November 18, 2019 • 8 mins
Deep frying anything is a science -- but perhaps especially a whole turkey. Learn how to do it (and why it works) in this episode of BrainStuff.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,
Hey brain Stuff, Lauren fogelbam here. Properly deep frying a
turkey can make you a hero of your next holiday dinner.
When done right, a deep fried turkey is a juicy,
crispy alternative to roasted, which can be easily overcooked or undercooked. However,
(00:22):
deep frying involves cooking with a large amount of very
hot oil. That's why it must be executed with caution
and precision. You need to plan your turkey fry several
days in advance for reasons of both safety and flavor.
And even if you're never planning on doing this, perhaps
because like me, you injure yourself pan frying food. Hopefully
(00:43):
you'll find the process as fascinating as I do. But okay,
before you even start thinking about frying, get all the
equipment you could possibly need together, including a fire extinguisher
safe for use on oil fires because you never know. Also,
you'll need a few aluminum roasting pans, kitchen towels, tongs,
and both a meat thermometer and an oil thermometer. Plus
(01:06):
make sure you have a hook to lower and lift
the turkey into and out of the oil. This is
not a hands on kind of project. Also, be sure
that you have a safe spot for frying, a flat
and fireproof surface, not your wooden deck. Please and plan
to have someone stay with the turkey the entire time
it's in the fryer, and decide how you will discard
(01:27):
the used oil ahead of time. You can save it
for reusing, or throw it away in a disposable container
once it's cooled, or check with your local government. Lots
of cities and municipalities have disposal or even recycling programs
for cooking oil. Just don't pour it down any of
your drains. Once you're all prepped, you can proceed to
step one, choosing your turkey. You're going to want to
(01:49):
opt for a smaller turkey. You want a bird that's
about a quarter to a third of the size of
your fryar's pot. That will leave plenty of room for
the oil to completely surround the bird once you submerge it.
Attend to twelve pound turkey that's about four and a
half to five and a half kilos is a good
size for most outdoor fryers. Make a note of the
turkey's weight. A plan to fry the turkey for three
(02:10):
to three and a half minutes per pound. Step one B.
After you get your bird home and before you do
anything else, put it in your fryer pot and fill
the pot with water just to the point that it
covers the bird. Remove the turkey, and then mark the
water level. That's the level to which you'll want to
add oil when it comes time for frying. Okay, Step
(02:31):
two thaw and brine the turkey. Dumping a frozen bird
in hot oil can cause an explosion, so be sure
to allow enough time to completely thaw out your turkey.
It's easiest to thaw in the fridge over the course
of a few days. You can even keep it in
its original packaging and just PLoP it in one of
those roasting pans to catch the juices. But for how
(02:51):
long you want to allow? Twenty four hours of thawing
time per every five pounds or two kilos of turkey weight.
If you're working with the aforementioned ten to twelve pound
turkey that'll fit most outdoor fryers, that means you're looking
at about two full days or forty eight fifty eight
hours to be precise. During the final eighteen to twenty
(03:12):
four hours of thawing, or once it's totally thought if
you like, it's time to start wet brining your turkey,
because when you fry a turkey, you won't be able
to stuff the cavity with aromatics like you can when
you roast one, and any rubs or fresh herbs on
or under the skin would wash away or burn. But
brining gives you an opportunity to flavor the meat before
(03:32):
cooking it and to tenderize it. There are lots of
recipes for brine's on the internet, but the basic is
one and a half cups of salt and a cup
of sugar dissolved in a gallon of water. For our
metric friends, that's about three hundred and sixty million liters
of salt and two hundred forty million laters of sugar
in about three point seven liters of water. You can
also add herbs or spices. Check out a few recipes
(03:55):
and see what sounds good. Once made, refrigerate the brine
until it's forty degrees are in height that's four degrees
celsius or colder. Then place the turkey in a brining
bag or large pot. Pour the brine in and seal
or cover brine for eighteen to twenty four hours in
the fridge. What's happening during this step is that, through
(04:15):
the power of osmosis, the meat absorbs some of the
liquid and the salt d nature's proteins in it. Proteins
are these big, folded up messes of molecules like necklaces
that have somehow merged while sitting in your jewelry box,
or like a string after your cat or child has
gotten to it. Salt relaxes some proteins, making muscle fibers
(04:36):
less tough, and letting water, molecules and anything else that's
in the water move in and hang out. But then,
because you want the effects of the brine without that
extra moisture, we come to step three, drying the turkey.
After your bird is brined for eighteen twenty four hours,
you want to let it dry out. This step takes
an entire day, but it helps create a crisp skin
(04:58):
by preventing the skin from seaming during the fry. So
clear a shelf in your fridge and place a drying
rack in or over a large shallow roasting pan. Remove
the turkey from the brine, Discard the brine. Pat the
turkey dry and place the turkey on top of the
rack and let it drip dry in the fridge uncovered
for twenty four hours. Then step three it's time to fry.
