After hearing and reading some horror stories about deep frying turkey, let me pass on a few tips from the years we've been doing this at football tailgates and at thanksgiving.
1.) THAW YOUR TURKEY. You can't drop a frozen bird in the oil. We thaw a day or so before and inject the bird the night before with a mixture of white wine and seasoning. (NOT butter)
2.) Never deep fry a turkey that is too big. 18-20 pounders might get stuck in the pot and you don't want to play tug-o-war with a vat of hot oil. We always cook a 14-16 pound bird.
3.) Watch your OIL TEMPerature! It MUST be at 350 degrees before the bird goes in, and should stay around that temp the entire time. This ensures that the outside of the bird sears enough to seal juice in and oil out... but cooler the bird won't cook well, hotter and the outside of the bird will burn.
4.) Four and a half minutes per pound.
5.) Enjoy... If your oil fryer has a basket, you can deep fry some french fries or taquitos afterwards... they only take like 5-10 minutes in the oil.
Please make sure the fryer is in a safe, stable place... and let the oil cool before you dispose of it properly.
