This Is What Happens When You Deep Fry a Frozen Turkey

Too late for many east-coast Americans, but perhaps in time to stop a blaze or two in California, an anonymous reader writes with this video of "a controlled demonstration of why it is a bad idea to fry a frozen turkey." My brother this morning assembled (despite poor directions and questionable parts fit) a deep fryer for a Thanksgiving turkey; we're optimistic, and the turkey seems to be fully thawed at least.

Comments

Why so full?

[Anonymous Coward]

Every video of the turkey being put in results in an overflow of displaced oil which catches fire.

The water will 'boil' due the very high oil temp.. but most of these videos seem to fail at 'use the proper amount of oil'.

Re:Why so full?

[Osgeld]

throw an ice cube in any amount of hot oil and you will quickly see how much that shit jumps and bubbles up

Re:Why so full?

[fustakrakich]

This one failed at "use the proper amount of 'film in the camera'". Why was it cut off while it was still interesting? So lame... There needs to be legal penalties for posting bad videos.

Re:Why so full?

[Anonymous Coward]

Regardless of how full it was, the oil would still splash around even if it didn't catch fire. Oil burns are no fun.

Re:Why so full?

[rtfa-troll]

throw an ice cube in any amount of hot oil and you will quickly see how much that shit jumps and bubbles up

This is nothing special. If you can get a decent quantity of water under a pan of ignited oil (just pouring it on top works - remember water denser than oil) then you can get a pretty good fireball. I've seen it done with a few tens of grams of oil and a decent water-pistol - that was enough (in the sort of "don't do this at home kids" sort of sense of enough).

What I'm really curious about is whether this would happen with a normal dry cleaned turkey straightforwardly frozen or if it's extra water added to bulk up the weight by the companies that sell frozen food?

Re:Why so full?

[CastrTroy]

That's kind of what I was thinking. Why would a frozen turkey contain any more water than a thawed turkey. I had no idea that they put extra water in the frozen ones to jack up the price. Of course, we only buy fresh, (never frozen) turkeys for thanksgiving, and for almost all our meat.

Re:Why so full?

[ArcadeMan]

If you want to see annoying videos on YouTube, look at people posting their CNC working. It doesn't matter if the video is 30 seconds long or 30 minutes long, most people never show us the machined part at the end and just cut the video once the CNC has done its job.

Re:Why so full?

[sjames]

It's not because there was too much oil. If the turkey was properly thawed, the oil wouldn't slop out.

Re:Why so full?

[ColdWetDog]

"Normal" and "dry cleaned turkey" don't logically fit, at least in my universe. In fact, I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around a dry cleaned turkey.

Please don't invite me over to your house next Thanksgiving. Nothing personal.

Re:Why so full?

[mark-t]

Actually, the chief problem seems to be that people are trying to do this with a deep fryer whose volume is not significantly more than that of the turkey they are trying to cook. Even if the oil level were initially at the lowest level possible such that once the turkey is in, the oil will fully cover the turkey, the top of the oil is still going to be too close to the top of the fryer to be safe. For the size of turkey they were trying to cook, they should have used a fryer with at least 50% taller, and ideally much wider than the one that they were using. An overall increase in volume of the fryer by about a factor of 2 or 3 would probably make it quite safe.

Re:Why so full?

[rtfa-troll]

Damnit; Grammar fail. I will read Eats, Shoots & Leaves again as a form of self punishment. I promise.

Re:Why so full?

[tlhIngan]

Actually, the chief problem seems to be that people are trying to do this with a deep fryer whose volume is not significantly more than that of the turkey they are trying to cook. Even if the oil level were initially at the lowest level possible such that once the turkey is in, the oil will fully cover the turkey, the top of the oil is still going to be too close to the top of the fryer to be safe. For the size of turkey they were trying to cook, they should have used a fryer with at least 50% taller, and ideally much wider than the one that they were using. An overall increase in volume of the fryer by about a factor of 2 or 3 would probably make it quite safe.

Problem is, most people don't usually fry turkeys too often, so their fryer is probably big enough for stuff like chicken and such. Which means it's barely bigger than the one here (which is quite large for most people to own by itself, but if it fits the bird (barely), it'll work).

After all, if you're only doing it once or twice a year, it's hard to justify a pot the size of a 55 gallon drum (especially in the denser populated areas). Especially since the one barely bigger than a turkey "can work".

Re:Why so full?

[snakeshands]

This almost certainly refers to methods of poultry processing; immersion chilling of freshly slaughter poultry has been the rule in the U.S., but air-chilling is becoming more common: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/ar/archive/apr08/chicken0408.htm

A traditionally immersion-chilled carcass absorbs a good deal of water; immediately freezing that carcass traps more water in the tissues.

An air-chilled, or "dry cleaned", bird is much more akin to the result of traditional animal husbandry, and by most accounts yields a superior cooking and dining experience.

Re:Why so full?

[demonlapin]

I would guess the biggest difference is the reaction of the tissue to heat - normal meat will just cook, but frozen might crack, which suddenly increases the surface area tremendously, leading to a huge release of steam.

Of course, they also committed a massive safety fail by not turning the burner off while lowering the turkey in, so it's really hard to judge.

Re:Why so full?

