Deep Fried Thanksgiving Turkey

This is my deep fried Thanksgiving turkey recipe.

The Bird:

Use a 12-17 lbs turkey.  Anything smaller and you’re wasting time with the fryer.  Anything too much bigger and it won’t fit.

The Rub:

I just use Zatarain’s cajun seasoning.  Nothing fancy.

The Marinade:

2 tsp – garlic powder
2 tsp – kosher or sea salt
1 tsp – onion powder
1 tsp – cumin
1 tsp – brown sugar

12 oz – dark ale beer

For the beer, I used my IP-Ooops beer.  It is essentially an IPA without the heavy hops.  You could also use a Harvest Ale, an Oktoberfest, or maybe even a Porter.  If you use a beer without a sweet flavor to it, I would double the brown sugar above.

Directions:

Prep the bird.  Make sure you remove the popup thermometer (if it has one).    Pull out all of the “extras” in the cavity.  Trim up the neck to make sure you can get some flow through the cavity.  Rinse the bird off, then pat it dry with paper towels.

Pre-heat the peanut oil to 375*F. On a warm day, this should take around 30 minutes.  On a colder day, this can take an 1 hour or more.

Coat the outside of the bird with the rub.  Some people say to rub down the cavity too, but I don’t think it adds anything.  Make sure the breasts and the wings are well covered.

Time to get the bird drunk.  Mix up the dry ingredients and stir them into the beer until it is well dissolved.  Now, open another of the same beer, pour it into a glass and have a sip (ok, that step is optional).  I have a baster/injector for turkeys.  You can also get injectors that are just huge syringes.  Just make sure the needle is large enough that your dry ingredients will not clog it (something like, say an insulin needle will be too small…).  I try to put about 4 oz in each breast, 2 oz in each leg, and if I have a little left over I’ll put a little in the wings.

Let the bird rest for 30 minutes so that everything can soak in.

Once the oil is up to temp, you can drop it into the fryer.  Oil WILL go everywhere.  Just a word of caution, make sure you have your fryer setup in a location where you cannot catch anything on fire.  Your garage, your wood deck, your kitchen; all really bad choices of location.  Also, don’t set this up on any surface that you don’t want covered in oil.  A grassy spot in the back yard is your best bet.  Ok, now that I’m done with the PSA…

Dunk the bird and watch your oil temperature.  Make sure it does not ever fall below 340*F (or your bird will be oily) and try to keep it under 370*F.  You’re going to fry the turkey for 3.5 minutes/lbs (example: for a 14lbs bird, fry for 3.5 x 14 = 49 minutes).  If you really want to feel safe, after it has been in the oil for the calculated time, stick a meet thermometer into the bird and make sure it is above 165*F (unless the turkey went in completely frozen – which would cause a grease explosion – or you have no ability to tell time, the internal temp of the bird will be WAY above 165*F, but you can check it if it makes you feel better).

Pull the turkey out of the oil and let it drain.  I like to put it on a large cookie sheet and turn it over to make sure all of the oil drains out.

Let the turkey rest for at least 15 minutes.  I use insulated BBQ gloves (the same ones I use for pulling pork from the smoker) when I carve the turkey, because it will be hot.  Carve it up and serve.