Cajun, Deep fryed turkey

[fleedle82]

I have some ideas of deep frying my turkey for Thnksgivin. I'm also looking for good stuffing recipes.
I was wondering what a good cajun combo of herbs and spices for a rub would be to put on it before the big plunge. Let me know. Thanks a bunch.

Chef T

[Suzanne]

I haven't deep-fried a turkey, but the advice of friends who have is:
- don't use a rub; brine it or inject it. The spices of a rub will just burn in the hot oil, whereas brining or injection will allow the flavors to penetrate the meat.
- Don't stuff; you'll end up with oil-soaked stuffing and a bird with a less-cooked interior. Bake it as dressing instead, and fry the fird empty.

Their best advice is: be sure you won't cause the oil to overflow when you lower the turkey into it. Last thing you want to do on Thanksgiving is burn your house down.

[Pete]

Take Suzanne's last bit of advice very seriously. I was talking to a friend who is a nurse in the ICU of the local hospital. Every year, they treat one or two severe burn cases caused by people deep frying a turkey. Please make sure you have all the information you need before attempting a Deep-fried Turkey and please, please, please make sure that your stock pot is big enough. This means that not only is it big enough to accommodate both turkey and oil, but big enough that when the oil starts to boil up it doesn't run over the sides.

[phatch]

To measure the amount of oil you need, put the turkey in the pot you'll use for frying.

Pour in water to cover. Remover the bird, but drain over the pot. The amount of water in the pot is the amount of oil you need. Mark the outside of the pot at the level of the water.

When you're ready to cook fill with oil to that line, maybe a hair past. Be sure you have enough head space for the foaming and oil action in the pot to contain the oil.

When you lower or remove the bird, this is best a two person job. Use a longish pole so you're both away from the hot oil and fire. Thread the lifting hook over the pole, then back away to the ends and lift or lower as necessary.

phil

[Suzanne]

And one of the most obvious but too-often unmentioned instructions: DO NOT TRY THIS INDOORS. I don't really have to tell you why not, do I?

[chef from va]

for some more info on frying your turkey i recomend checking out alton brown. go www.foodtv.com check out good eats. brown did a show on frying a turkey and he always has good and most importantly SAFE advice. you can even get his recipe for brine. i am going a little safer and smoking my turkeys this year ! i wish you luck with your bird and happy thanksgiving!

[mudbug]

Just get a small bottle of Zatarains liquid crab boilÊand an injector. The instructions are on the side of the bottle. Having done five deep fried turkeys, this is by far the easiest and best tasting.

[Suzanne]

Mudbug, what a terrific idea! Did you find that by trial and error, or was it an epiphany?

[mudbug]

Humm.... neither... we've used their crab boil spice packets in the mesh bag for crawfish and short of mixing the spices together from scratch myself, it's pretty darn good and I'm picky about my crawfish flavor.

If you catch any of the endless segments of deep fried turkey, it's well known and most common to inject liquid seasoning for home use and cook-off competitions. I'm sure I soaked the information in thru osmosis after watching them so many times. The key is to use the bottle according to instructions. It's concentrate, so don't taste it and then shy away. Turkey meat is pretty bland in and of itself. The liquid will be well absorbed and distributed throughout the meat if allowed the appropriate amount of time to marinate.



Let us know how it goes!