Countdown has begun

[Voodoo Daddy]

25 days to thanksgiving. This year I am planning to deep fry the bird.

[jbwhip]

deep fried last year. loved it and plan to do it that way from now on.

Mm I can't wait!

[Blake]

I'm smoking 2 birds and a ham. Last year we smoked one and over roasted another. The wife's family had never had anything but Grandma's oven turkey (bleck woman can't cook for shit). Since we hosted last year I smoked one bird. The only thing left at the end of the night was about 3/4 of the over cooked err.. I mean oven cooked bird. So I'm not even gonna bother with the oven one this year.

[T]

This year we have a change in our "normal" Tgiving plans due to the wife's grandparents being in a facility. Doesn't look like we are going to get together with her family down state.

So opportunity is knocking on the door for me to do some cooking. My mom always does up a big spread, but I'd like a reason to A) get a smoker B) cook up some food and remove some of the cooking burden off mom.

What you guys think.

T

[CRAW]

I can't wait! It's the greatest holiday of the year! Four days off to eat and veg out!

[Voodoo Daddy]

I can't wait! It's the greatest holiday of the year! Four days off to eat and veg out!

And football to rest your eyes :D

[bigslickwood]

Smoke it for a couple hours and then fry it. Thank me later....

[Richard Cranium]

I'm leaving town and heading to Phx for a few weeks so I won't be cooking this year. So none of this:

http://www.santapoco.com/images/smoker/turkey07.jpg

:(

[Hirize]

Ya know we have had the deep fried turkey a couple times and really did not notice much difference from an oven roasted done right, of course the skin is delish!!!

Think I'll try cooking on the rotissrie with the BBQ this year. Did a couple chickens last weekend and they were wonderful, a few hickory blocks mixed with the coals gives it a great taste.

Aloha, Pete

[j p frog]

last years fixins

brisket and turkey with extra legs in smoker with apple/hickory chips ready to smoke
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/3778/turkeybrisketinsmokermq2.jpg

brisket done smoking(4 hours as it was a bit cold out) and ready to be wrapped and finished in the oven
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/8250/brisketreadyforovenqa6.jpg

brisket now wrapped for oven
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/1672/brisketwrappedforovenvg5.jpg

brisket now done...a few slices off to check it out...then in fridge for tomorrow
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/7664/brisketdoneda6.jpg

turkey after smoking and then finishing in oven
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/116/turkeyreadyforovensl7.jpg

meatloaf(regular and jalapeno)/onions/jalapenos ready to be smoked
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/8833/meatloafonionsjalapenosno5.jpg

meatloaves/onions/jalapenos ready to eat tonight
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/9619/meatloafonionsjalapenosvr0.jpg

[MsprinM]

I see dead animals and they look yummy

[bigslickwood]

JP, while I'm against the whole 'finishing in the oven' thing (we've discussed that before...) damn that looks good (especially the meatloaf).

Chips shipped.

[j p frog]

JP, while I'm against the whole 'finishing in the oven' thing (we've discussed that before...) damn that looks good (especially the meatloaf).

Chips shipped.

thanks for the chips

have you tried the finishing in the oven method yet? you really ought to.

btw..the meatloaf was finished in the smoker...since I use ground turkey I get the internal temp to 160-165 degrees and it's done.

[bigslickwood]

I have finished in the oven (and even done ribs from start to finish) and it does just fine (especially if you have convection). It's more of a concept thing than a results issue. No real reason for it but if you hang around any of the competition BBQ guys you'll hear a lot of "That's damn tasty looking meat, it's just not BBQ..." Just people being snobs about there own methods I suppose. I give you crap about it more as a joke than out of any real belief that it's an inferior method.

My smoker doesn't dry things out like some I've used in the past. I get it up to temp in the smoker and then take it out, wrap it in foil, an old towel, and then put it in a cooler until it's time to serve. It will stay hot and moist for hours if necessary.

[Voodoo Daddy]

So on my mission to deep fry, here are the few hardware I am looking at.

http://www.elitedeals.com/bacl30qutufr1.html
http://www.elitedeals.com/baclsibupast.html

Anything else that I need to get besides these?

[Faust]

I am going to be in Phoenix at my sisters from the 22nd Nov until the 4th Dec. Anyone going to be in that area? Meet up at a bar and get drunk?

[Blake]

So on my mission to deep fry, here are the few hardware I am looking at.

http://www.elitedeals.com/bacl30qutufr1.html
http://www.elitedeals.com/baclsibupast.html

Anything else that I need to get besides these?

