346988 Thu Nov 30 15:45:47 -0800 2006 21 31 Home Cooking 0 2058326 Sure, maybe there's more than one, but here's my biggie: no drippings for gravy!!! How do all you other turkey-frying folks make a decent gravy if your only bird is a fried one? Thu Nov 30 15:45:47 -0800 2006 39577 nicoleberry83 1 2058360 Use neck and other pieces to make a turkey stock - you can brown first if you want some fond - You then go ahead and make your gravy the way you normally would using the turket stock as your liquid and a raux to thicken - Thu Nov 30 15:56:25 -0800 2006 2058326 11622 weinstein5 2 2058725 Buy extra necks and make the stock ahead. Thu Nov 30 17:33:18 -0800 2006 2058360 11369 Robert Lauriston 3 2058991 this is exactly what we did this year. gravy was great. Thu Nov 30 18:37:06 -0800 2006 2058725 22596 rumgum 1 2058389 Buy some turkey wings or drumsticks, roast with onions the day before, use them to make stock and deglaze the roasting pan for the drippings. You can do this the day before and get all the gravymaking angst out of the way. Thu Nov 30 16:04:19 -0800 2006 2058326 14164 sheiladeedee 1 2058452 We smoked ours this year and I did the method mentioned above. It worked really well and we had tons of gravy for leftovers. I used the Tyler Florence recipe. Thu Nov 30 16:21:00 -0800 2006 2058326 11263 tallullah 1 2058464 When I deep fry a bird, I go to my butcher and get about 7 pounds of turkey necks. Cheap and makes really good gravy. T Thu Nov 30 16:24:45 -0800 2006 2058326 14730 Tugboat 1 2058596 i thought your downside was going to be the billion gallons of leftover frying oil and the expense of a one-use cooking implement! ? do you really put gravy OVER fried chicken? Thu Nov 30 17:05:26 -0800 2006 2058326 10110 opinionatedchef 2 2058702 Fried turkey looks and tastes nothing like fried chicken. I would say "broasted" would be the way to describe how the meat looks/tastes without knowing how it was prepared. It is extremely juicy and flavorful. I'm from up north but had my first fried turkey a few years ago, and I love it. I only wish I had the gumption to do one myself, but I'm not good with fire. :-P Please don't make disparaging remarks about the "deep south" if you haven't tried the dish in question. Thu Nov 30 17:28:35 -0800 2006 2058596 12858 Covert Ops 3 2063520 i never said nothin' disparaging about the deep south. i asked because i am aware, as i'm sure you are, that there ARE regional dishes/preferences/cooking and eating styles across the u.s., and gravy over fried poultry- i associate w the deep south. prove me wrong,c.o.; i love to learn! maybe it's a midwestern and NW and SW thing as well; but i'm not aware of that. and I KNOW it's not a new engand thing. Sat Dec 02 04:24:53 -0800 2006 2058702 10110 opinionatedchef 2 2059400 Have never had fried turkey- but wveryone who has had it, has told me it is fabulous. As a matter of fact, my family is toying with the idea of doing both a fried and oven roasted turkey next year. As to the gravy, wvne if it does not go on the turkey, what about the masked potatoes? Thu Nov 30 20:10:00 -0800 2006 2058596 11057 macca 3 2059607 The deep fried bird (if done well) is the best thing ever. Even if you don't juice it with Cajun spices. You have to follow some simple rules, but it is worth the effort. Once you get the oil to temp, you can cook several turkeys in the time it would take to cook one in the oven. 3 to 4 minutes per pound. If you need some tips, email me at tomtowles@gmail.com Tug Thu Nov 30 21:02:16 -0800 2006 2059400 14730 Tugboat 3 2059971 We have done both a fried turkey and roast turkey for the last few years at Thanksgiving. Fried turkey is absolutely delicious. The only downside (if it can even be considered a downside) to the fried turkey is that in my opinion it tastes better the day of than it does the following days. We prefer the roast turkey leftovers.... Thu Nov 30 22:26:25 -0800 2006 2059400 40932 sweetestpea 3 2060265 My family did that one year, one fried, one roasted, and it was the best Thanksgiving ever! :) Thu Nov 30 23:49:10 -0800 2006 2059400 16644 Angel Food 2 2060070 I made a couple last year with a great recipe for an injected marinade. The only downside is the difficulty in finding a large container of pure (additive free) peanut oil at a reasonable price! The only large (5 gal) containers that I could find were at Costco, Sams and Smart & Final and they all had an anti-foaming agent that I personally would prefer not to consume. The only pure stuff that I could find were gallon cans for $12 at a Chinese market which adds up to an expensive cauldron of hot oil! Disposal was not a problem, just gross! Dumped it in the waste oil/grease dumpster behind a couple of Asian restaurants and market. Thu Nov 30 22:49:15 -0800 2006 2058596 10864 sel 2 2061748 Also good for steaming seafood, as ours has a steamer basket. Fri Dec 01 16:35:58 -0800 2006 2058596 39577 nicoleberry83 1 2058722 Might I be close in guessing that you have never had fried turkey??? It is just about the most delicious turkey I have ever eaten. It is juicy, not greasy. It's not like KFC by any stretch of the imagination. There's no "crust" like I'm sure you are imagining. So don't knock it before you've tried it! And...don't forget the gravy. Thu Nov 30 17:32:42 -0800 2006 2058604 15064 Mimi 1 2058730 I watched a guy set his camper on fire while frying a turkey. Would have been funny if he hadn't come within inches of torching his kids at the same time. Thu Nov 30 17:34:38 -0800 2006 2058326 31025 diverx99 1 2058843 the biggest downside is that so few know how to fry a turkey! it's not the foolproof method it's often touted to be. i've had it a few times, and it's rarely been good. most of the people i know who fry them are occasional cooks (ie guys who only cook outdoors). they generally don't get the oil hot enough, fry too big a bird, and tend to overcook it. the result? greasy yet dry turkey. also, perhaps i'm more sensitive to the taste of fried foods than some as i very infrequently eat it, but to me it does taste fried; not like fried chicken, but fried nonetheless. Thu Nov 30 18:00:36 -0800 2006 2058326 12583 mark 2 2058890 We had a late Thanksgiving this year (on Sunday) and our bird was about 16 pounds. My brother-in-law rigged up a tripod thing, with a pulley that allowed him to lower the turkey into the oil from a distance. He took it out when the temp was a bit shy of done. After resting, it was spot on where he wanted it. It was beautiful to look at and one of the best turkeys I've had. Gravy was made from additional spare parts, as others have done. It's not a cooking method for the faint of heart! Thu Nov 30 18:13:10 -0800 2006 2058843 10087 Pat Hammond 3 2059161 That's the Alton Brown method -- the "turkey derrick." It looked so funny (yet practical) on TV, I didn't knwo of any "real people" who had actually tried it! To Mark: The fried turkey I had was when I was working the holiday at a newspaper -- my boss had the day off and cooked for us. He had a culinary degree but left the biz because of stress. (The only job more stressful than newspapers?) So his might be better than most, but most people I've talked to love fried turkey, just not the hassle. Thu Nov 30 19:13:08 -0800 2006 2058890 12858 Covert Ops 1 2255505 The best gravy you can make is giblet gravy! Fri Feb 02 21:06:04 -0800 2007 2058326 71360 Sparkle