A few thoughts on safety and deep frying a turkey from my personal experience. Three years ago my cousin was the rotational host for our annual Thanksgiving get together. He decided to test drive his new deep frying kit with a 16 lb. turkey (his first experience). In addition to the oversized turkey, the following is a list of the REALLY DUMB things he (we) did:
1. Started the day with few bloody marys followed by the traditional neighborhood tag football game then followed by a few drinks at a local tap purchased by the losing team (tradition again).
2. Set up deep fryer on his newly laid concrete driveway with no protection beneath (originally wanted to do it on his newly built wooden deck-wife objected).
3. Chose shorts and sandals as his preferred cooking wardrobe.
4. Opened another beer, overfilled fryer and overheated oil.
5. Inserted very, very cold turkey into deep fryer. Oil erupted and overflowed from the fryer. Cousin jumped and knocked over fryer with remaining oil.
6. Very minor result - New driveway cosmetically shot - Cousin had it ripped out and relaid a year later.
7. Very major result - Cousin had 3rd degree burns from the knees down on both legs. Hospitized for 2 weeks then disabled from work for 4 months. Went through a series of skin grafts over a 2 year period. Still has problems with occasional pain or numbness in his legs.
As a PS, my wife had purchased a deep frying kit for me a couple of months before the incident and it was still in the box. I returned it to the store the day after Thanksgiving.
God luck and be extremely careful, especially if it is your first time deep frying a turkey.
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A few thoughts on safety and deep frying a turkey from my personal experience. Three years ago my cousin was the rotational host for our annual Thanksgiving get together. He decided to test drive his new deep frying kit with a 16 lb. turkey (his first experience). In addition to the oversized turkey, the following is a list of the REALLY DUMB things he (we) did:
1. Started the day with few bloody marys followed by the traditional neighborhood tag football game then followed by a few drinks at a local tap purchased by the losing team (tradition again).
2. Set up deep fryer on his newly laid concrete driveway with no protection beneath (originally wanted to do it on his newly built wooden deck-wife objected).
3. Chose shorts and sandals as his preferred cooking wardrobe.
4. Opened another beer, overfilled fryer and overheated oil.
5. Inserted very, very cold turkey into deep fryer. Oil erupted and overflowed from the fryer. Cousin jumped and knocked over fryer with remaining oil.
6. Very minor result - New driveway cosmetically shot - Cousin had it ripped out and relaid a year later.
7. Very major result - Cousin had 3rd degree burns from the knees down on both legs. Hospitized for 2 weeks then disabled from work for 4 months. Went through a series of skin grafts over a 2 year period. Still has problems with occasional pain or numbness in his legs.
As a PS, my wife had purchased a deep frying kit for me a couple of months before the incident and it was still in the box. I returned it to the store the day after Thanksgiving.
God luck and be extremely careful, especially if it is your first time deep frying a turkey.