(05:21):
Remove the turkey from the fridge, place it in a
clean aluminum pan, and let it sit at room temperature
four thirty to sixty minutes. This will help the turkey
cook faster and more evenly. Meanwhile, set up your fryer
according to the manufacturers instructions. Add your oil just to
the fill line that you marked previously. Peanut oil, corn oil,
canola cotton seeds, saff flower, soybean, and sunflower oil are
(05:43):
all good options. Follow the instructions for bringing the oil
up to the proper frying temperature, which is three hundred
and fifty degrees fahrenheit or one seventy six degrees celsius.
Using your hook, very slowly submerge the turkey into the
hot oil about a quarter of the bird of time,
and wait one to two minutes between each move. Lowering
(06:04):
the turkey slowly allows the oil to better maintain the
proper frying temperature. Remember, the cool bird will lower the
oil's temperature, so you want to give the oil time
to heat back up to the optical temp. If you
submerge the turkey too fast, the temperature of the oil
may drop below frying temperature, and then you'll just be
boiling the turkey and oil frying seals in the juices.
(06:26):
Boiling releases them. Fry the turkey for about three to
three and a half minutes per pound until the internal
temperature is a hundred and sixty degrees fahrenheit or seventy
one degrees celsius. The U s d A instructs as
to cook poultry two hundred and sixty five degrees fahrenheit
or seventy three celsius. But when you take your turkey
out one sixty degrees, it will continue to cook from
(06:46):
the residual heat, a phenomenon that chefs sometimes call carry
over cooking. If you leave your turkey in the oil
all the way until it reaches one sixty five, it
will continue cooking and reach a final temp above that,
maybe a hundred and seventy degrees fair in height or
seventy six degrees celsius, and the turkey will be dry.
When you do remove the turkey from the fryar with
(07:07):
your hook transfer it to a clean aluminum roasting pan
to allow it to drain. The moments after your turkey
comes out of the fryar are a good opportunity to
add extra flavor. A lot of cooks like to sprinkle
a dry rub on the bird at this point. Finally,
step four rest both you and the turkey. This is
perhaps the most important step for a juicy turkey. Once
(07:28):
the turkey is done, loosely cover it with foil and
let it rest for at least thirty minutes before you
carve it. Basically, you want to allow the meat of
the turkey to cool down. As it cooks, the muscle
fibers in meat firm up, pushing juices outward. By resting
the turkey or a steak for that matter, you're letting
those fibers relax and allowing juices inside to redistribute. If
(07:50):
you carve it too early, the juices will flow out
and your turkey again will be dry. Once you've let
the turkey rest, harve as usual and enjoy your feast.
Today's episode was written by Shawn Chattis and produced by
Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio's How
Stuff Works. For more in this and lots of other
(08:11):
tasty topics. Visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot com,
and for more podcasts from My heart Radio, visit i
heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows,
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,
Hey brain Stuff, Lauren fogelbam here. Properly deep frying a
turkey can make you a hero of your next holiday dinner.
When done right, a deep fried turkey is a juicy,
crispy alternative to roasted, which can be easily overcooked or undercooked. However,
(00:22):
deep frying involves cooking with a large amount of very
hot oil. That's why it must be executed with caution
and precision. You need to plan your turkey fry several
days in advance for reasons of both safety and flavor.
And even if you're never planning on doing this, perhaps
because like me, you injure yourself pan frying food. Hopefully
(00:43):
you'll find the process as fascinating as I do. But okay,
before you even start thinking about frying, get all the
equipment you could possibly need together, including a fire extinguisher
safe for use on oil fires because you never know. Also,
you'll need a few aluminum roasting pans, kitchen towels, tongs,
and both a meat thermometer and an oil thermometer. Plus
(01:06):
make sure you have a hook to lower and lift
the turkey into and out of the oil. This is
not a hands on kind of project. Also, be sure
that you have a safe spot for frying, a flat
and fireproof surface, not your wooden deck. Please and plan
to have someone stay with the turkey the entire time
it's in the fryer, and decide how you will discard
(01:27):
the used oil ahead of time. You can save it
for reusing, or throw it away in a disposable container
once it's cooled, or check with your local government. Lots
of cities and municipalities have disposal or even recycling programs
for cooking oil. Just don't pour it down any of
your drains. Once you're all prepped, you can proceed to
step one, choosing your turkey. You're going to want to
(01:49):
opt for a smaller turkey. You want a bird that's
about a quarter to a third of the size of
your fryar's pot. That will leave plenty of room for
the oil to completely surround the bird once you submerge it.
Attend to twelve pound turkey that's about four and a
half to five and a half kilos is a good
size for most outdoor fryers. Make a note of the
turkey's weight. A plan to fry the turkey for three
(02:10):
to three and a half minutes per pound. Step one B.
After you get your bird home and before you do
anything else, put it in your fryer pot and fill
the pot with water just to the point that it
covers the bird. Remove the turkey, and then mark the
water level. That's the level to which you'll want to
add oil when it comes time for frying. Okay, Step
(02:31):
two thaw and brine the turkey. Dumping a frozen bird
in hot oil can cause an explosion, so be sure
to allow enough time to completely thaw out your turkey.
