Hi all, I'm looking to purchase a turkey deep fryer for t-giving.
Anyone have any brand recommendations? I'm looking for a "best bang
for the buck" type deal. It doens't have to be the best.

Thanks,
Jon

"johny b" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hi all, I'm looking to purchase a turkey deep fryer for t-giving.
> Anyone have any brand recommendations? I'm looking for a "best bang
> for the buck" type deal. It doens't have to be the best.
>

I would recommend that you get an electric one for safety's sake. Every
year people burn their house down with these things. The electric one would
be safer than the propane, although they hold less.

I saw this one demonstrated on QVC this weekend. It looked nice, but who
knows. There are some accessories available also.

http://www.qvc.com/asp/frameset.asp?...y&SearchClass=

I think they have a liberal return policy, so if you don't like it you can
probably return is between now and Jan 15th. or so

thanks for your reply. I don't mind having a nonelectric one...I'll be
doing this outside. I've come across the Bayou one's...just not sure
how good they are.

any other opinions?

"Vox Humana" > wrote:
> I would recommend that you get an electric one for safety's sake. Every
> year people burn their house down with these things. The electric one
> would
> be safer than the propane, although they hold less.

I've heard of electric fryers, but do they really have the power to do the
job? I looked at one of the models on QVC and its instruction manual, and
it's rated at 1,650 watts. I'm pretty sure that converts to something under
6,000 Btu. Propane models are perhaps in the 100,000 Btu range and over. I
know there's a huge amount of inefficiency in using a gas burner, but still.
The instruction manual says it would take about an hour to heat the oil up
to temperature.

I've fried a few turkeys in my day, probably between 15 and 20 of them. I
used a big propane burner of unknown power, and a 36 quart seafood steamer
pot. The pot has a big basket inside which I used to hold the turkey. This
was before deep frying turkeys became popular and they started selling these
kits for the purpose. I also used large veterinary syringes I got at the
feed store to do the injecting.

Bringing the oil up to temperature takes quite a while even with a big
propane burner, but not an hour. When it's up to temperature and time to put
the bird in, there's still a big heat input required to maintain the
temperature. Even my big propane burner couldn't maintain the initial
temperature, it drops very signficantly when the bird goes it. What you are
basically doing during the frying is boiling off a lot of water, which takes
a lot of heat input. Slowly as the water boils off, the amount of heat that
needs to be put in to maintain the temperature diminishes. So slowly I would
adjust the gas to the burner down. I guess having a thermostatic control
would be a help, but I still can't see a puny electric element doing the
job. The turkeys I was cooking were in the the 12-14 pound range. I was
using about 3-1/2 gallons of oil, which is a lot. Turkey fryers designed for
the purpose have a tall narrower pot to minimize the amount of oil required.
My seafood pot was not optimal (in terms of oil needed) due to it's larger
diameter.

Speaking of burning your house down... do this deep frying outdoors well
away from the house. You'll have a tremendous mess even under the best of
circumstances with the oil spray that is going to come off the pot while the
turkey is frying. You'll get an oil slick on the grass, but eventually it
will go away. I find one the safety warnings in the QVC electric fryer kind
of humorous:

11. Do NOT use outdoors, appliance is for indoor use only.

Personally, I just can't imagine frying turkeys indoors, but maybe that's
just me! ;-)

--
( #wff_ng_7# at #verizon# period #net# )