[rtfa-troll]

That's kind of what I was thinking. Why would a frozen turkey contain any more water than a thawed turkey. I had no idea that they put extra water in the frozen ones to jack up the price. Of course, we only buy fresh, (never frozen) turkeys for thanksgiving, and for almost all our meat.

Okay, so I got curious after this. Given that we are talking about thanksgiving turkeys, so the US, I found the USDA explanation. Summary. No actual water injection. Apparently no glazing like seafood. However 12% or so "retained water" or "absorbed water" should be declared on the label and things like "up to 10% of a Solution" may be used to help with flavour. The poultry its self likely has more than 65% water, but I guess that is normally more bound up with the meat, since it doesn't cause a problem in normal deep frying. The same sheet mentions that freezing damages cells and releases water. This cryogenic freezing sales brochure mentions up to 5% of water being released.

So, a typical US frozen turkey could be up to 25% extra frozen water by weight and quite likely up to 28% available water when dropped in to the fat. That compares to a "normal dry cleaned" (normal, cleaned, dry) frozen turkey at about 5%.

I can see we need some serious experiments by an American Slashdotter equipped with a very large back yard appropriate fire equipment and a strong set of safe experimental experience.

Re:Why so full?

[mark-t]

I'll agree that it's probably not worth getting a larger one for most people... I was only pointing out what appeared to be the general problem with the ones shown in those videos.

Now that said, what I might suggest people who are going to try this do is do a test run by putting the bird into a clean and completely empty deep fryer first to see how it fits... before putting heating it, and before putting any oil in, then fill the fryer with water such that the bird is covered as you would expect it to be with oil. The amount of water that you've put into the fryer at this point should be roughly the same amount of oil that you will need. If water level at this point is above the recommended safe oil level for the fryer, then you should not be trying to deep fry that turkey in that fryer. End of story. Use your oven instead.

If all is okay, however, then carefully pull out the turkey, and let the water that might be flowing off of the turkey drip back into the fryer for a few seconds. Pay attention to where the water level is at that time, because that's the level that marks roughly how much oil you're going to need to cover the turkey in the fryer. Adding more than this is inadvisable if the safe oil level was not much higher than the height of the turkey in the fryer.

Re:Why so full?

[viperidaenz]

Plus you'll need 30 gallons of oil to put in your one-time-use 55 gallon deep fryer and a much, much bigger heat source.

Re:Why so full?

[rtb61]

Obviously you don't do much cooking. Frozen products are often covered with a layer of ice from a couple of sources. Major source, warm bird as it is getting frozen, the freezer is a very dry environment drawing moisture from inside the warm meat to the surface where it freezes. Next the movement from the freezer to the fryer takes time and frozen meat will condense moisture from the atmosphere and freeze on it's surface. So upon first insertion you have free water to react with the oil. Specifically water is denser than oil, drops to the bottom of the cooking container where it displaces the oil on the heated surface and vaporises expanding greatly, creating bubbles of steam which rush to the surface.

Easy solution stick frozen bird in cold oil and the turn the temp up, do not overfill cooking container, put bird in butt first so heated oil can more readily enter the body cavity.

Re:Why so full?

[Anonymous Coward]

so much oil because they're demonstrating how bad things can go and purposefully over filled it. They want the oil to pour over the sides when they quickly drop the very large turkey in. It's for effect. yes idiots having no clue or understanding of what they are doing try to fry a turkey and start fires. So too do idiots get plastered drunk and drive their cars.

There are many instructions on how to do it correctly and safely. It's really easy too. Put the turkey into the empty pan, fill it with water until the water is about 4" from the top lip of the pan, pull out the turkey and mark on the outside the water level. dump the water, wipe dry and then fill with oil to that water line. Wear heavy gloves and slowly lower the turkey into the hot oil minimizing oil bubbling and spilling at times by pulling it out some before lowering again.

Besides, who said firefighters were the experts at frying turkeys? This video shows this one isn't too smart.

Re:Why so full?

[jamesh]

trouble wrapping my brain around a dry cleaned turkey.

There's your problem. The brain should be stuffed inside the turkey rather than wrapped around it.

Re:Why so full?

[HungryHobo]

if it's very wet and the item is put in fast it still will.

finally

[Anonymous Coward]

Now how do i sneak this on a plane?

Re:finally

[ciderbrew]

In a snake?

Re:finally

[SYSS Mouse]

The TSA wants to have a word with you.

Re:finally

[Anonymous Coward]

In your underwear, of course! "Is that a deep fryer, or are you just happy to see me?"

Re:finally

[GameboyRMH]

Just strap the turkey to your stomach, it'll just look like you have a horribly misshapen belly on the nudie scanner. Then bring the oil in a large number of tiny containers. If you need a larger container, simply buy a large bottle of soda in a store in the airport terminal. For heat, use any AC-powered device like a Prescott-powered laptop, planes generally have a power socket in the seatback now.

Re:finally

[ColdWetDog]

In your underwear, of course! "Is that a deep fryer, or are you just happy to see me?"

I suppose that puts a bit different spin on the phrase 'hot to trot'.

Re:finally

[R3d M3rcury]

I got kicked off an airplane for bringing my own food. My argument was that the food prices on the airplane were outrageous. Besides, I haven't had deep fried turkey in years.

With Apologies to Steven Wright.

Not very impressive

[Anonymous Coward]

Yep not very impressive might as well cook it outside frozen.

