OT-Frying a Large Turkey

chadpsualum

Disclaimer:  I have fried Turkey in the past on multiple occasions with no incidents so I'm not looking for any safety tips.  Additionally, I would love to be smoking this turkey but I'm travelling to the inlaws and don't have access to an egg/smoker.  Most importantly, the inlaws requested a fried turkey.  The turkey I got was 'free' from work (they do it every year).  It just so happens that they batch they got from the farm this year were all huge.

Ok...so I've got a 23 pound (I need to verify the weight after I take out the gizzard bag) bird that I've been tasked to fry.  Has anyone fried a bird that big before and not charred the heck out of the skin?  I've got a large enough pot that the bird will be well surrounded by oil.  Any tips you can share?  I've read somewhere that I could always break the bird up prior to frying and do the dark meat in one batch and the breast in another.  Appreciate the help.

Photo Egg

Toss it in the freezer and pick up a smaller bird to fry?
Start it in the oven at a lower temp and finish it in the fryer to crips up the skin?
Post your results please.

chadpsualum

@Photo Egg...I would like to do the former but a) I have no room in my freezer for that size bird and b) this sucker is already defrosted so I'm determined to do this.

I've thought about the par-baking approach but have nothing to gauge how long or to what temp.

I'll certainly take pics and make a post, especially if it is a disaster so we can all learn from my mistake!

ThrillSeeker

I did a 22 pounder for some friends a few years back and I split the bird in half.  It turned out pretty good.  Of course it wasn't "picture worthy." 

I agree with @photoegg about putting it in the freezer and picking up a smaller bird.  Publix here was overrun with 11-13 lb birds for 59 cents/lb. 

Call me crazy, but I'd prefer to do 2- 12lb turkeys rather than a 24 pounder.  To be honest, I don't like to do birds over 15 lbs.  The bigger turkeys seem to kill the oil quicker.

chadpsualum

@ThrillSeeker...thanks for the input.  Appreciated.  I would probably rather do 2 smaller birds as well, but since the one I have was free, I don't have the freezer space for it and I don't want to spend the extra $ to buy more turkey I'm determined to make this work somehow.

I like to hear your success with splitting the bird in half.  I could do that as I don't think presentation is going to be really a big deal.  When the meat is on the platter nobody cares what it looked like.

So I assume that 1/2 the bird took 1/2 the time?  In my case, a 23 pounder whole may take 1hr 20 min.  1/2 the bird then 40 min?

Regarding the oil...don't want to be wasteful but I'm not worried about that.  One of my inlaws is getting me new peanut oil from the restaurant they work at.  I'll give it back to him to reuse/dispose when I'm done.

Photo Egg

chadpsualum said:

@ThrillSeeker...thanks for the input.  Appreciated.  I would probably rather do 2 smaller birds as well, but since the one I have was free, I don't have the freezer space for it and I don't want to spend the extra $ to buy more turkey I'm determined to make this work somehow.

I like to hear your success with splitting the bird in half.  I could do that as I don't think presentation is going to be really a big deal.  When the meat is on the platter nobody cares what it looked like.

So I assume that 1/2 the bird took 1/2 the time?  In my case, a 23 pounder whole may take 1hr 20 min.  1/2 the bird then 40 min?

Regarding the oil...don't want to be wasteful but I'm not worried about that.  One of my inlaws is getting me new peanut oil from the restaurant they work at.  I'll give it back to him to reuse/dispose when I'm done.

A turkey has such a large body opening, this is why they cook so fast. They cook almost twice as fast a whole fried chicken per pound. I don't think cutting a turkey in half will cut the time in half. I would use a long, leave in temp probe and cook to temp, not time. Understand having no freezer space.
I guess I would go whole bird and start at a lower temp, 325. Bump temp at finish.

ThrillSeeker

chadpsualum said:

So I assume that 1/2 the bird took 1/2 the time?  In my case, a 23 pounder whole may take 1hr 20 min.  1/2 the bird then 40 min?

I wound up re-weighing it after I cut it in half.  I cut the backbone out and factored that in.  I normally go 3.5 min/lb +5 min before checking for doneness, so your 40 min estimation is close.

