Ok, the family decided they wanted a fried turkey for this upcoming Thanksgiving. I did it several years ago to mixed results, some parts were tasty and other parts kinda meah.

Trying to remember what I did last time, I know injecting is an option as is dry-brining for pre-cooking prep, this year I'm thinking of a Cajun-style meal. Are their recipes or, recommended pre-made solutions that people like?

Do you happen to have a Trader's Joe grocery store near you? I take the easy path and buy the pre-brined ones.. we've fried for 6 years now with good results.

TJ's sell pre-brined turkeys?
I might just check that out, was thinking of spatchcocking a small bird for other meals.
Now that I think about it...when I do go into TJ's, I never look at the meat section

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
...I know injecting is an option as is dry-brining for pre-cooking prep, this year I'm thinking of a Cajun-style meal. Are their recipes or, recommended pre-made solutions that people like?

I've enjoyed the Cajun Injector Creole butter every time I've personally injected in poultry (whole chicken or bone-in turkey breast) in smoker as well as when I assisted (i.e. I held and spun bird as host injected and helped host dunk/remove the bird from the peanut oil) with frying a turkey.

They also make a "kit" where you get the cajun butter "marinade" as well as the syringe and needle. I thought the syringe and needle sucked, and I used to inject quite a bit so ended up replacing mine with a stainless steel injection syringe and needle which is much better.

I have several friends really into frying turkeys. A few tips they've shared:

Make sure the bird is completely thawed. If not, the peanut oil will explode and send it everywhere risking burning people and starting a fire. I have a coworker who was the Thanksgiving safety topic for 10-years straight due to frying under a covered patio and setting the cover on fire.

It's better to buy multiple 12 lb birds than buy one giant bird. You're frying 3-1/2 minutes per pound and the outside gets overcooked on the giant bird.

That quantity of peanut oil is expensive so unless you have a big family it's good to team up with a neighbor.

For dunking the bird in the vat of 350 degree oil, it's best to find a method so that you're not standing next to it and/or leaning over it (e.g. a broom handle and two people lowering in unison, or Alton Brown's attaching a pulley to step ladder and using a rope to lower the turkey into the pot).

Inject it ..

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
.... or Alton Brown's attaching a pulley to step ladder and using a rope to lower the turkey into the pot).

This is the method I've used previously.
The kids got a kick out of it so, that helped generate more interest in what uncle is doing and get them to eat their dinner.

Definitely a wet brine, easy to do yourself

I've done quite a few fried Turkey over the years, stopped now that the cost of P-Nut oil has gotten stupid expensive.

Injected mine with the Creole mix at Publix, and put a nice creole rub on the outside the night before.

make sure it's not frozen or wet, hot oil doesn't mix well.

Few tips, turn off the burner before putting the bird in the oil, and lower the bird slowly into the oil. Fires come when they are dropped in and the flame has been left on....

They do taste good family is talking about it, but I don't want to mess with the oil and cleanup that goes with it...

A big difference in taste between a smoked and a fried turkey. I have had both, and like both. A well cooked fried turkey is hard to beat!!

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
.... or Alton Brown's attaching a pulley to step ladder and using a rope to lower the turkey into the pot).

This is the method I've used previously.
The kids got a kick out of it so, that helped generate more interest in what uncle is doing and get them to eat their dinner.

The ladder and pulley dunking a turkey into a cauldron of boiling oil definitely gets a lot of cool Uncle points

Remember to measure the water level in the pot AFTER taking the turkey out, not before. Also, shut off the burner before slowly lowering the turkey in.

I did one last year and used a dry brine plus Cajun butter injection. The dry brining helped get the outside as dry as possible which minimized splattering and got the skin nice and crispy. It was good, but not so much better than my regular turkey to justify spending $75 on peanut oil.

To help ease the pain I kept the oil in the pot and on Saturday I cut up two whole chickens and made a big batch of fried chicken. Everyone agreed that was better than the turkey.

We have a propane fired air fryer which is much safer and does a good job.

Can’t go wrong with a fried turkey. Regardless of how I cook it, I use the injectable marinade Tatortodd mentioned. I have done fried, air fried, smoked, and oven baked turkeys. To me, just baking it in the oven is the most simple and now what I do.