Everybody ready? Okay, remove the neck and giblets and wash the inside and outside of the bird with cold water and pat dry. Historically, flavoring deep-fried turkey involves pumping it full of marinade via a Cajun marinade injector and letting it soak overnight (see “Injecting a Cajun Marinade” for details). This works great, but around the holidays I prefer the natural flavor of turkey, so I simply brine my bird for about 4 hours using a salt water mixture (1 cup of kosher salt per gallon of water) and a big bucket. I also like to add a simple dry rub consisting of allspice, paprika, dried lemon zest kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and sugar to jump-start the turkey’s flavor. Make sure to get the rub under the skin so it flavors the meat and the skin, and not the oil. Whichever flavoring method you choose, DO NOT stuff your bird. Getting the oil inside the cavity helps it cook evenly, and deep-fried stuffing looks, smells, and tastes like extremely burnt toast. Regardless of the flavoring steps, make sure your bird is completely dry before dropping it in the oil. And don’t drop it in until the oil temperature reaches 375 degrees. Why 375 when we said we are going to cook at 350? When a cold bird is dropped into a vat of hot oil the temperature equalizes, resulting in a significant drop. It’s very important that the oil not drop below 325. Here’s why: turkey meat has a lot of liquid in it. When a turkey is deep-fried this liquid rapidly turns to steam and forces its way out of the meat in the form of a bunch of bubbles. This rush of steam keeps the oil from getting into the meat and making it greasy. If the temperature drops below 325, the steam won’t be cranking fast enough and the oil will start to seep into the meat. By maintaining a relatively constant 350 degrees, your bird will taste like turkey and not an oil spill. And what happens if all the liquid evaporates? You’ve overcooked your bird; start another one. In and Out of the Fryer The best method I’ve found for getting a turkey safely into a vat of hot oil is as follows: place the bird, neck down, into the fry basket and slide the basket onto a broom handle; then, with one person on either end of the broom handle, SLOWLY lower the basket into the oil. There’s going to be a lot of bubbling immediately, but going slowly reduces the risk of the previously mentioned conflagrations. Once the turkey is frying, replace the lid and adjust the burner until the temperature stabilizes around 350-360 degrees. The temperature may fluctuate during cooking, so it’s best to keep an eye on the thermometer. It’ll take about 3 to 3.5 minutes per pound to cook the bird. When it’s done, a meat thermometer plunged into the breast should read about 170, into the thigh about 180. Checking early is good since the bird can become overdone quickly, but don’t check it often; riddling your bird with thermometer holes only allows the oil to creep in more easily. When the bird is done, use the broom handle method to pull the bird out of the oil, allowing it to drain for a minute or two before setting it down. Once it’s drained and cooled enough not to burn your tentacles on contact, it’s ready for carving. I do suggest carving in the kitchen, since black and shriveled doesn’t really compliment little cousin Amanda’s Thanksgiving centerpiece. The taste, however, more than makes up for any points lost on presentation. Enjoy. Aside from Protecting the Castle… So, what to do with a huge vat of hot oil? If it’ll crank back up to 375 without it smoking, toss in another turkey and do the process all over again. Keep frying turkeys until the oil starts to smoke at the lower temperatures, then it’s time to quit. When finished with the oil, let it cool and return it into the original container(s). Assuming all the frying life has been burned out of it, inquire with the local landfill about upcoming “hazardous waste days.” It’s typically no problem to drop off four gallons of oil at the hazardous waste disposal, but the trash men tend to get grumpy if they find it on the curbside. And don’t go dumping it down the sink. We all know where it flows to from there, and frankly my friends don’t like their backyards reeking of oily Thanksgiving leftovers. They’re kind of funny that way.

Gumbopages.com

DEEP-FRIED TURKEY

I know, I know ... you're shaking your head, horrified. "Those guys down there will batter and deep-fry anything that isn't nailed down!" you shriek. Well, don't panic -- there's no batter involved here, just one of the best ways of cooking a turkey I've ever tasted.

Deep-frying whole turkeys has become fantastically popular in southern Louisiana over the past several years. The turkey is anything but greasy; the deep-frying process seals the outside and the turkey remains incredibly juicy, while the skin gets wonderfully crispy.

