Grills Buying Guide

What To Know When Buying a Turkey Fryer

The tastiest turkey you’ll ever eat is without a doubt a fried turkey. But frying turkey in the kitchen leaves a terrible mess (and smell) and can be dangerous for inexperienced chefs. If you’ve got the outdoor space, the wisest decision you can make as a budding gourmet chef is to invest in a turkey fryer. Your house will be the place to be on Thanksgiving dinner! Here are some things to consider when buying your first turkey fryer.

Size: If your usual turkey dinner is on the small side, you can get away with buying a small fryer. Go for a turkey fryer that holds at least 28 quarts. A deep 32-quart fryer is the best bet for big birds.

Go With Gas: Gas model turkey fryers are the most popular and easiest to set up. All you need is a refillable propane tank. To avoid guesswork, choose a model that features an indicator when the oil has reached the desired temperature.

NEED TO KNOW

Overfilling your pot with oil can create a fire hazard. Always measure the oil carefully.

Never leave a frying turkey unattended.

Never allow children or pets to play around a turkey fryer.

What To Know When Buying a Turkey Fryer

The tastiest turkey you’ll ever eat is without a doubt a fried turkey. But frying a turkey indoors can make the kitchen messy, not to mention the lingering odors it can leave behind. Frying turkey in a kitchen can also be a challenge for inexperienced chefs. If you’ve got the outdoor space, the wisest decision you can make as a budding gourmet chef is to invest in an outdoor turkey fryer. Your house will be the place to be on Thanksgiving dinner! Here are some things to consider when buying your first turkey fryer.

If your usual turkey dinner is on the small side, you can get away with buying a small fryer. Go for a turkey fryer that holds at least 28 quarts. A deep 32-quart fryer is the best bet for big birds.

A gas model of turkey fryer is the most popular and easiest to set up. All you need is a refillable propane tank. To avoid guesswork, choose a model that features an indicator when the oil has reached the desired temperature. Look for a Bayou Classic turkey fryer kit to be sure you’ll have the gas element included.

Other Uses for Your Turkey Fryer Pot

Once you own a turkey fryer, you’ll soon find that it’s a great piece of equipment for cooking other meats and vegetables. From obvious choices like chicken and ham to lobster and large quantities of pasta, your turkey fryer pot can be used for many meals.

Whether you go outdoors or not, you can use your outdoor turkey fryer to boil corn on the cob, make chili or stew, and boil huge batches of potatoes for mashing. When you have a large group over for Thanksgiving, you can fry your turkey, transfer it to a roasting pan to warm in the oven, and then reuse your turkey fryer pot as needed.

You may want to try brining a turkey for your next special meal. Brining is similar to marinating in that you leave your meat in a liquid sauce overnight. With brining, however, you’re working with a salt solution, so you need to be careful that you don’t leave it too long. The time investment is more demanding, but using your turkey fryer pot adds some convenience to the process.

Turkey Fryer Safety

It’s important to remember that overfilling your turkey fryer pot with oil can create a fire hazard. Always measure the oil carefully and watch for spills. Be sure to clean up any excess oil around your cooking area thoroughly.

Never leave an outdoor turkey fryer unattended. You might be using a gas turkey fryer because you enjoy a gas barbecue grill, particularly for the convenience of being able to walk away and tend to other things you may be cooking. But think of it this way: would you walk away from a pot of boiling oil? This is essentially what your turkey fryer becomes while cooking.

A turkey dinner usually comes at busy family times with a full house and lots of demands on your attention. But another important reminder is that you should never allow children or pets to play around your turkey fryer. You should be close enough to monitor the turkey fryer, so keeping fingers and tails away from the hot zone will be manageable without too much extra attention.