"wff_ng_7" > wrote in message
news:3k97f.13394$gF4.8099@trnddc07...
> "Vox Humana" > wrote:
> > I would recommend that you get an electric one for safety's sake. Every
> > year people burn their house down with these things. The electric one
> > would
> > be safer than the propane, although they hold less.
>
> I've heard of electric fryers, but do they really have the power to do the
> job? I looked at one of the models on QVC and its instruction manual, and
> it's rated at 1,650 watts. I'm pretty sure that converts to something
under
> 6,000 Btu. Propane models are perhaps in the 100,000 Btu range and over. I
> know there's a huge amount of inefficiency in using a gas burner, but
still.
> The instruction manual says it would take about an hour to heat the oil up
> to temperature.
>
> I've fried a few turkeys in my day, probably between 15 and 20 of them. I
> used a big propane burner of unknown power, and a 36 quart seafood steamer
> pot. The pot has a big basket inside which I used to hold the turkey.
This
> was before deep frying turkeys became popular and they started selling
these
> kits for the purpose. I also used large veterinary syringes I got at the
> feed store to do the injecting.
>
> Bringing the oil up to temperature takes quite a while even with a big
> propane burner, but not an hour. When it's up to temperature and time to
put
> the bird in, there's still a big heat input required to maintain the
> temperature. Even my big propane burner couldn't maintain the initial
> temperature, it drops very signficantly when the bird goes it. What you
are
> basically doing during the frying is boiling off a lot of water, which
takes
> a lot of heat input. Slowly as the water boils off, the amount of heat
that
> needs to be put in to maintain the temperature diminishes. So slowly I
would
> adjust the gas to the burner down. I guess having a thermostatic control
> would be a help, but I still can't see a puny electric element doing the
> job. The turkeys I was cooking were in the the 12-14 pound range. I was
> using about 3-1/2 gallons of oil, which is a lot. Turkey fryers designed
for
> the purpose have a tall narrower pot to minimize the amount of oil
required.
> My seafood pot was not optimal (in terms of oil needed) due to it's larger
> diameter.
>
> Speaking of burning your house down... do this deep frying outdoors well
> away from the house. You'll have a tremendous mess even under the best of
> circumstances with the oil spray that is going to come off the pot while
the
> turkey is frying. You'll get an oil slick on the grass, but eventually it
> will go away. I find one the safety warnings in the QVC electric fryer
kind
> of humorous:
>
> 11. Do NOT use outdoors, appliance is for indoor use only.
>
> Personally, I just can't imagine frying turkeys indoors, but maybe that's
> just me! ;-)
>

The model that I saw on TV had a digital control that calculated the cooking
time and temperature. As I recall, the 13 pound turkey the cooked took 44
minutes - 3 minutes a pound plus 5 minutes. I would love to have one of
these units myself, but there are only two of us and most of the time we
find ourselves away from home on major holidays. The cost of the oil is a
deal killer for me. I am very thrifty (OK, cheap) and using $30 worth of
oil once or twice and then dumping it would be traumatic. I am also worried
about the safety of these things. The ones I have seen more recently at
Costco and Sam's seem to be more stable. One of my neighbors fires his up
in the garage! The garage is so full of crap that they can't even park in
there, so I know that if something goes wrong, the place will be an inferno
in no time. Of course, it doesn't seem safe to use it on a wooden deck
attached to the house. My yard is pretty much on a slope. The only option
would be in the driveway, which also has a slight slope. I would be
interested in have one to use the high BTU burner for my wok. After your
comment about the mess, I agree that using the electric model indoors
probably isn't a good idea, although I could see using an electric model in
the garage - with the door open, of course. They did use a lid on the TV
show (the lid is glass and has three steam vents). Maybe the lid contains
the mess making indoor use practical.

"Vox Humana" > wrote:
> The model that I saw on TV had a digital control that calculated the
> cooking
> time and temperature. As I recall, the 13 pound turkey the cooked took 44
> minutes - 3 minutes a pound plus 5 minutes.

That's roughly the time I used to cook them. It's very fast compared to
roasting them!

> I would love to have one of
> these units myself, but there are only two of us and most of the time we
> find ourselves away from home on major holidays. The cost of the oil is a
> deal killer for me. I am very thrifty (OK, cheap) and using $30 worth of
> oil once or twice and then dumping it would be traumatic.

These are some of the same reasons I haven't been doing it in the last four
years. I used to do it for a club I was in at a major car show and we'd feed
our members... 60-100 would be there for the show and our picnic. We'd have
two pots of boiling oil going, and cook two birds at once. Four birds total.
(I think that 15-20 bird estimate over the years I gave might be a little
low!) The oil only got used for two birds, but I wasn't paying for it... at
least not directly. At first I'd buy it in gallon jugs, but then I found out
about the huge bottles in cardboard boxes (10 liters?) at places like Sams.
It wasn't too bad a cost getting it like that.

