Electric turkey fryer

[marmalady]

Was looking at 'regular' turkey fryers on line, and saw this as I was surfing -

Amazon.com: Masterbuilt 20010109 Butterball Professional Series Indoor Electric Turkey Fryer: Home & Garden

Anyone have one? Pros/cons? At first glance, it sure looks like an easier, safer way to fry up a turkey, but I feel like I must be missing 'something'!

 

[marmalady]

Wow, 58 views and no replies - is that a record, lol.

I think I'm gonna take the plunge and order it - I'll report back on how it does.

 

[chef_bob]

some one has to go first! Let us know how it works!

 

[marmalady]

Gulp - will do. The Amazon reviews for the most part are pretty okay, and I found some discussion on a BBQ site - looks like the biggest problem was losing heat right after you put the turkey in, and then getting it back up to temp again. But that's going to happen on a 'regular' turkey fryer, too, right?

 

[phatch]

That would have been my guess is heat recovery. Running off a standard outlet, it can only draw something like 1500 watts which will be slow to heat up to fryin oil temps.

 

[marmalady]

The initial heat up time I'm not worried about - just have to give it enough time to come up to temp. It's bringing it back up to temp after the bird is in that's the problem. I'll also have to make sure the turkey is pretty close to room temperature before I put it in.

 

[marmalady]

Reporting back on the electric turkey fryer - a huge success! This unit is very smartly designed, both for ease of use, safety and easy cleaning.

It took about a 1/2 hour for the unit to heat the oil, no longer than it would take to preheat your oven. I made sure the turkey was at room temp, so I really didn't see much time at all for the oil to come back up to temp. Cooked an 11.9 pound turkey in an hour and 20 minutes (per the instructions), and I think I would even go a little bit less next time. The turkey was totally crispy on the outside, and wonderfully juicy inside, with the exception of the wings, which got a little overdone. It only uses a little under 2 gallons of oil, so a big difference in what you need for the 'regular' turkey fryers.

The only drawbacks were that it released a lot of steam while cooking - I would not recommend doing this in the kitchen! We had the unit on our glassed in sunporch, and had to open windows about halfway through! There was a 'fried' odor that lingered a while, but that's not always a bad thing. The instructions recommend not using outside, but only because of the chance of rain. I would definitely use the unit outside next time,weather permitting.

So, all in all, a great find, I think! We're pleased, and it will be neat to use it for wings and things for parties. You can also use it with water, so will be great for 'boils' and shrimp!

 

[chef_bob]

Glad to hear it went so well! Thanks for the update. eace:

 

[brian_a]

I'm just curious as to why one would be crazy enough to fry a turkey INSIDE their home? With all the house fires that start each year due to people not doing it properly, I wouldn't want one inside my house. Even though I am pretty good at doing it, accidents can and do happen and oil heated to that level or someone who lets their bird slip into the oil too quickly could cause serious bodily injury or even death. Every Thanksgiving, I fry my bird and wouldn't even consider doing it inside to save my life. Maybe I'm misunderstanding something here, but this idea just seems crazy to me unless you're cooking inside a professional kitchen. (And even then I'd question doing it inside)

 

[abanynini]

I don't have any experience with this model, but it sounds like it worked well for you!

I've been looking at these for awhile and I found a nice Commercial Deep Fryer, but I'm not sure about whether it will work great for turkey. Thanks for taking the leap for the rest of us.

 

[peterflemg80]

amazon.com is the best online shopping site.