Watch and take notes :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E270Qx5OpxU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLNLYL24qUA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9mq29BaLLk

[Voodoo Daddy]

This is our little tradition for every thanksgiving to drive down to my BIL down to Modesto, CA. It is 7 days of fishing, beer, turkey and bullshit fest with him. Goodtimes baby goodtimes.

Anyone who lives by I5 between Seattle to Modesto, let me know and I will honk when I cross your neck of wood.

[morningwood]

mmmmmmmmm.....turkey..... pron....

WOW! It all looks great!

I've done thanksgiving for the last few years but the turkey is more traditional (boring) The only thing I've done different was to include a scallop and lobster stuffing. Next years annual tourney is a thankgiving in June theme and I have a buddy volenteering to deep fry the turkey for me.

[T]

The turkey hoist made out of a ladder is brilliant!

+ to AB

T

[timsta007]

This is our little tradition for every thanksgiving to drive down to my BIL down to Modesto, CA. It is 7 days of fishing, beer, turkey and bullshit fest with him. Goodtimes baby goodtimes.

Anyone who lives by I5 between Seattle to Modesto, let me know and I will honk when I cross your neck of wood.

When you go through Downtown Sacramento honk and that me. Quads is about 30 miles east of Downtown Sac.

[VvvJRvvV]

I have been deep frying for quite a few years now. If you think deep fried is no different than oven cooked, your doing something wrong.

I did one yesterday for my mother, sorry no pics.

The injection is the key. Tony Chachere's Creole Butter Injectable is what I prefer. I have also used a few others from Chachere, IMO it is the best you can buy. If you can, it's better to inject the night before. I also rub down the outside with a bit of Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning.

Heat the oil to 375 and put your bird in. Maintain 350 for 3.5 minutes per pound of bird. Perfect everytime.

Warning : do not overheat your oil. If your oil gets above 415 or so, it is burnt. You will be able to smell it, the smell is rancid, the oil is ruined, if your turkey is in the oil, your turkey is ruined too.

A friend of mine and I helped out a local organization with a fried turkey dinner a few years back. We cooked 24 turkeys in around 3 hours, 8 at a time. Once you do a few, you will get the feel of the oil and the turkey.

JR

[PapaBear]

Smoke it for a couple hours and then fry it. Thank me later....

Not sure how I missed this comment initially, but clearly a mistake we need to fix. So you smoke it for the first couple of hours and then fry? Never would have thought of that, but sounds awesome! Do you still do an injection the night before? Does the smoking alter the cooking time for the fryer, or is it still around 3 min/lb? Any type of special prep you need to do either before the smoke, or between the smoke and the fry? (i.e. do you need to try to dry the skin, re-coat with a bit of salt or anything else to lessen the reaction from the oil when you drop it in?)

[bigslickwood]

Nothing too special, rub the bird with whatever you want, which I do before frying anyway. Inject if desired. I cold smoke it for a couple hours (pecan wood is awesome with turkey) just to put some flavor on it, but not really cook it. (My smoker has a burner for the wood that creates smoke, but not enough heat to warm the chamber. If it's cold outside, leave the vent open and it will stay plenty cool.) Then fry as normal. Even if you partially cook the bird during the smoking process, I would think you could go straight into the fryer and just keep an eye on the bird temp to see when it's done...

edit... we were discussing Thanksgiving plans at dinner tonight and I said I was planning on using Quad's recipes this year...

[bigslickwood]

Another key to fried turkey is to not get too big of a bird. I've never got one larger than about 12lbs. to turn out, the outside gets burned before it's done through. If you need more meat than that, fry two or smoke a brisket or a ham (or both) to go along with it.

[PapaBear]

Nothing too special, rub the bird with whatever you want, which I do before frying anyway. Inject if desired. I cold smoke it for a couple hours (pecan wood is awesome with turkey) just to put some flavor on it, but not really cook it. (My smoker has a burner for the wood that creates smoke, but not enough heat to warm the chamber. If it's cold outside, leave the vent open and it will stay plenty cool.) Then fry as normal. Even if you partially cook the bird during the smoking process, I would think you could go straight into the fryer and just keep an eye on the bird temp to see when it's done...

edit... we were discussing Thanksgiving plans at dinner tonight and I said I was planning on using Quad's recipes this year...

Thanks! I think I'll do a trial bird this weekend. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks for the help.