> I am also worried
> about the safety of these things. The ones I have seen more recently at
> Costco and Sam's seem to be more stable. One of my neighbors fires his up
> in the garage! The garage is so full of crap that they can't even park in
> there, so I know that if something goes wrong, the place will be an
> inferno
> in no time. Of course, it doesn't seem safe to use it on a wooden deck
> attached to the house. My yard is pretty much on a slope. The only
> option
> would be in the driveway, which also has a slight slope.

Never underestimate the stupidity of people! ;-) There really are so many
things that can go wrong. One aspect is people tend to be drinking when all
of this is going on. At one of those car shows, I had a guy who wasn't
wearing a shirt (and had a few) decide he wanted to help me. He wanted to
put a turkey into the pot. But he wasn't watching me the times I had done
it. The bird has to be lowered very slowly so the boiling off of the water
in it doesn't overflow the pot. He started lowering the bird in too fast...
and bare chested, the spattering oil was burning him. So he let go of the
bird and jumped back. What a mess... the pot really boiled over then!

I read the Consumers Report warning on these things. One of their worries is
that people won't pay attention to the temperature of the oil, and it will
reach the ignition point. That certainly can happen... I guess it can happen
frying chicken on a stove, but that's will a much smaller quantity of oil.
There's two points where this is a problem... first when heating the oil up
initially with no bird in the pot... very easy to overheat it... and then
while the bird is cooking, as the heat has to be turned down over time to
maintain the temperature because of the declining amount of water being
boiled off.

> After your
> comment about the mess, I agree that using the electric model indoors
> probably isn't a good idea, although I could see using an electric model
> in
> the garage - with the door open, of course. They did use a lid on the TV
> show (the lid is glass and has three steam vents). Maybe the lid contains
> the mess making indoor use practical.

I don't know if a cover would work or not. From all the times I did it, I
can't imagine covering the pot. The oil spray really does get all over, and
it really doesn't clean up on concrete. I guess eventually it goes away from
weathering, but not as fast as with grass. I think if I was doing it on
concrete (or asphalt or wood) I would want to put something down to protect
it.

When doing fried chicken on the stove (cut up, not whole!), I do cover the
pan, during the first several minutes of cooking. It does cut down
considerably on the mess (there's way more spattering at the beginning), and
it doesn't seem to affect the crispyness of the crust. I'm using a 70 year
old Vollrath cast iron chicken fryer I got off eBay... by chance, the huge
aluminum seafood pot I have that I did the turkey frying in was also made by
Vollrath.

Getting back to deep fried turkey, I think a lot of the great result is from
the marinades that are injected rather than from the deep frying. You could
do the marinade injections without having to do the deep frying. You could
just roast the bird. I've never tried it myself, but that bare chested guy
that helped me above did, and he said it comes out very good. Of course,
depending what recipe you use for the marinade, the ingredients for it can
be pretty costly themselves... rivaling the cost of the oil! ;-) I seem to
remember my recipe's ingredients not being that much less than the cheap oil
I got in quantity at Sams. Onion juice and garlic juice don't come cheap!

--
( #wff_ng_7# at #verizon# period #net# )

In article .com>,
"johny b" > wrote:

> thanks for your reply. I don't mind having a nonelectric one...I'll be
> doing this outside. I've come across the Bayou one's...just not sure
> how good they are.
>
> any other opinions?


The unit currently being offered by Costco looks good but is not cheap
($100). The main advantage is that it is set relatively low and then
has some bracing that surrounds the pot and extends relatively high and
will keep the pot steady. Considering all the dangers involved this is a
good thing - it would be quite difficult to accidentally topple this
over. I have not paid attention to the rest of the construction but I
would pay very careful attention to how stable & strong the whole unit
will be - tiny units that are little bigger than the burner will topple
easily and are potentially very dangerous. The same can be said of
poorly welded ultra cheap units. I would not want something like this
to fail with a heavy pot of oil on it.