Just be careful you don't do like my friend Rick did and set your pot of oil on fire ... more non-klutzy people manage to do just fine with this. Seriously, be careful and always always do this outdoors only. A few people have burned their houses down trying to do this indoors or under a carport. Jim's Cajun Deep-Fried Turkey Page has some photographs of the process (note that they're in front of the garage, not inside). Done carefully and outdoors, this is a safe and wonderful way to make turkey.

There are a zillion ways you can season this with the injector -- some folks like using the liquid seafood boil seasoning (which I do not recommend ... that stuff is for boiling seafood, not frying turkeys), but there are as many different ways as there are Louisianians. For instance, Bill from Bunkie, La., who fries turkeys frequently, wrote in and said that for injecting he uses one bottle of liquid garlic juice, one bottle of Tiger Sauce, one bottle of Cajun Sunshine sauce, and two tablespoons of red pepper. Try anything you like. Your mileage may vary.

Another Gumbo Pages reader says, "I have been deep frying turkeys now for about 3 years. Basically I use 5 gallons peanut oil heated to 375 degrees. This allows me to cook turkeys up to 20 lbs. My equipment is an outdoor stove outputting about 180,000 BTU's and a 60 quart pot with strainer basket. I have just been seasoning the turkey with a rub comprising of salt, garlic and pepper. Usually I will do from one to three turkeys at a setting, using less seasoning on the second and third turkey. I have found if the oil is strained through cheese cloth it can be used if stored in a cool place for up to 6 months."

Kevin Jolley writes in to say, "I just wanted to write to correct a few things about your fried turkey recipe. 1. keep your oil temperature to between 325-350; 2. turkeys 12 lbs and under 2-1/2 minutes per pound, and 12 lbs and over 3 minutes per pound; 3. if your turkey is floating it is overcooked. We always use a Cajun Injector and an injector sauce."

You can buy the turkey-frying (and seafood-boiling) apparatus called "King Kookers" -- burner, pot, lifting rack, thermometer -- all over the place now. Home Depot has been selling them for the past year or so, varying in price from about $70-80 depending on the time of year. A lot of local barbecue accessory places (like Barbecues Galore) are carrying them, too. If you can't find them anywhere locally, I'm told that they can be ordered from Metal Fusion in Louisiana, telephone (504) 736-0201 or (800) 783-3885. I haven't patronized the business nor used the product, and am unfamiliar with the company, so I'm not recommending or endorsing them, just passin' it on ...

When you're finished and the oil has cooled, you can filter, store and reuse the oil for other frying, or for frying more turkeys. "According to the Texas Peanut Producers Board, peanut oil may be used three or four times to fry turkeys before signs of deterioration begin. Such indications include foaming, darkening or smoking excessively, indicating the oil must be discarded. Other signs of deteriorated oil include a rancid smell and/or failure to bubble when food is added."

NOTE ABOUT PEANUT OIL: I've heard from many people who've told me that either they or their children are severely allergic to peanuts and any peanut product. It's not necessary to use peanut oil to fry the turkey; it's just what's commonly used in Louisiana because of its flavor as well as its very high smoking point; you don't want your oil catching fire. Any cooking oil that's good for deep-frying and has a high smoking point (450°F, preferably) will do -- corn oil, safflower oil, even canola oil. To learn more about cooking oils and their smoking points, see this web page on edible oils.

Special thanks to Althea Stokes for her turkey-frying tips.

• One 12-15 pound turkey
• 1-1/2 to 2 gallons peanut oil, or other oil with a high smoking point
• 4 ounces of your own favorite liquid seasoning or marinade for injection (there is no standard for this ... everybody does his or her own, as it turns out. You can buy some ready made from the Cajun Injector folks.)
• 2 cups water
• Creole seasoning, Paul Prudhomme's Poultry Magic, or Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning to taste
• Kosher salt

First, of course, you need the equipment to cook the turkey on and in. Try a gizmo called a King Cooker for outdoor use; it heats and cooks using a propane tank and stand. Otherwise, use a large, TALL, thick stockpot, preferably 30-quart sized or larger.

