I may be dramatic sometimes, but I am NOT being dramatic when I say this fried turkey recipe is LIFE CHANGING. I can say that because it seriously changed mine. I had never in my life had a turkey so juicy, flavorful and delicious until we fried a turkey. No worries folks, I'm going to tell you step-by-step how to make the best fried turkey IN THE WORLD and included is easy but damn delicious rub and injection marinades.
How to Deep-Fry a Turkey
Frying turkey does come with a few cautions, but if you follow directions you will have no problems! We have fried turkey for several years in a row now, and have a few pro tips.
1. Follow directions. (wait, did I already say that?)
3. INJECT and RUB that baby!
We have tried only injecting, the next year we tried only marinating the turkey in a rub but year 3 was our magical year. That year we RUBBED and INJECTED and we can honestly say this is the only way to do it.
How to make an injection marinade
I love to make my own injection marinade for the turkey. It's quick, easy and I know what ingredients are going into the turkey! Here is what you need.
- lemon juice
- oil and water
- melted butter
- spices (thyme and sage)
- Worcestershire sauce
- Realsalt's garlic salt and Realsalts's onion salt
Make sure you turkey is completely thawed, rinsed and pat dry. Mix all ingredients together and inject with this amazing syringe. I grabbed mine off of amazon, here is the link.
How to inject a turkey for frying
You want to make as little holes in your turkey as possible while injecting as much marinade into the turkey as possible. How you do this? By sticking the needle in and moving it in different directions through one hole. See pictures below.
Rub for fried turkey
For the rub you want to use quality ingredients! You also use a lot of salts to help keep moisture in and deeply flavor the meat. My favorite salts are Redmond RealSalt. Their salts are bursting with the best flavor. I use them all the time for basically every recipe. They really do make a difference. For the rub you will use:
- RealSalt onion salt
- RealSalt garlic salt
- RealSalt seasoning salt
- paprika
- chili powder
- and fresh ground pepper
How to rub a turkey
Because we are frying the turkey you want to it be a dry rub. Do not apply butter to the skin before the rub. Mix the seasonings together and sprinkle on the bird.
Start by gently spreading the rub on all the surfaces, You want it in every nook and cranny!
Yes even make sure you coat the cavity of the turkey
Last wrap the turkey in cling wrap and let the rub and injection marinade do it's work! Let it set for 24 hours. ok, ok, if you are running out of time you can let it marinate for less than that. For the best results let marinate for 24 hours prior to frying,
HOW TO FRY A TURKEY
OK! Today's the day you are going to deep fry the best turkey! IT's been marinated and rubbed and the turkey is ready for the oil.
You will need-
- A {marinated} Turkey (1.5 lbs x # of people you are feeding= size of turkey to buy) HOWEVER, make sure it will fit in your pot. Different fryers have different sized pots. Ours will not hold more than an 18lb turkey.
- a turkey fryer, WE LOVE this one called LOCO. it is great quality and so much safer than other friers we have purchased. This Loco deep fryer is 100% worth the investment.
- 3 gallons of Peanut oil (we price matched and walmart it the cheapest) Peanut oil is the best to fry your turkey in. It has a mild flavor and a very high smoke temp.
- Probe thermometer (we have found thermoworks chef alarm to be the most accurate and best thermometer)I also used this extra long, 12 inch, thermometer for it.
- Propane tank
How much oil do I use to fry my turkey
The most common reason there are accidents with deep frying turkeys is because there is too much oil displacement when the turkey is lowered into boiling oil. To make sure you have enough, but not too little oil in your pot this is what you can do:
- fill your pot to the fill line with water:
2. Wrap your turkey in an air tight bag, place into basket and dunk in water so it is completely submerged. Add or remove water to the appropriate fill line. Mark the water line.
3. Dry out the pan and fill pot with oil to your marked line. Preheat peanut oil to 275 Degrees.
How long do I fry a turkey?
You fry the turkey for about 3-5 minutes per pound, however, I highly recommend to not rely on the time rather to invest in a thermometer like chef alarm that can withstand high temps and can remain in the turkey the entire time you fry. (I recommend this if you are smoking or roasting turkey too). Turkey's are highly temperamental and easily dried out when they are over cooked. Dont take the chance, just get a great thermometer (just bite the bullet and buy this chef alarm already). You want the internal temp to be 165 of the turkey.
HOW DO I KEEP THE SKIN FROM TURNING TOO DARK OR BURNING?
Did You MAKE THIS RECIPE? HAVE QUESTIONS?
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The best fried turkey
Ingredients
- 1 large turkey under 18 lbs
- 1 injection syringe
- 3 gallons peanut oil
Turkey Rub
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon garlic salt
- 1 tablespoon onion salt
- 1 tablespoon seasoning salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Turkey Injection Marinade
- ¼ cup melted butter
- ¼ cup oil canola or vegetable
- 3 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup water
- ½ large lemon fresh, squeezed
- 1 teaspoon ground sage
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 teaspoon onion salt
Instructions
- Thaw your turkey completely, rinse and pat dry. Mix your injection marinade ingredients together and fill syringe. Poke 1 hole and move the needle into different positions as you push out marinade into the turkey. Do this in different parts of the birds, making as little holes as possible with getting the marinade in as much of the bird as possible.
- Mix the rub spices together and rub all over bird, in cavity and in under skin also. Wrap turkey in cling wrap so it is completely covered and refrigerate 1 hour -24 hours. The longer the better!
- When ready to fry fill pot with water to first fill line, cover turkey in airtight bag and submerse into water to ensure the water will not over flow when placed in the hot oil. Mark water line. You want the turkey completely submerged in oil.
- Dry pot and add peanut oil to marked line. Preheat oil to 275. Remove from plastic wrap and pat dry one more time. When oil reaches temp add turkey to bucket and lower using the hanger/hook. Wear gloves to protect hands and arms from oil splattering.
- Insert thermometer probe and close lid. Allow oil to heat to 325. Cook until Internal temp of turkey reaches 165 degrees. Remove from oil and let rest for about 20-30 minutes before carving.
Brent Gendleman says
Ok … I’m going on for the plunge! We are preparing Friendsgiving turkey at the outer banks next week. Two guys who haven’t done this before and the fryers wife is chef level and he is an engineer… so with a consultant, engineer and cooking sme… what could go wrong?
I have faith in your impressive directions to ensure our drive home safety. Let you know how it goes ;-)