Anyone use a turkey fryer?

[BobHunt]

that you use peanut oil in and is either electric or propane? I heard that they are so popular in the south they cant keep them in the stores around this time.

[Billie Goodson]

We have used one, and have one. The turkey is excellent. Juicy, good, and fast. An average turkey cooks in about 45 minutes. It does take a lot of oil. Peanut is preferred because of the high flame point -- just like in wok cooking. There are many tips and tricks - like measure your oil level line with water before you get it all started. And, the ever popular, thaw your turkey before submerging it -- it also goes without saying that live turkeys should never be used, it ain't like a crab boil.

[Bruce Carriker]

Turkey fryers resulted in at least three fires this Thanksgiving -- one in New Jersey, one in Ohio and one in Missouri. The National Fire Protection Association does not recommend using turkey fryers because of the fire and injury hazards associated with them.

According to an NFPA spokesperson, deep frying a turkey requires that up to five gallons of oil be heated before the turkey can be placed in the fryer. Many turkey fryers are not sturdy and they can overheat, which leads to hot oil spilling outside the fryer. This is ESPECIALLY dangerous if you are using a propane-fueled turkey fryer.

Who says fireworks are only for July 4th and New Year's Eve??

[BobHunt]

so Bruce, you are saying that I will start a fire, likely get burnt and that the turkey is no better in this than any other way of cooking it? Sorry, I know better, from experience.

[Gina Stevenson]

Who says fireworks are only for July 4th and New Year's Eve??

Memorial Day, too. How about the day after Thanksgiving? Either someone set one/some off last night about midnight-one, or someone shot a gun. We live where things don't often occur like that ... so hope it was just fireworks.

[Billie Goodson]

Bruce, when you say "turkey fryers" I assume you are talking about the people, not the objects. Frying a turkey is no more dangerous than myriad other cooking and entertainment. It is not the pots and the flames, it is the people that use them that result in most of the problems. Unfortunately, the label that is missing from both of these items is:

"Warning: Can cause extreme danger and harm in the hands of an idiot"

Not all accidents are the result of stupid people, but, many can be attributed to stupid actions.

[BobHunt]

Like the idiot who picked up his lawn mower and used it to trim his hedge and wondered why he got his hands cut!

[Billie Goodson]

Like the idiot who picked up his lawn mower and used it to trim his hedge and wondered why he got his hands cut!

They promised me they would not tell how it happened.

:o

[Diane Likens]

Like the idiot who picked up his lawn mower and used it to trim his hedge and wondered why he got his hands cut!

And, believe it or not, won over $7 million in a lawsuit against the lawnmower's manufacturer!

Being in the insurance claims industry, I have learned that stupidity is compensable.

[Billie Goodson]

Being in the insurance claims industry, I have learned that stupidity is compensable.

Got a stack of forms Diane....I can see a windfall coming?

[Bruce Carriker]

What I wrote was not original with me. It was from the National Fire Prevention Association. I've never fried a turkey, nor have I ever eaten fried turkey. I have friends who love it, and friends who say it's dry and nasty...but maybe they just cooked it wrong. Anyway, I like "stuffing", as opposed to dressing, and you can't stuff a fried turkey, can you?

As for the accident issue, I just know that I have two good friends who are firemen (with over 50 years experience between them), and they hate the things. According to them, most of the cheaper fryers (which is what MOST people buy) are neither heavy enough, nor balanced properly to handle the volume of oil that is placed in them, along with the weight of a 15-20 lb turkey.

Of course, if nothing unexpected happens, then everything is fine. But we all know that unexpected things do happen.