Happy Thanksgiving and Turkey Fryer Safety

Happy Thanksgiving from your LOCAL fire pro team!

Its one of our favorite times of the year. Family, changes in the weather, holidays, and crispy turkey skin!

The latter (and most important on the list) requires deep frying your Thanksgiving turkey in boiling oil. Cooking with deep fat turkey fryers can be very dangerous. Many YouTube videos show that they have a high risk of overheating, tipping over, and spilling hot oil. Additionally, they can lead to fires, burns, or other injuries.

If a fire or injury occurs when frying your turkey, call 911 immediately.

Some Dangers of Frying a Turkey

1. A small amount of cooking oil coming into contact with the burner can cause a large fire.

2. An overfilled cooking pot or partially frozen turkey will cause cooking oil to spill when the turkey is inserted.

3. The sides of the cooking pot, lid and pot handles can get dangerously hot, creating severe burn hazards.

4. Units can easily tip over, spilling hot cooking oil over a large area.

5. Without thermostat controls, deep fryers have the potential to overheat the oil to the point of combustion.

Turkey Frying Safety Tips

Most fire departments are now encouraging us to use other methods to cook our turkey, such as oven-roasting, and even air-frying. If you decide to do it as safely as possible, we recommend these safety tips.

1. Do not overfill the fryer. Read the manual to your fry pot and follow fill instructions. Some recommend placing the turkey in the fry pot and filling with water to the max fill line. Remove the turkey, and that's your oil fill quantity.

2. Fryers should always be used outdoors, on a solid level surface a safe distance from buildings and flammable materials. A safe distance is usually described as 10-20 feet.

3. Keep a fire extinguisher nearby. We recommend a Class K type if you have access. Otherwise a multi-purpose ABC will work fine.

4. Completely thaw and dry your turkey before it is placed in a fryer. The additional water and ice can cause a boil-over.

5. Never leave the fryer unattended.

6. Use the thermostat controls, otherwise the oil will continue to heat, past ignition temperature, until it catches fire.

7. Never let children or pets near the fryer when in use or after, as the oil can remain dangerously hot for hours.

8. Never use a fryer on a wooden deck, under a patio cover, in a garage, or enclosed space.

9. Wear protective gear, such as well-insulated potholders or oven mitts, and wear long sleeves and safety goggles to protect from splatter.

Our Tried and True Recipe:

Fried Turk

Ingredients

• (1) <18lb Turkey Frozen
• (4) Gallons of Peanut Oil
• (1) Kosher Salt for Dry Brine
• (1) Bottle of King Kooker Garlic Butter Injection Marinade
• (1) Cajun Dry Seasoning

Instructions

1. Thaw frozen turkey in refrigerator 3-4 days ahead in a baking pan.

2. One day ahead, dry bird inside and out, coat with kosher salt, and leave uncovered in fridge.

3. Rinse and dry bird, inject with garlic butter marinade. Rub generously with Cajun seasoning.

4. Place propane burner on cardboard to protect the ground from splatters. Heat oil to 375 degrees.

5. Wearing mitts, slowly lower turkey into oil. Maintain 350 degrees for about 3.5 min per pound.

6. Check internal temp at 30 min and every 5 min after until breast reaches 165 degrees.

7. Let turkey rest 15-20 min before carving

8. Give thanks and enjoy with your family and friends!