Heat the peanut oil to 350-365 degrees -- use a deep-fat frying thermometer clipped onto the side of the pot. Be VERY careful not to exceed this temperature, as the oil can begin to smoke and actually catch fire. Keep constant watch over the temperature and you'll be okay.

Using a flavor injector (available from cooking and restaurant supply stores and gourmet shops) inject your favorite marinade throughout the turkey.

Make sure the outside of the turkey is completely dry (you know what happens when water hits hot oil). Sprinkle the entire turkey generously with your favorite dry rub, Creole seasoning, Paul Prudhomme's Poultry Magic or Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning. Sprinkle with kosher salt (omit if using Magic or Tony's, which is salty already). Rub the skin to make sure the dry rub sticks.

When the oil hits 350 degrees slide that baby in -- gently, or you'll fry your feet if they happen to be near the oil that will splash out if you throw it in. (This was my friend Althea's mistake during her first turkey frying). The best way to get the turkey into the oil is to rig a cradle out of a couple of coat hangers.

Cook for about 3-1/2 minutes per pound for a whole turkey, approximately 52 minutes for a 15 pound turkey, only 42 mintues for a 12 pounder!. (Individual turkey parts such as breast, wings or thighs require slightly longer cooking time, 4-5 minutes per pound.) Remove the turkey from the oil carefully, and immediately wrap it with aluminum foil. LET THE TURKEY REST FOR 30 MINUTES before carving. Carry-over cooking will finish cooking the turkey outside the oil, bringing it up to the proper temperature and allowing the juices to circulate back through the meat.

Carve and serve as usual, and serve with Shrimp-Andouille Dressing, Spiced Baked Sweet Potatoes and Pears with Bourbon-Cane Syrup Glaze and some crispy haricots verts (steamed in a little stock) for a grand Creole holiday feast. And how about some pecan pie for dessert?

Chef Williams' Deep Fried Turkey,
Cajun Injector® Style

I've gotten many requests about how to find the Cajun Injector®, which is like a big hypodermic needle you use to inject a flavorful marinade right into your turkey before frying. Lisa Dufrene, who works with the Cajun Injector folks, was kind enough to offer this recipe from her client's website to share with Gumbo Pages readers.

• 16 ounces of Cajun Injector® Marinade
• 12-14 pound turkey
• Cajun Injector® Cajun Shake seasoning
• 3-4 Gallons of cooking oil

1. Remove giblets and rinse turkey with warm water. Drain cavity completely.

2. Attach needle to injector by turning clockwise until snug. Do not over-tighten needle.

3. Shake marinade well. Pour needed marinade into separate container and draw into injector.

4. Inject turkey with approximately 4 ounces of marinade into breast. Inject breast at three different points on each side of breast. Insert injector at an angle completely into each breast. Push plunger down slowly while pulling injector slowly out of breast. Apply same injection technique into thigh and drumstick. Inject 2 ounces of marinade into each thigh and drumstick. Use about 16 ounces of marinade per turkey. Use about 12 ounces of marinade for a bone-in turkey breast.

5. Sprinkle outside of turkey and cavity generously with Cajun Shake® (seasoned salt) -- rub in well. Caution: Make sure all water is drained from breast cavity before deep-frying. Heat 3-4 gallons of peanut oil to 350°F.

6. Place whole turkey or turkey breast, breast side down into fry basket. When oil has reached 350°F slowly (very slowly) lower basket into oil. Use of cooking mitts is highly recommended for lowering and raising fry basket out of oil.

7. Deep-fry whole turkey at 3-1/2 minutes per pound and deep fry a bone-in turkey breast at 7-8 minutes per pound at 350°F. A breast takes longer to cook because the whole turkey has a large cavity which when filled with the oil helps the bird cook from the inside as well as the outside. (In a similar manner, if you're going to deep-fry a chicken or a Cornish game hen, the cooking time is 9 minutes per pound.)

8. When desired cooking time has been achieved raise basket out of oil. Allow excess oil to drain from basket. Remove turkey or turkey breast from basket and allow to rest for at least 20 minutes. ENJOY YOUR DELICIOUS FRIED TURKEY.