Justin Lee, author of Turkey Fryers & Deep Fried Turkey: How To Deep Fry A Turkey- Complete Step By Step Instructions To Cooking Your Tastiest Turkey Ever!, offers this advice if you’re considering frying a turkey this holiday season.
If you’re deep frying a turkey this Thanksgiving, then you’re going to need to make sure that you have the right kind of oil. If a deep fried delicious turkey is your destination, and your turkey fryer is your car, then the oil that you choose is definitely your fuel.
The great thing is that just like when you buy gas for your car, you have some choices when you buy your cooking oil to deep fry your turkey.
Not only is choosing the right kind of oil important, but so is making sure that you have the correct amount of oil. There’s nothing worse than planning a huge feast of deep fried turkey on a major holiday, only to realize that you’ve run out of oil, and all of the shops are closed.
Obviously the importance of the oil you choose is key; you’ll also need the correct amount of the right type of oil. You will need an oil with a high smoking point (over 450º F) because you don’t want your oil to burn or catch fire. While you do have choices when it comes to oils with a smoke point over 450º F, there really is only one choice for deep fryers: peanut oil!
When it comes to deep frying turkeys, there are several reasons that the majority of people choose peanut oil: peanut oil not only has a high smoking point so you don’t have to worry about burning the oil as much as you would with other types of oils, but most importantly, it will make your turkey taste the best. Peanut oil has a neutral flavor and produces crisper results.
Peanut oil is great because you can also re-use it. This is another one of the major advantages of choosing an oil with a high smoke point like peanut oil. Not only is a fire much less likely, but a high smoke point means a much longer life, allowing you to re-use it multiple times. While there are cheaper alternative oils, peanut oil allows you to set up and cook multiple turkeys (even in one day), and save and re-use the oil as well, so in the long run, it can be much more economical than other types of oils.
Peanut oil also has an advantage based on its popularity: you can find it in the bulk quantities that are required for deep frying a turkey in most “big box” stores making it much more affordable than some of the other oil alternatives.
If you’ve never deep fried a turkey before, but you’re interested in learning how, then head over to Amazon.com and download a copy of our book: Turkey Fryers & Deep Fried Turkey: How To Deep Fry A Turkey- Complete Step By Step Instructions To Cooking Your Tastiest Turkey Ever! (This book will be available for FREE download on Amazon.com November 12th and 13th 2012. Also, for a limited time, this book comes with a complete step by step video series showing anyone exactly how to deep fry a turkey. Download your book today and get instant access to the free videos!)