Most manufacturers sell two kinds of burners. The burners generally are
either jet burners or more adjustable cast burners (gets this type, much
easier to regulate and more appropriate for home use). I personally
would get a good unit because you can then use it for woking and seafood
boils, brewing beer etc.

I own a King Kooker - it is a two burner unit and my version was sold as
a portable camp stove but is well designed and actually very stable
because of cross bracing. It was about $125 too. I like it a lot but
mainly use it as a wok burner. Because it is tall it is not the best
kind of unit for frying a turkey.

It is very very easy to reach the flash temperature of oil with the
high heat. For example, when I wok I can have huge flames of oil leap
up the second I add oil if I leave the dry empty wok on for less than a
minute. I would be very mindful of this and keep a close watch on the
unit for the entire duration of the operation. I was not very mindful
of the danger of frying until I discovered this.

You might want to keep kids, pets and other exuberant types well away.

Roland

thanks for the replies.

yes i'm aware of the dangers and am going to take the necessary
precautions.

i'm pretty set on getting a propane fryer...I'm just not sure which
yet. nobody has any opinions of the Bayou brand eh?

johny b wrote:
> thanks for the replies.
>
> yes i'm aware of the dangers and am going to take the necessary
> precautions.
>
> i'm pretty set on getting a propane fryer...I'm just not sure which
> yet. nobody has any opinions of the Bayou brand eh?

I don't think it makes a hughe difference. I've had mine for about six
years now and I've fried a total of three turkeys. IMO, just not worth the
cost of it all.

As ofr safety, if you do it outside, away fromt he house and keep kids and
dogs away, you'll have no problem. Mist important factor is how easily the
bird can be lifted. Mine has a perforated liner that lifts right out.

--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/

lid wrote:
> "johny b" > wrote:
>
>> Hi all, I'm looking to purchase a turkey deep fryer for t-giving.
>> Anyone have any brand recommendations? I'm looking for a "best bang
>> for the buck" type deal. It doens't have to be the best.
> Don't cook your turkey this way. They taste bad! Never again will I
> eat one.

Just your opinion. We like them, just a PITA to set it up.

--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/

> wrote:
> Don't cook your turkey this way. They taste bad! Never again will I
> eat one.

The first time I deep fried turkeys for my car club picnic, I cooked two.
Those disappeared so fast that in subsequent years I cooked four. And still
they went fast. Faster than just about any other food item at the picnic. I
found out that if I didn't move fast and get some for myself, I'd be out of
luck... and I was the person doing the cooking! Gee, they must taste really
bad for them to disappear so fast! ;-)

A lot depends on the recipe used for the injected marinade, and in the
actual cooking. Underdone turkey is not appetizing, and neither is turkey
fried until it is like a charcoal briquet. Not much different here than any
other cooking... you need a decent recipe and you can't screw up in
executing it.

--
( #wff_ng_7# at #verizon# period #net# )

johny b wrote:
> thanks for the replies.
>
> yes i'm aware of the dangers and am going to take the necessary
> precautions.
>
> i'm pretty set on getting a propane fryer...I'm just not sure which
> yet. nobody has any opinions of the Bayou brand eh?
>
check out the selection at cabelas.com and bassproshops.com

no, i don't own either place.

--
Del Cecchi
"This post is my own and doesn’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions,
strategies or opinions.”

On Mon, 24 Oct 2005 16:24:25 -0500, Joe Doe >
wrote:

