Remember – Oil and Water Don’t Mix! (AKA How to Fry a Turkey Safely)

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PREMISE: OIL AND WATER DON’T MIX!

Remember that little adage from your childhood, teens, love songs, ballads, adult years, dating advice, TV commercials, and just about everywhere else you can imagine? The fact is very simple, oil and water don’t mix. Don’t believe the 8 billion people who know this inherently, try it. I’ll wait.

So why that little rant, because it is going to lead to this little rant: Every article about ‘safely frying a turkey’ is wrong and dangerous!

Here are the basic instructions for frying a turkey:

  1. Inject the turkey with yummy goodness
  2. Get the burner ready for frying
  3. Place the the turkey in the pot to be used for frying
  4. Fill the pot with just enough water to cover the Turkey (this lets you know how much oil to use)
  5. Pat the turkey dry
  6. Fill pot to the ‘water line; with oil
  7. Heat oil to 375 degrees
  8. Lower turkey in boiling oil

Who sees the problem with these instructions other than me? Oil and Water Don’t Mix! I have successfully fried dozens of turkeys and have never once had the dreaded ‘boil over’ of burning oil trying to douse my castle like a middles ages siege. How have I been so successful? Is it following the “safety tips” you can find online, on YouTube and in your local newspaper? Nope.

Every single article I can find says:

  • Do not overheat the oil
  • Do not place on a wood deck
  • Don’t Drop the Turkey! Slowly lower the turkey in the oil
  • And, my favorite, to ensure you do not use to much oil, do a test run with water

NOOOOO!! Here’s the one tip you need to succeed: do your test run with, wait for it, OIL! Duh. All I do differently is this – I remember the premise that oil and water don’t mix:

  1. Inject the turkey with yummy goodness (I use a combination of meat marinade and a butter sauce one day in advance)
  2. Get the burner ready for frying
  3. Place the the turkey in the pot to be used for frying
  4. Fill the pot with just enough oil to cover the Turkey
  5. Remove the turkey
  6. Heat the already measured oil to 375 degrees
  7. Lower turkey in boiling oil
  8. Cook Turkey for 2 1/2 minutes per pound (or 42 minutes maximum)

Perfect southern fried turkey with no possibility of burning down the house. Save that for the Talking Heads.

https://youtu.be/g8D4AsLzlM0

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