A Big Easy Turkey Fry

If you’re looking to fry a delicious turkey for Thanksgiving without using a lot of messy oil then I have an idea for you. With The Big Easy turkey fryer, which uses infrared heating, it’s possible to get a lighter, fried turkey for your Thanksgiving feast. Although, I don’t think I took the fat free way “per se” in my kitchen. I went a little “Paula Dean” on my bird for a pre-Thanksgiving get together with friends, and it truly wowed a crowd. Two days before our gathering I bought a 19.97 lb turkey before reading the instructions in The Big Easy handbook that stated “will hold up to 16 lbs of turkey.” Under my stubborn disregard for instructions I proceeded to prep the turkey for excellence. It began with a brine....

Brine:

Mix 8 cups of water, 6 poultry boullion cubes, 1cup salt, ½ cup sugar and a generous amount of rosemary. Let that sit and cool. Find a large bucket that will allow the bird to be fully submerged in the brine.

Before putting the turkey in the fryer I had a few more preparations. I melted a few tablespoons of butter and added some garlic pepper spices. With my handy-dandy poultry syringe I injected the butter solution into the meatier parts of the turkey. Now that the bird was bathed in buttermilk and infused with butter it was time to slather it with olive oil, salt and pepper and get it into the fryer.

It took around 3 hours to reach 160 degrees and turned out perfect. The great part about The Big Easy fryer is that it drains the excess fat into a tray below (good for making gravy). You would

think this would dry out a turkey, but it was quite the opposite. The succulent turkey developed hints of smoky flavors and a thin layer of delicious, well-seasoned fried skin that presented beautiful deep brown char marks. For Thanksgiving that is just around the corner maybe consider doing things a little different this year.

What are some of you favorite turkey recipes?