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I was at someone's house for Thanksgiving one year when the phone rang and it was a call for one of the other guests. There had been a fire at his sister's house, caused by the deep frying of the turkey. The house burned to the ground and was a total loss. There will no turkey frying at my house! I would, however, be willing to taste a turkey that SOMEONE ELSE has fried.

Oh, the stories I could tell...

Two important phrases-

Make sure the turkey is patted or air dried very well.
Make sure it's not raining.

Call me chicken, but I'll probably never deep fry a turkey. I've had fried turkey before and it was tasty, but didn't seem worth the danger or the expense (of buying a turkey frier) when roasted turkey can be really tasty too, and I'm confident in my turkey-roasting abilities.

The best turkey I ever had was one that had been slow-smoked all day long. Now THAT I might attempt some day, once I get a smoker. But fried turkey... I'll eat it if someone else makes it for me.

My dad and brother attempted to fry our bird a few years ago... it was the first and last time they tried! The bird was golden brown when they took it out at the recommended tie, but when we cut into it... way underdone, much to our chagrin and disgust. My mom didn't trust any attempts to try to cook it further, so we fell back on the ham (as well as the chicken that, for whatever reason, my nana had baked - thank goodness she did!). It's too bad, as we were psyched to try fried turkey after all the hype we'd seen on Food Network and the like about how wonderful it was. We're just too skittish to try it again!

Heck yeah! After we did one our first year we thought "That was a lot of work and oil for just one bird" so we started telling friends to bring over a turkey or that extra one you get for free when you spend $100 at the grocery store. Over the last 12 years it's turned into quite the neighborhood event. Last year we had 3 friers giong and did 15 turkeys by noon. We've never had a fire, but one year someone brought a turkey that wasn't completely thawed... it got very exciting, very quickly. If you use some common sense it's not nearly as dangerous as people make it out to be. No frozen birds, make sure you don't put too much oil in the pot and monitor the temp!

If you have had deep fried turkey and didn't like it, then it was not cooked correctly. The temperature has to be correct and the oil used should to be peanut oil. The end result should be remarkable. Not dry and oily.

I usually spend T-day with a group of friends at a rented house in Cape Hatteras NC. I've always cooked the turkey as the rest of the gang has no idea what they're doing. They asked me to deep fry it one year and my answer was 'Oh Hells no' The thought of all that oil, all that beer, and a rented house scared the crap out of me. So, I stuck to my tried and true oven roasting technique and we had a wonderful dinner. This year it will be just my husband and myself at home so I'm going to live dangerously and smoke the bird on the grill.

They made one, plus a deep-fried chicken, at a Giants Stadium tailgate party I went to last year. Both tasted absolutely awesome.

I've deep fried a bird for the past three years. it's awesome. I've fried the bird in the back yard, away from any flamables, and used the displacement with water beforehand to know how much oil to use so it doesn't go over.

hands down, the best turkeys I've eaten were the deep fried variety.

also, good eats gave me a lot of good pointers on what makes a good fried turkey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E270Qx5OpxU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLNLYL24qUA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9mq29BaLLk

I skipped that whole ladder thing, and it came out great, and nobody was hurt.

I am too dangerous in the kitchen let alone with a fryer...plus too cold in NH to be outside monitoring this action.

I've been thinking about trying this for a few years now. Maybe one cold February day to break up cabin fever, but certainly not for the first time on Turkey Day.

I did it once, and it turned out OK, but count me in the oven-roasted camp. I guess it's one of those things I grew up with that hasn't been improved. Oven roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and cranberry sauce.

Grass fed pigs not a bad idea. In fact, some of the best pigs are raised eating grass, roots, acorns and roots. Ham from these pigs is delicious: one can taste the acorn. Did not eat the sausage from these pigs, but it exists.
If some meat guys don't know what I am talking about, Google Jamón ibérico, Iberian ham, also called pata negra. Or, simply Google Spanish Black Pig.
It is so good, someone stole, took, the 50 Euro black ham, (authorized and sealed for international travel), from me when returning from Spain.