I’m going to fry a small turkey on Thursday - it will be the third time I have attempted this with less that spectacular results. What tips do ya’ll have?
Brine it and roast it in a 400 degree oven
Or smoke it!
But as far as “turkey frying tips” the only one I have is “be careful”…too many fireball videos on the net from turkey frying guys who allowed themselves to marinate too heavily before the moment of truth and committed some silly mistake causing the oil to boil over into the fire.
Yes
I’m frying one and smoking another. I’ve never fried one before…so your ahead of the game. I have a 12lb. bird that I’m starting to thaw now. I understand that you should stay under 16 lbs for good results. :-\
I’ve never had a problems with the fireball scare and I am frying it on a gravel driveway away from cars, building. SHould’n;t be a problem but thanks for your concern. 
That’s a function of how big your vessel is - isn’t it? If you had a monster vat why couldn’t you go bigger? I have an electric deep fryer, says it can do 16lbs but I usually go around 12 too. Just to make sure it will fit. That would totally suck getting the oil up to temp and your turkey doesn’t fit.
-OCD
I was never really that impressed with the fried turkey. Maybe I was doing something wrong.
I tell ya what I love the turkey fryer for though. Wings. Man you can pump out wings.
Works great for whole fried duck too. Chinese crispy aromatic duck.
Or one of the best things in the world, Southern Fried Cornish Game Hens. Awwe man, Get a jug of butter milk and pour it in a big enough container for your hens. Rub the hens down with salt, pepper and Old Bay. marinade them in the butter milk for 24 - 48 hours. The day you are going to fry them. Heat up the oil, fill a brown paper bag with flour, then with each game hen shake off the excess butter milk and put the hen in the bag of flour. Shake the bag well until the hen is completely covered. Then drop in the oil. wait a few seconds before dropping in another hen so they dont stick together.
Oh man are these good. Like fried chicken, but the whole little chicken man!
I forget the oil temp. I think it is 350 degrees if they are in the butter milk and dredged in flour. 400 degrees if they are going in the oil with no buttermilk and dredging. Does that sound right?
Use these other recipes over the next week or so so you can reuse that oil a little before throwing it way.
I was watching the Food Network and they suggest frying a turkey for 3 minutes per pound plus 5 minutes. So…for a ten pound gobbler…fry for 35 minutes at 350F. The internal temp should be 170F.
Capp - wings in the fryer sounds great. I will have to try some wings too. Nice appetizer!
[quote]Or one of the best things in the world, Southern Fried Cornish Game Hens. Awwe man, Get a jug of butter milk and pour it in a big enough container for your hens. Rub the hens down with salt, pepper and Old Bay. marinade them in the butter milk for 24 - 48 hours. The day you are going to fry them. Heat up the oil, fill a brown paper bag with flour, then with each game hen shake off the excess butter milk and put the hen in the bag of flour. Shake the bag well until the hen is completely covered. Then drop in the oil. wait a few seconds before dropping in another hen so they dont stick together.
[/quote]
Awwe man. I may have to try that!!! HOW LONG PER HEN??
Change of plans now, smoked turkey. What about cooking the turkey over night in the over and then finishing it off on the smoker to make room for other oven items.
Honestly, I have no idea if this will work. Any ideas?
I did a couple turkey breast (boneless) last weekend for bbq turkey sandwiches (and for testing purposes) on the Green Egg. Kept it around 275ish for about 3 hours (4.75 lb each) and they came out great. Just lump charcoal, no smoking wood, and they came out with a nice mild smoke flavor all the way through. Also used a couple heinekins in a drip tray below to keep the moisture up (what else you gonna do with “beer” that people leave after a party?). About 2/3 of the way through, tented them with a sheet of aluminum foil to help concentrate the smoke and keep the steam from getting too far.
Then I ruined them in the crock pot.
Doing the whole 23.8 lb bird in the egg on thursday. I’m guessing about 6 hours should do.
Major, why have the turkey in the oven at all if you’re going to smoke it?
What kind of smoker do you have?
Generally I’d say smoke on the hot end of the spectrum (which I guess since according to Euro/Cappozoli standards, is the SUPER hot end since anything over 100F is hot smoking), upwards of 300+ so the skin crisps more. Poultry in experience is not like pork ribs and brisket, it doesn’t need low and slow as much, and I’ve always preferred birds roasted more crispy at higher heat with smoke than the low and slow equivalent, but that may just be personal prefs.
+1
How do you intend on smoking the gobbler…what kind of grill or smoker do you have?
When I smoke small (10-14#) turkeys using my Masterbuilt electric smokehouse, I usually start hot (225F+) then go “low & slow” @ 165F. I typically use pecan or hickory wood mainly because it’s abundant around here, but I used some apple wood mixed with persimmon last year that was awesome. Happy smoking! 
I just have one of those cheap bullet shaped wal-mart smokers. It takes a ton of charcoal and is difficult to keep the temps even. If it was just any other day I would just managed to work with it but I don’t want to screw around with the bird on T day and I don’t really have enough room in my oven to get everything done by 2 o’clock. So I though, slow roast the bird in the oven and finsih it in the smoker. You guys think this is a bad idea?
I am tempted to run to wal-mart and buy an electric smoker and just smoke the bird over night… hmmmm.
I’m not sure if the bird is about fully cooked how much woodsmoke will permeate the meat…then again, I haven’t tried. The cheap bullet smokers can be hard to control and an electric should be easier. Hey wait a second, isn’t this majorvices, the guru of fermentation temperature control, who can’t maintain temps in a ECB? ;D
lmao!!!
I cant remember how long I fried those hens. I think it was about 10 min-15mins. Just have to keep the heat in the medium zone. Well, you know too hot and they will be well done on the outside and underdone on the inside. Just right heat and you can let them go till they get really tender as they cook through to the bone.
We fried them once with out any batter. They are good that way too. If I remember we deep fried them plain and use sweet and sour chili sauce.
The Southern fried hens were fantastic.
Last year I did a smoked turkey and pork shoulder. I brine cured them a few days in advance using curing salts. Morton’s Tender Quick to be exact. Mixed with brown sugar kosher salt, bay leaf, rosemary, fresh cracked black pepper.
Cured them for a few days them cold smoked them for quite some time. The day that I served them I roasted them till done.
Man they were frickin good.
This year TG is at my sisters house. Im not cooking, only making a few pies.
Start and smoke the bird for a couple of hours then oven. If you wish finish the bird in the smoker. Most of the smoke flavor occurs early in the process. Long and slow is always a great tenderizer.
Fred