Re:Not very impressive

[cranky_chemist]

Actually, there are indeed far more impressive videos of this effect:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=hQYTMFCLy5E&NR=1

Maybe it's just me

[paiute]

I can't help thinking that the average Slashdot reader has already watched every episode of Good Eats and knows not to do this already.

Re:Maybe it's just me

[gstoddart]

I can't help thinking that the average Slashdot reader has already watched every episode of Good Eats and knows not to do this already.

From what I've seen over the years ... such demonstrations don't serve to dissuade Slashdotters from doing something. It's more of a starting point for something to try at home. :-P

Re:Maybe it's just me

[Anonymous Coward]

I think it's about a thousand times more likely that the average Slashdot reader will have watched the Mythbusters episode where they showed what happens when you do this.

Re:Maybe it's just me

[Kergan]

I think it's about a thousand times more likely that the average Slashdot reader will have watched the Mythbusters episode where they showed what happens when you do this, while his mom is cooking the turkey.

FTFY

Re:Maybe it's just me

[alanw]

I can't help thinking that the average Slashdot reader has already watched every episode of Good Eats and knows not to do this already.

Insert "North American" between "average" and "Slashdot".

However do I remember this video made by Underwriters Laboratories from many years ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbLqFQQdvoY

Re:Maybe it's just me

[halcyon1234]

I can't help thinking that the average Slashdot reader has already watched every episode of Good Eats and knows not to do this already.

And if you haven't, that'd be S10E12 - Fry Turkey Fry. Enjoy your next 21 minutes, or read the transcript.

(For anyone just looking for the big fireball, it's at 10:32)

Archimedes would be proud

[Russ1642]

Does it not make sense to put in the raw turkey while filling with oil to get the volume right?

Re:Archimedes would be proud

[bruce_the_loon]

The problem isn't the right volume of oil to submerge the bird, they had that right in the video as you don't see oil slopping over the side of the pot as the bird goes in. What happens is the hot oil melts and boils the ice around the bird and the steam explosion throws the oil over the edge of the pot.

Now, a very tall pot, say 2m, might contain that oil.

Re:Archimedes would be proud

[TheLink]

If they turned off the flame before lowering the bird in the overflowing/flying oil won't catch on fire either.

But the flying hot oil can still blind, permanently disfigure and maim people.

My guess is chunks of ice can end up creating bigger expanding bubbles of steam than water for the same amount of water, since the ice = more water stuck together. And bigger expanding bubbles = more flying oil. But either way too much water in oil is not a good idea.

Re:Archimedes would be proud

[bruce_the_loon]

Aerosolised oil might ignite merely with the heat, same way a diesel engine ignites without a spark, so it may not help.

There might also be more water present in a frozen bird. I know when I thaw a chicken, there is a lot of water sitting on the plate afterwards, so thawing the bird lets that water drain and not be dumped in the oil as it is boiled off.

Re:Archimedes would be proud

[isilrion]

ice = more water stuck together

FYI, ice is less dense than water. That's why it floats.

Re:Archimedes would be proud

[PPH]

Ice isn't more water stuck together. Ice actually has a lower specific gravity than water (ice floats).

I think the biggest problem is that the heat of fusion (the amount of heat needed to melt the ice) actually gives it an opportunity to melt and then boil a bit slower. And that gives the ice more time to sink below the oil. Once it melts and then boils (at the bottom of the pot) it displaces a larger column of oil above it. Once that oil makes it out of the pot, it either hits you in the face (burns) or slops down onto the propane burner and catches fire (your house burns down).

Re:Archimedes would be proud

[TapeCutter]

That's not the point he was making, what he is actually talking about is surface area vs volume. A block of ice does not disperse when it hits the oil, it sinks toward the bottom as a block, liquid water disperses quickly and may not get a chance to sink as deep as ice. GP speculates this may result in larger bubbles with ice.

Re:Archimedes would be proud

[isilrion]

Ah, "stuck together" was the important part. I missed that. Thank you for the clarification.

Re:Archimedes would be proud

[viperidaenz]

A diesel engine ignites without a spark from the heat generated by compression. Aerosolised oil will rapidly drop in temperature. Cooking oil won't combust without an ignition source unless it is over 350C.

Re:Archimedes would be proud

[c0lo]

Aerosolised oil might ignite merely with the heat, same way a diesel engine ignites without a spark, so it may not help.

It will happen if you adiabatically increase the atmospheric pressure around the pot at a compression ratio over 14:1 or you use fuels to deep fry the bird or just slowly raise the temperature of the pot to the point of it glowing-red

Cooking oil
* flash point (emits fumes capable of ignition by an external source): over 200C
* autoignition point (no open flame present): over 400C - iron glows deep red, visible in the dark.

About to start on my own.

[PlusFiveTroll]

Stuffing a non-frozen turkey in a frier that fast will lead to bad things, remember dip it in slowly so any excess water in the turkey boils off without turning the entire thing in to a conflagration.

Oh yea, never fry in your garage, on a wooden porch, or close to anything that will catch on fire.

On that note, I have two turkeys on my counter ready to be injected with butter and a nice rub put on them before I fry them. Fully defrosted, no need for a hospital visit.

Re:About to start on my own.

[ThePeices]

This must be an American thing, but, why would you want to deep fry a turkey in the first place?

