Are you Deep-Frying your Turkey this Thanksgiving?

10/31/2018 (Permalink)

With the popularity of turkey frying increasing every year, people are at risk for fryer-related fires and injuries. U.S. fire departments are responding to more than 1,000 deep fire related incidents each year. According to the National Fire Protection Association deep fryer fires result in more than $15 million in property damage each year. Here are some rules to follow when deep frying a turkey.

Don’t Deep Fry a Frozen Turkey Frozen turkeys are full of moisture. Make sure your turkey is completely thawed out because water and hot oil don’t mix well.

Don’t Let Oil Get Too Hot If you see your oil smoking, it is too hot. When oil gets around 400-425-degrees it can catch on fire by itself. So, when deep frying a turkey most oils should stay around 350-degrees.

Don’t Use Too Much Oil When deep-frying a turkey a common mistake people make is putting too much cooking oil in their pot. Overfilling your pot can result in the oil spilling over into the flame on the burner. If you need to figure out how much oil you need try putting your turkey in an empty pot, fill the pot with enough water to cover the turkey. Once you remove the turkey mark the water line.

Don’t Deep Fry Indoors You should never deep-fry a turkey in your house, garage or on a deck. You should always deep fry a turkey in a yard away from anything that’s flammable.

Hopefully, this Thanksgiving will go smoothly.