>In article .com>,
> "johny b" > wrote:
>
>> thanks for your reply. I don't mind having a nonelectric one...I'll be
>> doing this outside. I've come across the Bayou one's...just not sure
>> how good they are.
>>
>> any other opinions?
>
>
>The unit currently being offered by Costco looks good but is not cheap
>($100). The main advantage is that it is set relatively low and then
>has some bracing that surrounds the pot and extends relatively high and
>will keep the pot steady. Considering all the dangers involved this is a
>good thing - it would be quite difficult to accidentally topple this
>over. I have not paid attention to the rest of the construction but I
>would pay very careful attention to how stable & strong the whole unit
>will be - tiny units that are little bigger than the burner will topple
>easily and are potentially very dangerous. The same can be said of
>poorly welded ultra cheap units. I would not want something like this
>to fail with a heavy pot of oil on it.
>
>Most manufacturers sell two kinds of burners. The burners generally are
>either jet burners or more adjustable cast burners (gets this type, much
>easier to regulate and more appropriate for home use). I personally
>would get a good unit because you can then use it for woking and seafood
>boils, brewing beer etc.
>
>I own a King Kooker - it is a two burner unit and my version was sold as
>a portable camp stove but is well designed and actually very stable
>because of cross bracing. It was about $125 too. I like it a lot but
>mainly use it as a wok burner. Because it is tall it is not the best
>kind of unit for frying a turkey.
>
> It is very very easy to reach the flash temperature of oil with the
>high heat. For example, when I wok I can have huge flames of oil leap
>up the second I add oil if I leave the dry empty wok on for less than a
>minute. I would be very mindful of this and keep a close watch on the
>unit for the entire duration of the operation. I was not very mindful
>of the danger of frying until I discovered this.
>
>You might want to keep kids, pets and other exuberant types well away.
>
>Roland

Hey Roland!
I haven't thought of using my turkey fryer for cooking in a "wok"! I
like Chinese food but I don't know how to cook in a wok. Where do you
go to get a big wok suitable for sitting on the burner/stand of a
turkey fryer? I suppose this would be about the same size as the ones
you see the little Chinese guys cooking in at the Chinese restaurants?
What are the dimensions of your Wok? Is it about 36" inches measured
across the widest part at the top? The "real" Chinese cooking woks are
pounded out of carbon steel aren't they? I assume they must be
"seasoned" somehow before they will "stif-fry" properly?

Bill

In article >,
Bill > wrote:

> Hey Roland!
> I haven't thought of using my turkey fryer for cooking in a "wok"! I
> like Chinese food but I don't know how to cook in a wok.

A good dish to try to see the unique flavor of high heat is to stir fry
some baby Bok Choy. This is guaranteed to fail on even a beefy home
stove (too much water will accumulate) but is splendid on the turkey
fryer. Heat wok 30 sec, add oil, add garlic + ginger, add the bok choy
immediately or the ginger and garlic will burn, stir like a maniac
towards end add a little (soy sauce, oyster sauce, Shao Xing wine and
sugar premixed) and 2-3 minutes from start to finish your done!!!

The main practical thing I can tell you is things move really very
quickly because of the high heat. I have never managed to ignite oil on
a home stove but as I mentioned before, if I let the empty wok sit for
say a minute and add the oil, the oil ignites on contact!! You should
expect a fireball and do not get too alarmed if it happens I just use a
14" flat bottom wok. A bigger wok would be nicer because you can be
more sloppy when stirring things around, I am stirring so frantically
that some food pops out of my wok. If you do not keep things moving,
the food will burn VERY QUICKLY. I have an oversupply of cooking toys &
undersupply of space and have resisted buying a bigger wok.

Secondly, when stir frying on this set up I NEVER see any liquid from
the food accumulate - it is driven off really very fast. My outdoor
burner has a 54,0000 BTU burner. I have a 12,000 BTU burner on my home
stove that compares very favorably in boil time to the 18,000 BTU Blue
Star yet even with small amounts of food I see puddles of liquid
accumulate.

Thirdly, this kind of cooking is quite stinky and messy and hazardous
(oil igniting etc) and it is nice to have the stink and mess (oil vapors
and residue) and hazards outside.

For a good recent book look at Grace Young's "Breath of a Wok". It is a
generally good introduction to the materials and history. All her
recipes though are converted for home stove use.



>go to get a big wok suitable for sitting on the burner/stand of a
> turkey fryer?

We have lots of oriental stores, and I could get a wok of any dimensions
if I so wanted. If you are not so blessed look for the Wokshop.

http://www.wokshop.com/products_main.html

Currently, King Kooker has a propane unit that is dedicated for this job
for real cheap ($65) - burner plus wok. I think it is a great set up
because the wok they have is 18" and has a ring to stabilize the round
bottom wok.

http://www.lalagniappe.com/mall/lobby-propane-wok.htm

Compare this cost to the thousands of dollars for more wimpy dedicated
wok burners from more frou frou vendors. I will admit that it is not
the most convenient to haul all my food out to cook. I just load all my
stuff on cookie trays. But for a $100 set up and no need for $2000+
ventilation system etc. etc. I am very happy with my decision.