Re:About to start on my own.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm glad I'm not the only one trying to work this out. Why not just get KFC for dinner?

Re:About to start on my own.

[PlusFiveTroll]

I'm glad I'm not the only one trying to work this out. Why not just get KFC for dinner?

Because a turkey isn't battered, it's totally different, and the taste is simply amazing.

Re:About to start on my own.

[steviesteveo12]

Yeah, it's definitely regional. I'm Scottish and even we don't deep fry turkeys. You roast them in the oven and it's delicious.

Re:About to start on my own.

[Anonymous Coward]

two main reasons here. 1) it cooks really fast( ~3 min/lbs ) and 2) it's a great moist tasting turkey

and besides, it cooks the chicken wing appetizers really quick just before the turkey goes in.

Re:About to start on my own.

[hondo77]

Because there are a large number of Americans who want to fry everything they eat.

You're doing it wrong

[Webs 101]

We deep-fry turkeys all the time.

You do it with a thawed or fresh turkey and you don't use a pot that's too small for the amount of oil it must hold.

Re:You're doing it wrong

[batkiwi]

They know they're doing it wrong, that's the point of the video!

Many people think that you can use deep frying as a short cut if you forgot to thaw your turkey.

People are stupid, news at 11!

Before you attempt it, consult Alton Brown

[Anonymous Coward]

Find the "Good Eats" episode on deep-frying a turkey, i'm sure its on youtube or foodnetwork.com

Re:Before you attempt it, consult Alton Brown

[Minwee]

If only there were a way to find things like that.

Re:Before you attempt it, consult Alton Brown

[Anonymous Coward]

I've got two words for you: Burn. Ward.

Re:Before you attempt it, consult Alton Brown

[Forty Two Tenfold]

Yeah, "romancing the bird" is such an obvious query string. Whoever wouldn't guess that is an idiot.

Re:Before you attempt it, consult Alton Brown

[Minwee]

Anyone who picked "Fry, Turkey, Fry" is just doing it wrong.

don't you have ovens?

[pointyhat]

What's the deal with turkey fryers? I've always done them in the oven.

Re:don't you have ovens?

[Anonymous Coward]

I've done fried turkeys 3-4 times now, and there has always been an oven cooked bird as well. Without telling the guests which is which, the fried has always been unanimously the favorite. It is always more moist and flavorful, not to mention it usually takes 45 minutes to cook.

Re:don't you have ovens?

[tchuladdiass]

Deep frying a whole turkey makes it come out extremely juicy -- it doesn't have that "fried" flavor or taste. Cooking in the oven gets you a bit dryer turkey. What happens is the hot oil sears the skin, trapping the juices inside. Usually you inject them with a butter based solution, seasoned with various spices, and that gets embedded into the turkey meat. Oh, and when you inject the bird, first figure out which way you are going to position it in the pot, and make sure the injection holes are at the top (try to reuse the same injection site, and with different angles / depths), so that the juice doesn't run out into the oil when cooking.

And yes, the first time I had seen this done was in Arkansas. But like I said above, it doesn't come out greasy or anything like that.

Re:don't you have ovens?

[Anonymous Coward]

The searing of the meat doesn't lock in the moisture, it is more that it is surrounded by oil that makes it much more difficult for water to evaporate or boil off.

The idea that searing meat traps in moisture is kind of a myth in most situations. Searing is done for the flavor, and doing it before or after cooking the meat can affect the flavor. But you can easily do tests where you both sear and don't sear a piece of meat, or sear before or after cooking and get the same moisture in both pieces, but possibly different flavor from the sear.

Re:don't you have ovens?

[fermion]

Have you tried brining it?

Re:don't you have ovens?

[smellotron]

What happens is the hot oil sears the skin, trapping the juices inside.

I've heard this for steaks, and I've also seen the experimental rebuttal from (IIRC) the Cook's Illustrated/Test Kitchen people which showed additional moisture loss from searing. In fact, many cooks advocate exactly the opposite: slow-cooking a steak before searing in order to minimize overcooking and produce a juicier steak.

I've also heard that deep frying is the most efficient (heat transfer/loss) cooking method. Perhaps the faster cooking is what counteracts the moisture loss?

Re:don't you have ovens?

[Russ1642]

You're injecting them with butter, but it "doesn't come out greasy or anything like that". Seriously?

Re:don't you have ovens?

[demonlapin]

No, it doesn't. Really. These are fried turkeys, but they're not breaded first, so very little oil is retained - the skin keeps a little, but that's it.

Re:don't you have ovens?

[ceoyoyo]

Deep fried food is quite popular. And boiling it in oil certainly makes it moist. Try boiling butter sometime and see if that's even more popular. It's supposed to be the top three secrets to French cuisine after all.

Re:don't you have ovens?

[Anonymous Coward]

That and the fact that the turkey absorbs part of the oil. For some reason people don't generally recognise that as greasy but as juicy. Although depending on the oil you use it can appear very different indeed after the leftovers have been in the fridge for a night.

Re:don't you have ovens?

[dywolf]

he said skin. it sears the skin. not the meat.
and yes, that does lock in the moisture when frying a turkey.

Ruddy Americans...!

[Anonymous Coward]

This can't be serious? Surely no-one has ever even considered deep-frying a Turkey?

Re:Ruddy Americans...!

