grubbin'

Tonight I had fried turkey for the first time. It was delicious! This guy fried 5 turkeys at his house, 2 in an electric frier and 3 in a gas frier outdoors. He said frying a turkey is so much faster than baking and it retains the moisture. I'll say! It takes about an hour to heat the oil and then an hour to fry each turkey. That's why it's more efficient to fry more than one at a time. Each use about 3 gallons of oil. He said the minimum weight for each turkey is 14.8 lbs. I don't know what the max is. The electric frier gets up to 350 degrees and the gas 400. The best turkey I had tonight was the smoked one. He had bought hickory wood chips (they also come in mesquite), soaked them in water, threw them on charcoal, and lit the charcoal with a fried turkey on top. The smokey flavor penetrated through each piece. He said you could smoke the turkey for the entire time instead of pre-cooking it, but it takes longer than baking, something like 8 hours. I don't think that would be worth it. The pre-fried turkey had as much hickory flavor as I would like. The spread included traditional Thanksgiving foods like mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie, but I was pre-occupied with the turkey.

Our host was the epitome of hospitality. Friendly, organized, and open to answering all my questions. I think this was the longest conversation I've ever had with him, and it was all food-related. My friend said he was probably thinking, "What's wrong with this chick? She never says two words to me and tonight she's grilling me on the turkey?" Well, I share this new knowledge with you. I highly recommend sampling fried turkey, but don't try this at home. The process is highly combustible. Leave it to the pros.