What you need to know about turkey fryers

by Nicole Weston, Posted Nov 17th 2006 @ 9:05AM

If you're planning on frying up your turkey for Thanksgiving, you probably should avoid propane-powered gas fryers. Although some chefs endorse them, often citing fast heating times as one of their reasons, Consumer Reports and product safety-testing nonprofit Underwriter Laboratories (UL), has found them to be unsafe. Most of the dangers pertain to fire risks because the units are highly combustible and a spillover of oil can cause the whole unit to ignite. Most tip over easily and many have no thermostat controls, which would prevent the cooking oil from coming close to "600 degrees [F],...the flash point of oil."

A safer alternative is an electric fryer. UL endorses the Turk N' Surf, which has a safety shutoff and adjustable thermostat. It is also safe enough to use indoors and produces a finely fried turkey.

If you already have a gas fryer and are not planning to replace it before Thanksgiving, keep some of these safety tips in mind:

Use outdoors on a flat, fireproof surface, away from buildings, pets and children.
Never leave it unattended and keep a close watch on the oil temperature.
Use very well insulated pot holders when touching the unit and wear safety goggles to protect your eyes from to possibility of oil splatter.
Keep an all-purpose fire extinguisher nearby in case anything goes wrong. You might want to have the number for take-out on speed dial, too, as a backup.

[Thanks, Marc!]

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Filed Under: Lists, Food Gadgets, Did you know?, Ingredients, How To, Methods
Tags: consumer reports, deep fry, deep fryers, did you know, fry, fryers, frying, Gadgets, gas fryers, health, poultry, propane fryers, safe, safety, thanksgiving, turkey, turkey fryers

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-17-2006 @9:25AM Chris said... http://www.altonbrown.com has plans for a "Turkey Derek" to use when you use gas-powered fry set-ups. Its pure genius. He just did a Good Eats ep called "Fry Turkey Fry" where he mentions that UL has never certified a gas-powered fryer. He also does a demonstration of what happens when you put your semi-frozen bird into an over-filled over-heated pot of oil. It envloves the fire department. I love it.
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11-17-2006 @9:34AM finder said... I've always been very careful about the gas fueled devices in general... my advice is the same as the posted one - DON'T use them
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11-17-2006 @10:35AM Topslakr said... Chris, that is a great episode. I thought it was good that he showed what can happen in a worst case scenario. I have fried turkeys before and I've never had a problem but it's good to be aware of the actual danger instead of just the hearsay from people. Alton and his crew put together a great show.
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11-17-2006 @12:29PM Cammy B said... I'm a Brit and I've never even heard of one of these devices before. Let me get this straight, you DEEP fry an entire turkey, weighing the same as a small child, in an giant vat of super heated oil? It must contain about a million calories...I bet it tastes sublime. And how many 'merry' thanksgivers kick it over, accidently melting down their trailers? ;)
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11-17-2006 @12:38PM mJ said... Rather have mine th old fashioned way, roasted if whole. Most people tell me its better to fry the wings or drumsticks instead of the whole bird.
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11-17-2006 @3:16PM brian patrick said... Here is a link to a video I made about how to fry a turkey:

http://psu.onsight-media.com/video/turkey_time.htm

That looks like a great kit...I'll forward the link to Greg...
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11-17-2006 @9:48PM Vesna Vuynovich Kovach said... I wrote an article for my city magazine a few years back on deep-fried turkey. I've posted it here:
http://ulysses.blogware.com/blog/Vesnaspublishedwork/_archives/2000/11/1/2508322.html

I named it "Fry, Turkey, Fry" -- just like my hero Alton Brown named his deep-fried turkey episode six years later! Unfortunately, the magazine editor didn't use that title, so I have nothing to prove it except my archived word processor files date-stamped 9-7-2000. But they're only on my home computer. Darn! Anyway, I used the title in my Web post, and I hope I don't get too many people thinking I ripped off the Great One!

On the safety issue: The gas is vastly safer than the electric. (My husband, a fire chief's son, convinced me of this.) Bubbling hot oil outdoors over the grass (which grows back) is safer than than indoors, any day. Take note in my article where I talk about the scorched earth on my lawn after our first fry session.

If you're worried about having several gallons of oil possibly reaching the flash point and bursting into flames, consider this: would you rather have an unexpected flame break out in a free-standing vessel in the middle of your lawn, far away from the house and garage? Or in a vessel at the end of an electric cord inside your house? Hm?
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11-18-2006 @2:35PM ShortWoman said... Looks like I'm about the dozenth person to mention Mr. Brown. Frankly, that episode was a PSA: half safety tips, half trying to talk us all out of trying to deep fry a turkey. As for me, I'll be sticking to Mr. Brown's brine and roast turkey recipe. The classics never die ;-) .

At least it was better than the salt episode, the peppercorn episode, or the two-count-them-two episodes about water. Sheesh, Alton!
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11-24-2006 @5:27PM Michael Foster said... I have been frying turkeys about 11 years now for holidays and Chirstmas. It is SAFE, IF you plan ahead. the first thing I learned to do was put the turkey in the pot and cover it with water, THEN take out the turkey and mark the level. When putting in oil, fill to just below the mark. choose a place on the lawn AWAY from overhead tree branches, structures, and other hanging items (SAFETY FIRST!) On preping your bird(s) FIRST make very sure it is completely thawed and DRY. choose an injectable marinade that is too your taste (butter creol is our favorite) and inject away. We also put a cajun spice rub on the outside. A warning about marinade, do not make the mistake we did one year and use terarki sauce (know as the year of the "black bird" at our house) the sugar in the sauce carmelized. three minutes per pound is enough time and let it stand for about thirty minutes after removal.

A trick I picked up to "clean the oil" is to dice three or four patatos and put them in the oil after the bird, it removes the rub spices from the oil and frys them to a golden brown. a great snack before the main feast! Also drain the oil (after letting it cool) and store in a Closed container in a cool place, you can re-use it within six months if stored properly.

AS to the electric fryers on the market, I recently saw one at a retail store, and right on the box, it stated NOT FOR INDOOR USE. which is pretty smart.

Sorry to ramble on, but every year I see the same silly videos of firemen dropping frozen turkeys in hot oil, or basically "cannonballing" the turkey into the oil.

SLOW and sure when lowering in the oil is the key.

with a nod to Mel Brooks "FIRE GOOD!!!"
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