[Anonymous Coward]

no, there is just some moron, much like you, who sets their house on fire cause, again like you, they have their head up their ass

Re:Ruddy Americans...!

[Anonymous Coward]

Apparently, yes. Seems Americans are worse than Weegies for frying things.

Re:Ruddy Americans...!

[Runaway1956]

Dafoq's a "Weegie"?

Never mind - Google seems to thing it's a GlasgoWEEGIan.

Re:Ruddy Americans...!

[Gordonjcp]

In all seriousness, you can spot a shift in a country's cuisine through history when they begin trading with Scotland. Tempura? Pakora? They happened because some trader said "right, let me show you a thing, first you make some batter from flour and water, okay now dip in in and fry it - yeah, good, isn't it?"

Re:Ruddy Americans...!

[demonlapin]

Like chicken tikka masala - "you know, this johnny foreigner chicken is pretty damned good, but what it really needs is a nice cream sauce".

Re:Ruddy Americans...!

[Gordonjcp]

Nobody in Scotland eats chicken tikka masala. Well, maybe as a mild non-spicy thing to cleanse your palate between different kinds of curry, but probably not even then.

Re:Ruddy Americans...!

[Mal-2]

Tempura is not the fault of the Scottish, it's the fault of the Portuguese. They wanted something they could eat on Fridays (it's no accident "tempura" resembles "tempora", meaning "time" -- as in a dish for the time they can't eat meat) so they introduced deep-frying of large shrimp, scallops, crab, or other seafood to Japan. It proved immensely popular with the natives, and remains so to this day. It's also popular in many other countries now as well, since it's more of a method than an actual dish and many different things can be battered and fried.

I personally love shrimp tempura, but on the vegetable side, green peppers and yams also work quite well.

Okay we get the message, but why is that so?

[Anonymous Coward]

How does the turkey flamethrower actually work? Is it the water boiling off of the frozen turkey that then
rises through the boiling heat due to heat on top of the fact that oil and water don't mix? Does that somehow
also lower the flashpoint of the oil ? Hey people want to know!

Re:Okay we get the message, but why is that so?

[firex726]

Oil over flows from the side down onto the burner underneath; catches on fire.

Re:Okay we get the message, but why is that so?

[PlusFiveTroll]

Yes, the ice trapped in the turkey quickly turns to water then steam. This steam takes up a lot more volume causing displacement of the oil. Now you have hot oil incorporated with steam and air escaping its container, some of this oil forms a vapor could which is ignited by the oil that runs down the side in to the gas flame. The oil doesn't auto-ignite, the gas flame does that.

Better video...

[Bomarc]

This one by State Farm is better... and it shows the ice in the oil trick!

Re:Better video...

[tkohler]

This one by State Farm is better... and it shows the ice in the oil trick!

Everything is better with Shatner.

as god is my witness

[TheGratefulNet]

I thought turkey's could fry

(oblig)

Re:as god is my witness

[fermion]

Just here to say best WKRP ever. Action offstage but acting makes it work.

Is this site Reddit Now?

[Anonymous Coward]

Is this site Reddit Now?

Didn't Mythbusters "investigate" this?

[Whatsmynickname]

Mixing oil and water isn't a good thing...

You have to wonder

[Anonymous Coward]

how many homes in the deep south burn because they pulled stunts like this.

I have to say that I was not thinking one year and marinated our turkey in an olive oil based sauce, as well as injected it into the bird. I was shocked at first at how fast that bird cooked. It was ready in about 20 minutes. Of course, my grill's thermometer was showing 700F.

thaw it first

[davydagger]

do it right, and thaw the turkey first.

otherwise it will explode as shown.

You CAN fry a turkey and it is delicious.

Don't use ice to cool the oil

[SmallFurryCreature]

Seriously, second part of the above video, "don't use ice to cool the oil" over the video of a fireman dumping a saucepan of ice into boiling oil.

DID ANYONE EVER DO THIS? Think, this oil is to hot, why not dump in some frozen water to cool it down...

I can understand people trying to put out burning oil with water and needing to be told that isn't the best of ideas but that at least makes some basic sense, you put out fires with water is pretty basic. of course the next part to learn is "NOT ALL FIRES" but that is advanced learning, though education for 5yr olds.

But cooling oil with ice?

Re:Don't use ice to cool the oil

[Capt.DrumkenBum]

DID ANYONE EVER DO THIS? Think, this oil is to hot, why not dump in some frozen water to cool it down...

When I was 12 years old I coined "Rob's first law", which states:
People are generally stupid.
I have seen no evidence to the contrary in the past over 30 years.

Re:Don't use ice to cool the oil

[Anonymous Coward]

I just use liquid oxygen, it is much colder than ice.

Re:Don't use ice to cool the oil

[demonlapin]

The guys who came up with the idea to fry a whole turkey were rednecks. And every good redneck story begins when someone says "Here, hold my beer while I..."

Re:Don't use ice to cool the oil

[FormOfActionBanana]

If you dump enough ice that it actually cools the oil, then it's fine.

Obviously, risky behavior if you don't know the equipment you're working with.

Re:Don't use ice to cool the oil

[riverat1]

If you got a cube of frozen oxygen (54K) and dropped that in a vat of boiling oil I imagine the results would be pretty spectacular.

