the debate: turkey deep fried or oven baked?

[Lowellhturner]

Had the pleasure of sampling deep fried turkey several yrs ago. Have tried to talk the 'better half' into letting me do this, but apparently she has heard too many 'horror stories' of less than careful persons putting FROZEN turkeys into the boiling oil (a VERY BIG "NO! NO!") and burning various structures down, suffering 3rd degree burns, ect. Have you ever had the DELICIOUS pleasure of trying a deep fried bird and your thoughts...

[gabowman]

Yea, theyre great but it's awful expensive to just fry one bird. If you plan on frying go ahead and do a couple whole chickens while you got the grease hot for some later meals.

[speckfinder]

They are great. Turn off fire when putting turkey in grease. Make sure it is completely thawed and patted dry. Some like it injected, I brine mine and maybe sprinkle some dry stuff on outside. Injecting takes away the true flavor IMHO.

Cook 2-3 at a time to cut down on time, expense.

[Crappie 1]

Oven baked. Got to have that carcass soup...

[SteveJ]

My son-in-law injects his with some kind of Cajun seasoning before frying and is about the only turkey I like other than my wife's oven baked with spices turkey breast.

[Phantom309]

We got a deep fried Turkey from a friend last year (he does a bunch for family and friends).
The wife complained it was too fried (dry) and is oven cooking ours this year.
I'm not complaining .........

[steve48]

Lowell, The safest and best way I found to get enough oil, without getting too much,is to put your turkey in pot before injecting. Fill with water until cover Turkey. Take turkey out of pot and make a mark on side of pot where your water level is. This will tell you how much oil to put in pot, and where level will be when turkey is in pot. Remember boiling oil is going to be couple inches higher, so make sure you have room . Cook at 350. I forgot the formula, but it is close to minute a pound or minute and half per pound. Before dipping turkey, take a piece of string wrap around turkey holding wings and legs close to body.

[Ranger R61]

My family only wants deep fried turkey. I have done enough of them over the last 10+ years to know how full the fryer should be with oil. If after I put the turkey in and it is not covered I will add a little more oil so it is covered. I still remember the first one I fried. I followed the instructions to put the turkey in the fryer, add water till water is 1 inch over turkey. Did not dry the turkey completly. When put the turkey in hot oil it just boiled all over the place. I learned quickly that the turkey needs to be cleaned the night before, dryed as best as you can, seasoned and left in the fridge over night. I will take the turkey out of the fridge an hour or so before starting to cook it. Put it on the stand and let it drain some more. If you want to put the turkey in the cooker and fill with water, only fill till the turkey is just covered. When the turkey is put in the hot oil the boiling should cover the turkey. Also, we do not eat the end of the turkey that is sticking up.

I cook the turkeys at 325 for 3.5 minutes per pound. If you want the skin to be darker cook it at 350 for 3 minutes per pound. I use the weight listed on the wrapper to determine the cooking time.

[Ranger R61]

A few more thoughts on frying turkeys. If the fried turkey is dry it is probably over cooked. The oil will drop several degrees after the turkey is added, this is normal (at least for me). I try to bring the oil temperature back to 325 quickly, but it will take several minutes. I put some flashing around the base of the cooker (about 2/3's around) to channel the heat up the sides. This helps on windy days.

If I think of something else I will add it later.

[roybuoy]

I have fried several turkeys,and turkey of choice for my bunch is smoked turkey.