I went to my son's house for Thanksgiving. He said he was going to do all of the cooking well my wife also hjelped. The one thing I was suprised with was the Turkey. My son bought one of those Deep Fryers for turkeys. He didn't have enough oil so I had to go get more. Here's the surprise he cooked a 20LB turkey in 70 minutes. The best was it was not greasy or dry it was great. I would recommend this to anyone who doesn't want to wait 5 or 6 hours for the turkey to be done. Just wanted to pass this along. MERRY CHRISTMADS to everyone.

Yes, but you cannot make gravy from that bird. No turkey gravy; no fun!

It certainly needs a whole lot of caution to do one of those! Every year a few folks manage to catch their garages or homes on fire when the oil catches fire. And for us, at least part of the fun is smelling the turkey cooking for hours while everybody grows ravenously hungry :-)

to much effort...

probably best to do it outside...

reminds me of a cartoon called "aqua teen hunger force"... one episode they bought a deep frier the size of a swimming pool... then proceeded to deep fry an entire cow and inject it with cheese and bacon...

FYI, it's not only "best to do it outside" it has to be done outside. People who decide to do it in their garage or carport are those that have ended up burning down their houses.

No thanks. I do not need to eat anything fried. I got an invitation for turkey dinner but the hostess cooked the whole meal in a microwave. arrrrrg! I could barely taste anything and the whole meal was rubbery. YUCK. I will stick to my old fashioned method of making homemade dressing, roast turkey and the trimmings.

If done right you would not know the turkey was fried. Frying in itself is not the bad thing, it's just rarely done right and results in foods, particularly things with some type of breading, absorbing oils.

Fried is a five letter dirty word, not to me, but to my waistline. The smell of a turkey baking for hours is part of it, more about the tradition, not the fastest way, and I'm not cooking a turkey in the yard.
Taste wise it's up for grabs, but basting with chicken broth and butter is where I'm at.....that would be non fat chicken broth, butter, well, I'm not perfect.

Irene_L.A. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Fried is a five letter dirty word, not to me, but
> to my waistline. The smell of a turkey baking for
> hours is part of it, more about the tradition, not
> the fastest way, and I'm not cooking a turkey in
> the yard.
> Taste wise it's up for grabs, but basting with
> chicken broth and butter is where I'm at.....that
> would be non fat chicken broth, butter, well, I'm
> not perfect.


Actually, you'd likely be consuming less fat with a deep fried bird.

My father in law has done a deep fried turkey or turkey breast each of the last 5 years. The keys to effectively frying a turkey are all in the oil: right amount, right type and right temperature. If you're cooking a turkey in 350 degree peanut or safflower oil, I will guarantee it will have absorbed less fat than one being oven roasted while sitting in butter. Being cooked faster, the liquids inside the meat have less of a chance to expand and the meat has less time to break down, and thus absorbing less of the liquid it is being cooked in. Plus, once the skin on the deep fried turkey browns, it will act as a partial barrier, allowing less oil to penetrate the turkey. The exact opposite happens with oven roasting. Longer cook times mean the meat will break down and absorb more cooking liquid, and the skin will not crisp as fast, meaning more of the butter will absorb into the meat.

Now, I will never be one to argue the taste benefits of butter (insert Paula Deen joke here), but don't assume that an oven roasted butter basted turkey is better from a health standpoint just because it isn't deep fried.

I baste the turkey with its own juices, having first very lightly oiled the skin with canola oil. I want my gravy to taste like turkey, not like butter. Then the fat is taken off of the juices before the pan is deglazed to make gravy. YUM! No gravy with deep fry method!

The great chief Bobby Flay cooks his bird first rubbing under breast skin with butter, maybe 2 tbsp., then puts chicken broth at bottom to baste with,
so actually not that much butter (I was making a joke). Bobby (if I may),
then takes bird out of oven when white meat is done, and cuts off legs, lets white meat rest 40 minutes so juices are not lost when cutting, and places legs back in juice to cook, as legs are usually not done same time white meat is. He then takes warm chicken broth and pours over white meat to re-warm and add moisture. I tried this for Thanksgiving and will do it again for Channakah, it was the best. The mention of butter raises hairs, but everything in moderation, not a Paula Dean fan, and wouldn't eat or cook as she does.....just sayin.

Fast or fat is not a consideration for my turkey. Delicious, moist roasted turkey filling the house for a few hours with appetite inducing aromas. The oven is on and Warming the kitchen on a chilly day. Drippings and broth are turned into the most sumptuous gravy to top creamy mashed potatoes and savory stuffing.

Season the turkey, stuff it loosely with fresh produce - apple, carrots, celery, onion, garlic and fresh sage. Add a quart of poultry stock and a stick of good butter to the roasting pan. Bake at 350. Place the turkey, breast side down on a rack in the roaster for about 2/3 of the required time. This lets the fat and juices from dark meat seep into the drier white meat. The last 1/3 of the required baking time, flip the bird breast side up. Baste with the juices a few times. Take the turkey out at 155-160 degrees, and let it rest at least a half hour before carving. The temperature will continue to rise with carryover cooking.

I have a relative who ladles my gravy into a bowl, and actually eats it as soup.