Re:Don't use ice to cool the oil

[VanessaE]

Strange, I always thought it went "Hey Bubba! Watch THIS!"

Shows how much I know :-)

jackass department

[The_Rook]

i wonder how many people will deep fry a frozen turkey on purpose just to see the explosion.

and for good measure, drop a pumpkin or two in the deep fryer, also just to see what happens.

Nobody

[Anonymous Coward]

Should be eating deep-fried anything, esp. bird flesh.

Only in America

[Anonymous Coward]

Deep fried turkey? Only in America...

Re:Only in America

[Anonymous Coward]

... there's a reason they're known as Bibendums ...

There's something missing.

[Minwee]

I think the last part of the video which explains the science behind this and compares turkey-and-oil-induced BLEVE to similar incidents involving exploding gas tanks and storage facilities.

Even a dramatic reading by William Shatner would have been more interesting.

Re:There's something missing.

[Tablizer]

Kirk, it's not a "dingle dangle", it's a Cling-on.

Re:There's something missing.

[Anonymous Coward]

That's the music from Shawshank Redemption, surely.

Mythbusters

[Tablizer]

I thought I remember MythBusters trying something similar. I don't remember a lot of flames, but liquid sprayed all over.

Err...

[pev]

I'd never even considered doing that in the first place?! (OK, ignoring me being vegetarian that is...!)

How many Slashdotters had that cross their mind? Do our American cousins not get taught cookery basics at school? Should they be doing demo videos of why one shouldn't also cook turkeys using [ petrol / napalm / thermite ] as well just in case?

I'm flummoxed.

Re:Err...

[bmo]

1. You're missing out.
2. You don't have deep fryers in jolly ol'?
3. Deep frying is basic cookery.
4. The turkey comes out juicy and not dried out.
5. It akes 30-45 minutes.
6. Crispy turkey skin.
7. It's safe if you read the instructions and warnings and *pay them heed.*

You can take your American bashing and shove it.

--
BMO

Re:Err...

[Anonymous Coward]

Do our American cousins not get taught cookery basics at school?

Did you not get taught to be creative and innovative with cooking in school? Deep frying a turkey has nothing to do with burning it to a char, or even resembling fried chicken or a fish fry (when done right). It is not some greasy, stereotypical American craze, and as a non-American I find it quite good: because it works very well. The only problem is it can be difficult to find outside of the US, especially in places where people get rather stuffy about things having to be cooked a traditional way to the detriment of flavour and texture.

Re:Err...

[Runaway1956]

Despite bmo's bravado, the answer to your question is "No". I'm male, and I learned no cooking in school. I learned at home, and out in the woods. Females? Well - when I was in school, they had Home Economics. I'm not real sure that they learned anything in Home-Ec, because a lot of those girls couldn't boil water without scorching the pan.

I don't even think they have Home-Ec anymore. Due to the fact that they can't beat a young man into wearing an apron in Home-Ec, they decided that the class is sexist. It just encourages girls to cook, which makes them even more desirable to horny young teens, effectively guaranteeing that women remain barefoot and pregnant, in the kitchen.

Re:Err...

[Anonymous Coward]

Deep fried is the only way to cook a turkey. It comes out so juicy. It is not as greasy as the oven cooked ones. I for one, do not understand why any one would roast a good turkey in an oven.

Re:Err...

[s0nicfreak]

I'm female, and I learned no cooking in school. My husband is a little older, and he did learn a bit of cooking. But it was mostly done away with by the time I entered highschool. I don't know if it was because it is sexist or because it means people won't be buying from McDonalds and such. Where will all the future McDonalds workers the schools are churning out go if people aren't buying their food from McDonalds?

Re:Err...

[s0nicfreak]

Uh, it's way more greasy. It's just that with fried, the grease is crunchy. If you put a turkey on a roasting rack in the oven, most of the grease drips off.

Re:Err...

[sjames]

Frying the turkey is growing in popularity and is a perfectly good way to cook turkey.

You just have to make sure it's well thawed first, and inevitably with a population of 300 million, a few forget that every year.

Re:Err...

[Anonymous Coward]

The middle schools in the area I grew up in still have home-ec 20 years later. Unfortunately it is not a full year long and tries to cover many things, so cooking is only a tiny bit. It isn't so much there to teach one what they need to cook for themselves, but just to give an intro and opportunity to mess around with it. It is enough for a person with early interest to discover that interest, but not enough to live off of. But the kids seem plenty interested (as much as reasonably possible at that age...), probably because it gives them a chance to make some food they like, like cookies, sweet muffins, and pizza.

The problem with teaching cooking is that it requires a fair amount of equipment and infrastructure, especially if you don't want a team of six making a simple recipe that only really needs one person's worth of effort due to needing to share equipment. When you combine this with a class that is trying to teach other things too, you end up with a lot of places teaching very half-assed approaches to cooking. So now you have a class that cost more than other basic classes, but doesn't really teach what is needed, so it is not surprising cuts are made. So you kind of get stuck with it seeming to be better to do nothing at all, or going all in. And in the latter case, a full, thorough course in cooking might lose a lot of students interest and either not work out well or have low number of students interested. (I certainly didn't get my passion in cooking until much older ... and many at that age won't express a passion they do have in front of peers).