It's easiest to thaw in the fridge over the course
of a few days. You can even keep it in
its original packaging and just PLoP it in one of
those roasting pans to catch the juices. But for how
(02:51):
long you want to allow? Twenty four hours of thawing
time per every five pounds or two kilos of turkey weight.
If you're working with the aforementioned ten to twelve pound
turkey that'll fit most outdoor fryers, that means you're looking
at about two full days or forty eight fifty eight
hours to be precise. During the final eighteen to twenty
(03:12):
four hours of thawing, or once it's totally thought if
you like, it's time to start wet brining your turkey,
because when you fry a turkey, you won't be able
to stuff the cavity with aromatics like you can when
you roast one, and any rubs or fresh herbs on
or under the skin would wash away or burn. But
brining gives you an opportunity to flavor the meat before
(03:32):
cooking it and to tenderize it. There are lots of
recipes for brine's on the internet, but the basic is
one and a half cups of salt and a cup
of sugar dissolved in a gallon of water. For our
metric friends, that's about three hundred and sixty million liters
of salt and two hundred forty million laters of sugar
in about three point seven liters of water. You can
also add herbs or spices. Check out a few recipes
(03:55):
and see what sounds good. Once made, refrigerate the brine
until it's forty degrees are in height that's four degrees
celsius or colder. Then place the turkey in a brining
bag or large pot. Pour the brine in and seal
or cover brine for eighteen to twenty four hours in
the fridge. What's happening during this step is that, through
(04:15):
the power of osmosis, the meat absorbs some of the
liquid and the salt d nature's proteins in it. Proteins
are these big, folded up messes of molecules like necklaces
that have somehow merged while sitting in your jewelry box,
or like a string after your cat or child has
gotten to it. Salt relaxes some proteins, making muscle fibers
(04:36):
less tough, and letting water, molecules and anything else that's
in the water move in and hang out. But then,
because you want the effects of the brine without that
extra moisture, we come to step three, drying the turkey.
After your bird is brined for eighteen twenty four hours,
you want to let it dry out. This step takes
an entire day, but it helps create a crisp skin
(04:58):
by preventing the skin from seaming during the fry. So
clear a shelf in your fridge and place a drying
rack in or over a large shallow roasting pan. Remove
the turkey from the brine, Discard the brine. Pat the
turkey dry and place the turkey on top of the
rack and let it drip dry in the fridge uncovered
for twenty four hours. Then step three it's time to fry.
(05:21):
Remove the turkey from the fridge, place it in a
clean aluminum pan, and let it sit at room temperature
four thirty to sixty minutes. This will help the turkey
cook faster and more evenly. Meanwhile, set up your fryer
according to the manufacturers instructions. Add your oil just to
the fill line that you marked previously. Peanut oil, corn oil,
canola cotton seeds, saff flower, soybean, and sunflower oil are
(05:43):
all good options. Follow the instructions for bringing the oil
up to the proper frying temperature, which is three hundred
and fifty degrees fahrenheit or one seventy six degrees celsius.
Using your hook, very slowly submerge the turkey into the
hot oil about a quarter of the bird of time,
and wait one to two minutes between each move. Lowering
(06:04):
the turkey slowly allows the oil to better maintain the
proper frying temperature. Remember, the cool bird will lower the
oil's temperature, so you want to give the oil time
to heat back up to the optical temp. If you
submerge the turkey too fast, the temperature of the oil
may drop below frying temperature, and then you'll just be
boiling the turkey and oil frying seals in the juices.
(06:26):
Boiling releases them. Fry the turkey for about three to
three and a half minutes per pound until the internal
temperature is a hundred and sixty degrees fahrenheit or seventy
one degrees celsius. The U s d A instructs as
to cook poultry two hundred and sixty five degrees fahrenheit
or seventy three celsius. But when you take your turkey
out one sixty degrees, it will continue to cook from
(06:46):
the residual heat, a phenomenon that chefs sometimes call carry
over cooking. If you leave your turkey in the oil
all the way until it reaches one sixty five, it
will continue cooking and reach a final temp above that,
maybe a hundred and seventy degrees fair in height or
seventy six degrees celsius, and the turkey will be dry.
When you do remove the turkey from the fryar with
(07:07):
your hook transfer it to a clean aluminum roasting pan
to allow it to drain. The moments after your turkey
comes out of the fryar are a good opportunity to
add extra flavor. A lot of cooks like to sprinkle
a dry rub on the bird at this point. Finally,
step four rest both you and the turkey. This is
perhaps the most important step for a juicy turkey. Once
(07:28):
the turkey is done, loosely cover it with foil and
let it rest for at least thirty minutes before you
carve it. Basically, you want to allow the meat of
the turkey to cool down. As it cooks, the muscle
fibers in meat firm up, pushing juices outward. By resting
the turkey or a steak for that matter, you're letting
those fibers relax and allowing juices inside to redistribute. If
(07:50):
you carve it too early, the juices will flow out
and your turkey again will be dry. Once you've let
the turkey rest, harve as usual and enjoy your feast.
Today's episode was written by Shawn Chattis and produced by
Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio's How
Stuff Works. For more in this and lots of other
(08:11):
tasty topics. Visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot com,
and for more podcasts from My heart Radio, visit i
heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows,
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