I suppose this would be about the same size as the ones
> you see the little Chinese guys cooking in at the Chinese restaurants?
> What are the dimensions of your Wok? Is it about 36" inches measured
> across the widest part at the top?

Some restaurant woks are very big, but they have even hotter burners and
are water cooled on the top etc.

>The "real" Chinese cooking woks are
> pounded out of carbon steel aren't they? I assume they must be
> "seasoned" somehow before they will "stif-fry" properly?
>

The Grace Young book has a thorough discussion on the various materials.


Roland

"Joe Doe" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> Bill > wrote:
>

>
> Secondly, when stir frying on this set up I NEVER see any liquid from
> the food accumulate - it is driven off really very fast. My outdoor
> burner has a 54,0000 BTU burner. I have a 12,000 BTU burner on my home
> stove that compares very favorably in boil time to the 18,000 BTU Blue
> Star yet even with small amounts of food I see puddles of liquid
> accumulate.

For this reason (liquid accumulation) I have all but given up on wok
cooking. My biggest burner is also 12,000 BTU and it isn't even close to
heating the wok hot enough. As I mentioned in my origianl post, I have
considered getting a turkey frying to use with my wok. I keep looking for
one on deep clearance that has the pot missing. I wouldn't be afraid of
using the burning with the wok on my deck which is right outside my kitchen.
It wouldn't be at all inconvenient except when it is raining or snowing.

In article >,
"Vox Humana" > wrote:

> As I mentioned in my origianl post, I have
> considered getting a turkey frying to use with my wok. I keep looking for
> one on deep clearance that has the pot missing. I wouldn't be afraid of
> using the burning with the wok on my deck which is right outside my kitchen.
> It wouldn't be at all inconvenient except when it is raining or snowing.


The problem with most generic turkey fryers is they are designed to sit
low for stability and have the tall cooking pot at a convenient height
to add the turkey or ingredients if you do a seafood/crawfish boil.
This makes it an inconvenient height to stir fry, unless you find a
table of suitable height to bring it up to a convenient level.

So if you add the cost of generic discounted fryer + heat resistant
stand/table it equals the cost of a unit that is at a more convenient
height for wok cooking. I bought my unit mainly so the height was
convenient for wok cooking which was my main intended use. Seafood
boils etc are less convenient because the pot is now quite high on my
set up.

It looks like several manufacturers make units that are somewhat or very
adjustable for height and some even have an invertible burner set up so
that you can use flat bottomed pots for say seafood boil/turkey fry and
invert the support system to use a round bottomed wok.

Roland

"Joe Doe" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "Vox Humana" > wrote:
>
> > As I mentioned in my origianl post, I have
> > considered getting a turkey frying to use with my wok. I keep looking
for
> > one on deep clearance that has the pot missing. I wouldn't be afraid of
> > using the burning with the wok on my deck which is right outside my
kitchen.
> > It wouldn't be at all inconvenient except when it is raining or snowing.
>
>
> The problem with most generic turkey fryers is they are designed to sit
> low for stability and have the tall cooking pot at a convenient height
> to add the turkey or ingredients if you do a seafood/crawfish boil.
> This makes it an inconvenient height to stir fry, unless you find a
> table of suitable height to bring it up to a convenient level.
>
> So if you add the cost of generic discounted fryer + heat resistant
> stand/table it equals the cost of a unit that is at a more convenient
> height for wok cooking. I bought my unit mainly so the height was
> convenient for wok cooking which was my main intended use. Seafood
> boils etc are less convenient because the pot is now quite high on my
> set up.
>
> It looks like several manufacturers make units that are somewhat or very
> adjustable for height and some even have an invertible burner set up so
> that you can use flat bottomed pots for say seafood boil/turkey fry and
> invert the support system to use a round bottomed wok.
>
> Roland

Good point about the height.