Not to say an all out option wouldn't work. A high school in the next county over from where I grew up went all out with a cooking program. It is more a vocational kind of thing, as it is teaching students to be prepared for working in restaurants. But they got plenty of interested students, and some very nice teaching kitchens and program freedom that go a long way to teaching a more complete skill set and being useful toward student's later life. That doesn't help everyone, as it still requires an active interest from the student, although maybe such a setup would at least let them implement a decent home cooking course.

Re:Err...

[demonlapin]

Most of the grease drips off a turkey in a fryer, too. I wouldn't call oven-cooked turkey greasy, though.

Re:Err...

[uncqual]

Although, many years ago when they still offered but did not require Home Economics in high school and boys were allowed, some guys took it thinking it would be both an easy class and a good place to try to pick up girls. The former was true, the latter I'm not so sure of as I didn't hear many stories of "success" with this strategy.

Re:Err...

[onkelonkel]

Dear Flummoxed.

We are told that in your country there are people who eat roast beef well done, by choice. You have no claim on the culinary moral high ground.

Re:Err...

[Vanders]

Roast beef should never, ever, be well done. Any more than a fillet steak should never be well done. A roast joint of beef should be as pink in the centre as a rare steak.

Re:Err...

[Anonymous Coward]

Only in America does the phrase "Durhh... let's g'awhn toss 'er in the ole' fryerr" qualify as "creative and innovative".

Re:Err...

[Anonymous Coward]

I guess that is why you never see things like tempura, croquettes, or pakora in other countries or high end restaurants? Only an idiot, regardless of country of origin, would think a fryer couldn't be used for high quality food, including many innovative and creative uses.

(It is also amusing when people need to argue something as being only "in America" or because of Americans in response to someone not from the US...)

Re:Err...

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't know if home ec class itself is good for picking up girls, but learning to cook certainly does a great job of helping to pick up women.

Re:Err...

[Anonymous Coward]

No, those things are just American "culture" invading the rest of the world and dumping their crap food elsewhere. Do you really think the perversions of various ethnic foods you eat in the US are anything like what people in those countries actually eat? Only Americans have the ego to think others would want to eat the same tub of fat food they do. It is not "innovative and creative," it is an invasive poison. At least spreading it to thanksgiving turkey is harmless, until you idiots insist that is another American holiday the rest of the world needs to celibate.

Re:Err...

[pjbgravely]

That must be why I cannot stand roast beef. For me a steak has no flavour except for blood unless it is completely cooked well done.

Re:Err...

[Anonymous Coward]

UL will not certify turkey fryers because it determined them all to be inherently unsafe. I'm sure everything will be ducky if you hit the thing in a big, stable, commercial deep-fryer, but those dedicated 'turkey fryers' are wobbly and unsafe as shit.

Re:Err...

[radish]

I'm British. The only people I've ever met who eat beef well done have been American (for example all of my wife's family). Quite a shame given how good the beef is over here in the US of A.

Re:Err...

[Anonymous Coward]

no it's not, if it's cooked right you won't taste the hot oil at all unless you eat the skin. You must have just been around bad cooks.

Re:Err...

[Anonymous Coward]

The only people I personally know that eat beef well done all have an e in their name. Quite a shame how good beef farmers have an e in their name, and even the word beef itself.

Re:Err...

[bmo]

The way things come out greasy in a deep fryer is if your oil isn't hot enough.

Anything lower than 350F/175C and you're doing it wrong.

Anything higher than 375/190 and you start smoking the oil.

Having a thermometer helps.

--
BMO

Re:Err...

[Viceice]

Maybe what needs to happen around Thankgiving is community kitchens. Have a temporary commercial kitchen setup somewhere in town staffed by people with a clue where, for a small donation, people can go get their turkey cooked.

Heck, I can even see sponsors being brought in to defray some costs, and a sense of community being built up around it.

Re:Err...

[Kasamir]

Thermite cooking

Re:Err...

[kaatochacha]

You're an idiot. Tempura is Japanese, first place I ever had it WAS in Japan. Who supposedly got it from the Portuguese. Who may have gotten it from the Indians.If you're going to go on an anti-US tirade, there's many better options.

Re:Err...

[s0nicfreak]

What do you think that crunchy stuff on the surface is?

Re:Err...

[dywolf]

it's called skin.
you dont deep fry a skinless turkey.
and grease isnt crunchy.

I learned that the hard way as a teenager.

[meldroc]

My very first job, I worked at an A&W, and they put me to work at the deep fryer. The procedure there (OSHA would not approve) was to take a big bag of fries out of the freezer, cook some of them, put the fries back in the freezer, and repeat for a few iterations. They freeze-thaw cycles would cause the fries to get covered with ice crystals.

One particularly frantic dinner rush, I was scrambling to get fries out, and I jammed a whole bunch of ice-covered fries in the deep fryer. Of course, the crystals flashed to steam, and splashed my arm with napalm-hot frying oil. I still have the scars.

Re:I learned that the hard way as a teenager.

[Anonymous Coward]

peter principle in action.
probably a manager in charge of 20 people by now.
tells that story to everyone..

deep fat fryers are an evolutionary tool used by business to thin the herd. That's why working at drive thru's are considered relevant.

Re:I learned that the hard way as a teenager.

[TapeCutter]

When I was a kid a family friend threw a large pan of water onto a fat fire in his kitchen, he spent the next couple of months in hospital.

Re:I learned that the hard way as a teenager.

