Have you ever made Deep Fried turkey?
It’s a process that seals in the juices and is a super fast way to cook a whole turkey – somewhere along the lines of 40-45 minutes or so for a 10-12 pound turkey. However, it’s also a bit messy, uses 3-5 gallons of oil and you must deep fry outdoors because of the propane unit that is used to heat the oil.
Enter an electric indoor turkey fryer I happened to win earlier this year in a raffle at the National Turkey Federation’s annual convention. The fryer promises all the benefits of a juicy deep fried turkey – without all the mess, less oil and it can be used safely indoors.
I finally tried out my Butterball® Indoor Electric Turkey Fryer by Masterbuilt a few weeks ago and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. It deep fried our 12 pound whole turkey in 46 minutes, safely and easily right on my kitchen countertop. Here’s how it worked:
(Note: All opinions on the use of this turkey fryer are strictly my own.)
Here’s a look at the fryer, including the metal basket that is lowered into the pre-heated cooking oil. I purchased Shore Lunch Frying Oil at Menard’s, along with an injector and some Cajun Injector “Creole Butter” marinate to inject into the turkey. You could definitely make your own marinade – I have done this many times – but for this particular turkey, I just went the quick and easy route.
Prior to getting started, I watched a how-to video on the Masterbuilt website – this was very helpful, just to get a feel for how this process will work.
First things first: I completely defrosted the 12 pound turkey for several days in the refrigerator (plan for about 24 hours of defrost time for every 5 pounds of turkey).
Once defrosted, I prepped the bird for the fryer by soaking the turkey in a warm water bath for about 20 minutes to ensure there were no ice crystals left in the bird. Afterwards, I completely dried the turkey with paper towels – inside and out. Then it was on to injecting the marinade into the turkey – approximately 4 ounces of marinade in each of the breasts, thighs and wings. (You could also add a rub on the outside of the turkey but I didn’t do this.)
Just before I prepped the bird, I began preheating the oil (about two gallons) in the turkey fryer to 375 degrees. (The preheating process can take up to 35 minutes.)
Next, I placed the bird in the metal basket and using the lifting hook provided, I slowly lowered the basket into the hot oil. The key here is to go slowly as this is where we had some small amounts (very minor!) of oil splatter. However, we anticipated this in advance and made sure we had a large piece of cardboard under the fryer so that we could protect my butcher block countertops.
Then I simply shut the lid …
And set the timer for 46 minutes. Then I got busy preparing the rest of the meal while the turkey quietly deep fried right on my kitchen counter!
Once 46 minutes were up, I lifted the turkey out of the fryer and placed it on a metal roasting pan and stuck a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the breast to make sure the bird had been cooked to the proper temperature – 165-170 degrees. (Here the thermometer reads 171 degrees so we’re good to go!)
And if you’re my mom – who was visiting that evening with my dad – you take a picture of me wearing my polka dot slippers this whole time. 😉
And finally … you slice up this amazingly juicy and tender deep fried turkey, serve with The Pioneer Woman’s Whisky Glazed Potatoes, the most amazing Cheesy Potato Gratin recipe (mmmm … gruyere cheese!) and enjoy with your family!
I was very pleased with how this indoor turkey fryer worked – it definitely lived up to all its claims. It’s an easier way to enjoy deep fried turkey, right from the comforts of your home. (And this is crucial for those of us who live in Minnesota, where winter often comes early and overstays its welcome).
You can learn more about deep frying turkey via the National Turkey Federation’s website, and watch a video on this particular indoor turkey fryer at Masterbuilt’s website.
What’s your favorite way to enjoy turkey?
11 Comments on Deep Fried Turkey – Indoors!
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I’m such a dork- my biggest takeaway from this was that I love your red cabinets!
And, I think we should giveaway a turkey fryer. How awesome would that be?!?!
That cracks me up, Katie! I love, love, love my red kitchen cabinets – although it was an almost tortuous process to paint them – I think it was something like 9 coats of red paint. But well worth it! 🙂
Giving away a turkey fryer would be awesome!!
You are giving me incentive to try ours out. Very excited when we made the purchase and now 2 years later it has only been moved to the back of the pantry.
Love the slippers, but I’m most impressed by you lowering that turkey down into the oil. You go, girl!
So, do you save the oil for the next time or is it done?
Well, I can relate, Diane – I won the darn thing in March and didn’t get it out of the box until November, but now I’m glad I did! LOL … and as far as the oil goes, you can definitely save it and re-use it a couple more times. Sometimes we do, although sometimes we don’t … kind of depends on our mood about storing, which sounds odd, I’m sure. 🙂
This might be shameful to say, but I don’t believe I have ever had fried turkey…. 🙁
You should try it sometime if you can! It’s actually been very popular in the south, especially, for a long time … in fact, I think it’s safe to say that one of the most searched recipes on the National Turkey Federation’s website is deep fried turkey, year after year. This was a fun post – and the turkey was delicious! Hope you can try it sometime!
I’m sure I will someday! Also looks like you contraption is much less likely to cause a house fire haha. Isn’t that a problem when people deep fry a turkey and do it wrong?
That can be a problem with deep frying a turkey with the propane unit and large fryer – especially if you don’t stand there and watch it. You can’t walk away and come back 40 minutes later … it’s safer to be nearby to keep an eye on things. The indoor contraption that I received is awesome in that way – keeps everything contained and you would never know there’s a turkey deep frying in hot oil in there! 🙂
I used the deep fryer at a family members 80th birthday party. I had never heard of this product before then. They had this lovely fryer in a box it was purchased in and had never used it. I understand that the fryer waited for 2 years to be used. They will now use the fryer more often. The DVD was very helpful. Thanks Masterbuilt for manufacturing such a good product.
That’s great, Debra! I agree – watching the DVD was helpful and the Masterbuilt fryer made it so much easier than the whole outdoor fryer thing. Glad you enjoyed it!
I like the grilled turkey very much. I got whole gadgetry for making turkey dishes and BBQ like primochef.net/meat-injector-info primo meat injector which is made of stainless steel, knifes, cutter and steel pipes.