A way to cook a turkey outdoors that doesn't involve gallons of oil

by Marisa McClellan, Posted Sep 24th 2007 @ 10:16PM

Every year people get it in their heads that it would be a good idea to deep fry their Thanksgiving turkey. Although some folks pull it off without injury to themselves, many others end up in the hospital with burns (there was a reason that people used to pour boiling oil on their enemies) or the fire department has to make a special trip to put out the smoking rubble that was once their home.

Thankfully, there's another option if you want to cook your turkey outdoors quickly and safely. It's called the Orion Cooker and it cooks with the power of convection, steaming and smoking the food at the same time. A 20 pound turkey takes just over two hours to cook, a huge improvement over all day in the oven. You can also cook ribs, roasts and fish in the cooker.

I can hear the sounds all over America of people putting those deep fat frying kits back on the shelves at Target or Home Depot even now.

Filed Under: Food Gadgets, Ingredients
Tags: convection, deep fat frying, dinner, Gadgets, Orion Cooker, outdoor cooking, poultry, turkey

Chew on This

Royal Wedding Cake Details Revealed! - YumSugar

Make Your Own Pop Tarts - CHOW
Denny's Introduces a Maple Bacon Sundae - Eater
Whole Foods Opening Bars in Stores - USA Today
Rules Of Bar Etiquette -- For The Bartender - HuffPost Food

Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-25-2007 @1:28AM streetKJ said... Smoking "rubble" not "rumble."
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

9-25-2007 @11:28AM Gary said... Hmm, if people follow the directions, then deep frying a turkey is NOT dangerous.
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

9-25-2007 @12:02PM Alex said... You can't possibly compare a deep fried turkey to a steamed/smoked one.
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

9-25-2007 @12:12PM wynk said... I'm with Alex. Roasted turkey even at its best comes nowhere close to even resembling the same food as fried turkey.

Besides that, the "deep fried" really is a little misleading to those who don't know the process. It's not the same thing as battering something and deep frying it--what the hot oil does is create a crispy shell out of the skin that allows the turkey to cook in its own juices. VERY little of that oil is actually retained in any part of the bird once it is removed and allowed to drip dry on a rack.

It's unfortunate that so many people have gotten injured as the process itself is pretty straightforward with a few basic safety precautions.

People can trade their fried turkeys in for substandard roasted/steamed ones if they want...not me.
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

9-25-2007 @12:40PM Ed B. said... I'd still go with Alton Brown's Turkey Derrick [http://www.altonbrown.com/adventure/knowledge.html]
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

9-25-2007 @5:47PM wynk said... Also, who are these people that are frying turkeys in their kitchen and setting their house on fire?? We put ours out on our driveway--and for people that don't have a driveway, we've also done it in the parking lot/sidewalk of an apartment complex. That's one of those pesky safety tips we were talking about.
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

9-25-2007 @6:29PM jsmylie said... After trying the glory that is fried turkey, I can eat nothing else, potential burns be damned.
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

9-25-2007 @6:42PM jsmylie said... After trying the glory that is fried turkey, I can eat nothing else, potential burns be damned.
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

10-07-2007 @6:16PM econojon said... Why not both? ^_^

Cook 2 turkeys, 1 in a fryer, and 1 in an orion. Throw a party and mix the meats. Oh my God, heaven!
Reply