I don't mean to "thread jack" but @sgh or any other fried turkey masters, have either you guys ever dusted your turkey with flour before frying?

I'm sure that helps with keeping water from splashing into the grease, but does affect the bird's color or hurt the grease?  I'm hoping to be able to fry 5 birds w/ this 3 lb peanut oil I just picked up and looking for ways to "stretch" the oil.

SGH

@ThrillSeeker
When frying whole turkeys, a coating should not be used. Why? A coating will not hold up to the high heat and long fry time. It will scorch, turn very dark, and impart a bitter/burnt taste. You may get lucky with a very small bird and a very, very light dusting, but I would not recommend it. Your oil will be shot after frying 1 bird. 
Due to the long fry time, turkey crisps up and browns just fine without a coating. There really is no advantage or reason for coating a whole turkey when frying. 
Above you mentioned frying 5 birds with the same oil. That said, you certainly do not want to coat the birds. 5 coated birds will turn your oil into something resembling black sludge. And birds 2-5 will taste "burnt" no matter how perfect they are cooked. Chances are very good they will look burnt as well. 
Simply season the birds, inject if you like, and fry them in peanut oil. Skip the coating my friend. 

SGH

@chadpsualum
Above you inquired about frying a 23 pound bird. Right up front let me say that the real large birds are NOT ideal for frying. However it can be done my friend. 
There are a few tricks that will ease the pain and some of the problems associated with frying large birds. First, and I can not stress this enough, let the internal temp of the bird come up to at least 55 degrees before deep frying. Preferably higher if time allows. If you do not, you will end up with a bird that is burnt on the outside and undercooked on the inside. To be honest, on a bird that size, I would bring the internal to 65-70 degrees in a water soak before frying it. 
Next, cut your frying temp to 280-300 degrees instead of 350 degrees. This is how I fry large Boston Butts without scorching them. Some will say that it will produce a oily or greasy end product. I assure you that it will not. Your turkey will be just fine fried at this temp. 
And lastly, on a bird that size it's real important that it is not packed or jammed into the cooking vessel. What I mean is use a pot big enough to actually accommodate the bird without having to stuff it or pack it in. The body of the bird should not be touching the sides of the pot. You want free flowing oil all around the bird. 
I don't deep fry real large birds anymore. It's just easier to fry smaller birds. But I have done several in the past as well as several Boston Butts with good results by following the above steps. Good luck and let us know how it goes. 

Legume

it seems to me the cost of peanut oil to fry one that large more than offsets your saving by using a free turkey vs buying two 12 lb birds

SGH

@Legume
The high price of peanut oil that you mentioned above has no doubt played a part in making these so popular. Even I finally committed heresy and purchased one. I will say this though, it does a heck of a job once you figure it out.
Big Easy oil-less fryer.  

chadpsualum

@SGH - Thanks brother.  I like and agree with both of your first tips.  Regarding your third tip, I have 62 quart Stainless pot that will do the trick.  Plenty of room.  One question...I'll be cooking to temp, not time, but the general recommendation at 350-375F is 3-4 min/lb.  If I go to 300, am I looking more like 4-4.5?  Just trying to gauge when I need to start to hit a target finish and rest time.

@Legume - I agree.  Peanut oil is expensive and if I were paying for it then a cost analysis vs. buying smaller birds would make sense.  However I'm not paying for the oil so the financial decision is still in favor of going big.

SGH

@chadpsualum
It depends on if you stay more toward 280 degrees or more toward 300 degrees. At 280 degrees it's real close to 5 1/2 minutes per pound. Give or take a little either way for temp fluctuations. 

SGH

Just one last note to anyone frying a turkey for the first time. The center MUST be completely thawed. I can not stress this enough. The outside cooks so fast when deep frying that there is no way that the center will get done if it's even close to being frozen. Confirm your internal temp with a reliable thermometer before submerging the bird in hot oil. 
Also the 3.5 minutes per pound (etc, etc) is merely a rough guide. As with most things, confirm the internal temp with a thermometer and pull accordingly. Cook to internal temp, not to the time guidelines.