Get Your Grill On

Another new voice joins us today, Andy Groneman from Kansas City, Kansas. Andy takes his barbeque seriously competing with his team, Smoke on Wheels; but, he fries a mean turkey too. Andy, the floor is yours…

Ok, folks, I’ll admit - frying a turkey can be a little daunting. Who hasn’t seen the local news footage of a garage engulfed in flames from the guy who stuck a frozen turkey into 375 degree oil. We’re not going to take that route.

First, lets talk about why frying is a great method for cooking a 12 lb. bird. Hot oil is a great conductor of heat. It seals the meat, and evenly distributes the heat throughout the body and cavity.

As with any outdoor cooking, the devil is in the details. Hot oil, cold meat, and 50,000 BTUs has the potential to be a recipe for disaster. No turkey frying apparuatus is UL certified for that reason.

So the next question is… What’s in it for you? A moist and juicy bird, with a crisp golden skin. And even better, flavor is up to you. You can Brine, believe the Bossman - it makes for a GREAT bird. You can rub - coat the breasts, and cavity with your favorite poultry seasoning, or you can inject.

When smoking a turkey, my personal preference is to brine. For frying, I inject. I figure if I get to play with fire, and 3 gallons of hot oil, I might as well get to use a 5″ stainless needle attached to trigger fired injector to boot.

Turkey Prep:

• Turkey must be COMPLETELY THAWED, if purchased frozen.
• Remove all the “parts”, and pat the cavity and exterior dry with paper toweling.
• Inject a 12 lb. turkey with 2-3 cups of your chosen injection. To inject, insert your injector, and using the same entry point, inject in multiple directions. I usually choose 6 different directions per injector entry hole. Distribute the injection evenly throughout the white and dark meat.
• Let the turkey rest in the fridge, and give an additional pat down prior to frying.
• Once ready to fry, you will slide the turkey onto the stand, breast down, and tie around the wings with butcher’s twine to keep all the turkey body parts inside the diameter of your stock pot opening.

Injection: (This is a spicy injection):

• 4 TBS Unsalted Butter
• ¾ Cup Onions, Finely chopped
• ¼ Cup Celery, Finely chopped
• 3 TBS Minced Garlic
• 2 TBS Canned Hot Peppers ( in vinegar solution.)
• 1½ TBS Salt 1 TBS Cayenne Pepper
• 1 tsp Black Pepper 2 TBS Worcestershire Sauce
• ½ Cup Chicken Stock

Directions:

• Saute Onions, Celery, & Garlic in the butter until they are golden brown.
• Add Hot Peppers, Worcestershire, salt, cayenne, and black peppers. Stir until well mixed.
• Add ½ cup chicken stock. Continue to stir, bring to boil, and let simmer for 5-7 minutes.
• Puree mixture in blender or food processor. Marinade should have no large lumps of fibrous strands. (consistency of paste)
• Completely cool the marinade so that it is ready for injection

Oil/Burner prep:

• Location, Location, Location! Set the burner up in a place that is outdoors, and free of any other impediments. Setup your burner away from any traffic, especially away from areas where the kids will be playing. A flat location is key.
• Put your propane tank as far away as possible from the burner, and cover your hose with foil to protect it from the popping oil.
• Take your chosen stock pot, and fill with enough oil to barely cover the bird. (Determine this oil level by getting the exact displacement of your bird, in your pot, with water first.) For me, 3.5 Gal of oil usually does the trick.
• Bring the oil to a starting temp of 300 degrees. Since this may take 30 minutes, complete the final pat down of your bird, get your catch pans, etc in place, and validate all the tools you need are handy (Thermapen, Hook for turkey stand, Large roaster to deposit completed bird in). Do this now, because once you submerse the bird in the hot oil, you will not be leaving the fryer until you are done, roughly 40-45 minutes.
• I start cooking when the oil reaches 300 degrees and raise the temp to 350 once cooking is underway - to assist in minimizing the initial boil of the oil during submersion of the turkey.

Frying the bird: Your turkey is on a stand - thawed, dried, and seasoned. Oil temperature is 300 degrees. Wearing leather welding gloves, or equivalent protection, use your stand hook, and slowly lower your turkey into the hot oil. Slow is key - don’t rush and allow the oil to boil over. Once your turkey is in the pot, raise the temperature of the burner and bring your cooking oil to 350 degrees. Maintain 350 degrees for the remainder of the cook.

At this point - we’ll work under the assumption we need 3.5 minutes per pound of bird. Based on that - you have 41 minutes until you reveal the turkey of your dreams. After the appropriate amount of time has elapsed, remove the bird to your roasting pan and use your thermapen to determine meat temperature. 165-170 degrees is what we’re looking for. The bird will continue to cook on its own, and climb another 5 degrees once it is out of the oil. After it has rested, carve and enjoy!

Aftermath: The oil can be filtered and reused again, or discarded. Turkey frying has become a neighborhood event in my neck of the woods, and the oil will usually last for 5-6 turkeys before any signs of breakdown start to occur.

Bonus: We always fry 5-6 turkeys. It allows us to share the costs of the oil and propane across a few neighbors, as well as some good banter. And nothing is quite as fun as the oohs and ahhs as that first turkey comes out of the oil, golden brown. The turkey frying ends up being a great party of its own… Here’s to this year’s Thanksgiving tailgate!