Consolidated "How to cook turkey?" thread
 

Anyone do this at home w/one of those propane burner kits?

did you inject the meat w/anything?

For Easter dinner, my pop is gung ho to try one if the weather is nice.

I didn't think hot oil and rain would mix very well! http://www.flyertalk.com/dining/ftdi...orum/smile.gif

It can be done either way. It depends upon your personal preference. Would you inject the turkey before roasting it? If so go ahead. It's true, once you've had a deep fried turkey you're spoiled for anything else.

Oh yeah, keep it out of the rain.

Check out this site: http://www.tznet.com/lwittman/turkey.html

Like no other turkey you have ever eaten!
We rub the bird with fresh rosemary (alot)and lemon pepper. We save the rosemary stems/leaves after rubbing the bird and put in the bird's cavity.

Beware when you lower turkey into the oil, make sure you Do Not have excess oil are you are going to one h**l of a fire. Been there done that. Also careful when removing the bird.

So how was it?

I've had it once (luckily someone else was cooking it), and indeed it was like no turkey I've ever eaten -- wonderful.

incredible!!!!!!

We did not use any seasonings or marinade and it was just great.

We did put water in the pot first and then lowered the turkey into it to see how much oil we would need.

Got it roaring to 375 degrees, used peanut oil.

patted the turkey dry as best we could and then slowly lowered it bit by bit, it does bubble quite abit!!

Had a 14lb turkey, was ready in 45 minutes.

The skin is sooooo tasty, the meat juicy.
Best turkey our family has had, bar none.

My pop is mr. frugal, so the waste of oil for one meal bothered him. I told him to keep the oil in the pot overnight, then reheat and fry up some oysters and shrimp for Po'boys today (of course I would be over to sample).

Is there a way to keep the oil or am I correct in believing that it should not really be reused in a few weeks?

If you have not tried this, it really is as good as people say.

My old neighbor used a big paper filter (Like a coffee filter) and recycled the oil for 2-3 "Turkey Baths" as he used to say. I like the Cajun Injection myself!

G

My brother's neighbor, the local frying man, doesn't keep his oil. He does do many turkeys and chickens for neighbors and friends. He'll do several for himself and then put them in the deep freeze.

For Christmas my brother did a goose and said it was terrific. He wants to try a duck next.

Just cook away from your house. A friend of mine caught his house on fire. All that oil and 5 gallons of propane. The fire department was on it in 5 minutes...$150,000 damage!
Scott

Deep Fried Turkey (Or Duck) is excellent but can really suck bad if the oil isnt hot enough.
One thanksgiving we did one on a really windy day and the wind kept the flame from the bottom of the pot, needless to say the oil temp dropped and the bird soaked up all that oil
It was disgusting
we now build a wind break around the cooker if the wind is even moderately blowing and since then no problems

Turkey: roasted, fried or smoked?
 

I like turkey enough to cook one every few months. Originally, the only way I cooked one was in the oven. It always came out fine and we ate on the carcass for a couple days and then I'd make soup.

Once I moved south, I began cooking things outdoors year-round and began smoking turkey, or sometimes just a breast. I like smoked turkey, but if I buy smoked turkey, too often it just tastes like ham, but home-smoked is several cuts above anything I can buy. I have experimented with different woods, but don't have a particular favorite.

A couple Christmases ago, my next door neighbor was given 6 turkeys. So, he deep-fried them all and gave them away. We were lucky enough to receive one, and it was the moistest bird we've ever eaten. He used a cajun butter injection and there was tremendous flavor in the meat. The smell while he was cooking perfumed the air all day long. But I was a little intimidated by the cooker and it doesn't look inexpensive what with all the oil. I'm not about to fry 6 just to get my money's worth out of the oil.

So, what's best? I have to say I want it all, but given limited time and resources, most often I roast it. Why? My favorite turkey meals are the days after: I still want a turkey sandwich and a bowl of homemade turkey vegetable soup.

My experiences pretty much echo yours. If I had a favorite, it would be fried, but I too lack the resources or - to be even more frank - the desire to fry my own. Plus, frying turkeys can be a dangerous proposition if the proper precautions are not taken. While I'm not an ultra-conservative on method, like Alton Brown is apparently, I would still be big on preparation and proper technique so I didn't end up like a human torch or the house burned down. ;)

Like you, while I like smoked turkey, it can taste much like ham and I would prefer just to eat ham because as we all know, pork fat rules! :)

That being said, also like you, I most often do mine in the oven, only I don't bother with a whole turkey. No one in my family likes the dark meat, so I just cook two turkey breasts for Thanksgiving along with the usual suspects. There is plenty for sandwiches and for others to take home afterwards and everyone is happy.

I may experiment someday with using a rub on an oven-roasted turkey breast, but I have to be careful as the wife, although she is of Cajun descent, does not like ultra-spicy foods.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

I'll also have to vote fried, though I also have not had the wherewithal to do it myself. (Maybe next year.)

This year, we ordered a turducken roll from an online place located in Louisiana. It's only 4 of us, so we didn't need the whole bird concoction.

Mike

I've done the progression from roasted, to brined/smoked, and then to fried. Fried turkey is the most moist, best flavor and fastest cooking time. But the mess and cleanup is the worst. Also the danger factor. I've never burned myself or any part my or someone else's house doing it, but you have to be vigilent at all times to prevent injury or property damage.
Last year, I did a fried turkey at my sister and brother-in-law's, and they had ordered a turducken also and I was amazed at the ease of cooking and the flavor of the turducken. The fried turkey came out fine, but the turducken had a fantastic cajun seafood stuffing and everyone including myself preferred the turducken. I really liked the idea or not of having to deal with the peanut oil and cleaning the cooking pot afterward. Only downside is that a turducken takes a long time to cook, but then you just put it in the oven and leave it alone.
So my new holy grail for cooking Thanksgiving turkey is a turducken, but since I like to complicate my life, I have been planning to make my own turducken instead of buying it pre-assmbled. The main work is deboning the turkey/duck/chicken. I've practiced on chickens, and it made a boneless stuff chicken which came out great. I probably won't try the homemade turducken this year though, since we don't need that much turkey.

Just wanted to add that, for those of us who lack the skills, time, equipment or any combination thereof, there seem to be folks who fry turkeys commercially, so you might be able to choose the fried version and not do it yourself...at least there are around here. YMMV where you live. ;)

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

Portions of the post that previously appeared in this space has been deleted. I would provide you with a reason why, but doing so would likely be against the TOS.