[Sir Holo]

In my very first job, we pre-melted the deep-fry oil in the back, and carried it into the kitchen in a pot held by tongs and wet towels. I went off to college, but returned for breaks. Once, upon return, I found a horrifically scarred African-immigrant cook, who had dropped the pot, resulting in a splash-from-hell to the face and hands.

I probably deserve to have my own scars from throwing ice cubes into smoking-hot pots of oil, but had the sense to stand back, so no scars from that (knives are another matter).

Re:I learned that the hard way as a teenager.

[thygate]

you BAKE in OIL and COOK in WATER

Re:I learned that the hard way as a teenager.

[DarwinSurvivor]

You bake in an oven, you FRY in oil!

Re:I learned that the hard way as a teenager.

[thygate]

well then it's a language thing because in Dutch, we bake in oil and grease (or dry in the oven) and we only fry stuff like potatoes in a frier. And we only use the term cooking when something is submerged in boiling water.

Re:I learned that the hard way as a teenager.

[DarwinSurvivor]

So you bake chicken on a frying pan?

Slashdot is scraping the bottom of the barrel

[Anonymous Coward]

This story is totally irrelevant... turkeys are avid Windowze users and don't give a SHIT about free software.

Reminds me of that famous video with Liquid Oxygen

[Polo]

Lighting a Barbecue Grill with Liquid Oxygen

Because it wasn't

[Anonymous Coward]

There doesn't have to be that much oil to cause a far.

Physics you stupid git.

Water and ice, are much denser than oil, so they sink to the bottom. They convert rapidly to steam which expands rapidly and blasts the oil above it out of the pot.

DHS

[Penurious Penguin]

The DHS warned about this last year. Where there aint be no terrorists or journalists, there be birds without feathers.
And don't mind that strange man in a trench-coat lurking outside your house; he's just one of many TSA agents volunteering to frisk your turkey. If you stuff it in a diaper first, he'll give you free Pre-Check when he's finished.

Missing the only question

[preaction]

But how did it taste afterward?

Bread that bird

[TheSkepticalOptimist]

Should have wrapped it first in bacon and then triple breaded it first before dipping it in beer batter and then throw it in a pot of boiling lard. After its cooked rub a salt lick over the thing because there is nothing worse then bland turkey.

Oh yeah, there is no obesity crisis in America.

Re:Bread that bird

[Anonymous Coward]

There are so many levels of Darwinism going on here, I find it difficult to resolve them. I can only conclude that the fried-turkey-based fireball is nature's defence mechanism to a) reduce the number of stupid people in the world b) try to discourage people cutting their life expectancies in two by deep-frying everything. Hopefully, the two balance out and we have equilibrium.

Eat, Fry, Love

[HtR]

I much prefer William Shatner's "Eat, Fry, Love" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=EYkRF_FmD40&feature=endscreen

From his excitement in receiving his turkey fryer, to his pain in having to say goodbye to it at the end - you can see the emotion he brings to the part.

Re:Deliberately...

[jamstar7]

The pot was deliberately overfilled with way too much oil to begin with... to create a rigged demo that would be more "exiting" to watch.

Nobody died, so how could they be 'exiting'? This one doesn't even get a Darwin Award consideration.

Americans are stupid

[Anonymous Coward]

SO stupid, they have to be taught common sense via you tube.

ProTip

[PPH]

And don't do any of this in the garage, carport, under eaves or on a wood (flammable) deck. I'd shield the propane line and use one long enough to be able to reach the tank valve even with the fryer fully engulfed in flames.

Re:ProTip

[mark-t]

If the oil level is high enough that there is a serious spill risk after the turkey is in, then the turkey is too big for the fryer. Deep frying should not be a dangerous experience other than the increased health risks that might come with eating certain deep fried foods. The cooking itself should be no less safe than cooking anything else.

waste

[Anonymous Coward]

Disgusting waste of food. The only thing demonstrated here is the PROFOUND ignorance of you diseased truth hating freaks.

Tofurkey?

[Anonymous Coward]

Anybody tried deep frying a tofurkey?

Re:Deliberately...

[rioki]

I once saw a demonstration by the local fire department with 2 cups of oil and one cup of water... It was titled, "why you should not extinguish a oil fire with water". HOLY SHIT THAT WAS IMPRESSIVE!!! I don't care if they exaggerate a bit, it is definitely a learning experience and very impressive to kids.

Fun with science... Molten aluminum

[witherstaff]

For the ManPro - Manufacturing Processes - class at GMI (Before it became Kettering) we did green sand casting. Had to pour the molten aluminum in and were warned entering the room if you so much as sneeze, spit, sweat, etc in the vicinity of the aluminum you will get hurt, badly. That was a fun class!

Re:Fun with science... Molten aluminum

[RockDoctor]

I still have a small scar on my wrist from casting lead diving weights using sand which wasn't completely dry.

It hurt. This is not recommended.

I don't get it

[fezzzz]

I looked at the video and I'm sure that turkey would taste just fine!

007 Skyfall 2012 -TS Rip Xvid

[skeeto]

007 Skyfall 2012 -TS Rip Xvid http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/7816821/007_Skyfall_2012_-TS_Rip_Xvid magnet:?xt=urn:btih:567a9f8342cb4087f9245ce27b12b569d7fcaa65