Deep-Fried Turkey: Pros and Cons

This year we had a big crowd at our house for Thanksgiving dinner. We decided that we would do two smaller turkeys instead of one 25+ pounder, which gave me an opportunity to try something new.

I have been wanting to deep fry a turkey. This seemed like a good time to try it because Katy was roasting one already. If things went completely south with the fryer Thanksgiving dinner would only be badly maimed, not completely killed.

Here is my list of the pros and cons of deep frying a turkey:

Pros -

• It cooks very quickly. (30 minutes for a 12-pound turkey)


• The turkey was moist and delicious (although not noticeably moister than our brined and roasted bird)


• The skin was crispy and delicious for the carver (me) to snack on while carving.


• The "showbiz quotient" of cooking a turkey in a huge vat of hot oil is tremendous. Everybody was in the back yard watching me - probably to see if I suffered any disfiguring burns, but watching nonetheless. (If I had anticipated this I would have worked up some patter.)


• No turkey taking up the oven all day - you can cook other things.


• No roasting pan to clean up.


• No discovering a cooler full of turkey brining fluids in the garage ten days later. (Wow. Was that gross.)

Cons -

• Five gallons of peanut oil set me back about $30


• Heating five gallons of oil over an open-flame burner requires a certain amount of caution. (see here for a short video illustrating some of the things that could go wrong) Fire extinguishers, pet- and child-free zones, etc. are a requirement as far as I'm concerned.


• Oil will splatter onto whatever your burner is resting on. I'd recommend putting down a tarp.


• As you will be doing this outside, weather could be a factor. (Not so much in southern California, but your mileage may vary.)


• Your typical turkey-fryer kit will not hold a bird much bigger than 12-14 pounds. (More a limitation than a con per se. You could do a couple if you needed more meat.)


• No stuffing.


• No gravy.


• Your mom will be stressed out to see you messing around with all that hot oil.


• Where do you put five gallons of low-mileage slightly used peanut oil? (Hint: Not down the drain.)


• Whatever you decide to do with the oil, you have to let it cool down overnight. And if you decide to filter it for reuse, it takes about an hour to get that much oil filtered.

All in all, I'd do it again, given the right circumstances. Mmm, turkey.