Safety Tips For Frying Turkeys

by Brian Simkins

Deep-frying has become a very popular way to cook and prepare turkeys. Deep fryers made specifically for turkeys have been made available to consumers, thus increasing the number of folks who have tried, and very much liked, the flavor, moisture, and crispiness of deep-fried poultry.

Aside from the fact that deep fried foods taste great, frying whole turkeys is also a way to speed up the cooking process. Using traditional roasting methods, it could easily take four or five hours to cook a turkey. With a deep fryer though, you can cook a whole bird in about 30 minutes. This time frame is dependant of course, on how big the bird is.

Regardless of your reason for choosing to deep-fry your next turkey, it should be noted that there are some inherent, and very real, dangers that come with cooking this way. You must be absolutely sure that you put safety first and take every precaution to ensure that you have a safe holiday and that it isn’t ruined by a tragic accident. Dealing with gallons of hot oil and open flame is not something to be taken lightly. Here, we will take a quick look at some of the potentially dangerous problems you could face and how best to combat them.

Ice and Water

The first step to ensuring a safe turkey frying experience is to make sure that the turkey is thawed out 100%. Any ice left, even if it is deep inside the turkey, is a recipe for disaster. Image what happens when you put frozen French fries into a pan of hot oil or a deep fryer. The oil rolls, boils, pops, and spatters. If it does that with a little frozen French fry, then imagine the scale on which the oil will react with a fifteen pound frozen turkey.

The reaction isn’t caused by the ice, but instead by the water created when the ice quickly melts. Knowing this, then you understand the need for the next safety tip concerning ice and water. The turkey must be lowered into the vat of oil very slowly. If you dropped it in all at once, the moisture that is left on the turkey will react violently and case a flare up and a boil over. Since it is impossible to completely dry your turkey before you put it in the oil, you have to let the water burn off a little bit at a time. You are essentially controlling the rate of the inevitable reaction between oil and water by doing this step.

Most fryers come with a large hook that the cook threads into the thawed turkey before cooking. This hook has a steel ring at the top that is used to lower the turkey into the vat of oil. This is a good way to control how much of the turkey goes into the oil at once, and we’ll discuss some safer ways to do this step when we talk about burns.

Avoiding Burns

By taking a few extra precautions, you can greatly reduce the probability of burns that are related to your turkey fryer. A heavy pair of leather gloves is essential to this task. You will use them when putting the turkey in, and taking it out of, the hot oil. Even though you’ll never touch the turkey – it is raised and lowered using the hook that we mentioned above - you may be close enough to be spattered with hot oil. This is especially true when putting the turkey in for the first time. The leather gloves will protect you from burns that may result from these spatters. Do not wear plastic or rubber gloves! The hot oil will melt them quickly and you will be burned by the hot oil and the melted plastic. The gloves must be leather.

Many folks who deep fry turkeys on a regular basis have rigged up a pulley system that allows them to raise and lower their turkeys into the fryer from a distance. Hanging a series of pulleys directly over the fryer and securing a clip on the end of the rope, they are able to clip right onto the steel ring that is threaded into the turkey. They can stand at a distance and use the rope to control the depth of the turkey in the oil. If you plan to do a lot of turkeys, then it may be worth it to you to set up a system like this. It is much safer.

Using Gas Near Hot Oil

While there are some electric models available, most of the popular turkey fryers use propane to heat the oil. This is a great kind of cooker because you don’t have to be near a plug in order to run your fryer. Some additional precautions need to be taken though, if you choose to use this type of turkey fryer.

The first tip is to turn of the gas when lowering the turkey into the fryer and pulling it out. If you were to lower the turkey into the oil too quickly and the drum overflowed, then hot oil would roll right down the outside of the cooker to where the open propane flame was burning. If you’ve ever seen a grease fire in a kitchen, then you know how big a fire can get just from the oil in a frying pan. Imagine a grease fire with 3-5 gallons of oil. Always turn off the flame when moving the turkey. You can fire it right back up as soon as it’s in place.

The best piece of advice you can ever follow when deep frying a turkey is to never leave it. Don’t walk away for any reason. You only have to turn your back for a second to allow the family dog to come sniffing around and knock things over. The possibilities are endless, so don’t take any chances. Stay near the fryer for as long as the oil is hot.

You can enjoy deep frying turkeys. There are a number of great recipes for rubs and glazes that will help you prepare the best bird you’ve ever cooked. Make sure, though, that you put safety first so that your entire family can enjoy the meal together.

Brian Simkins is a freelance writer living in Chicago. He enjoys using his 14 years of home improvement experience to educate and equip new home owners.