Deep fry a turkey you ask? Indeedy. We deep fried that turkey alright.
And it was oh so delicious.Behold, our piece of Hong Kong heaven:
-heavenly sound effects-
Since we don't have ovens in the hall kitchens, the group was baffled as to how we would make homemade Thanksgiving dinner. A few days before the event, I get a text from Phil saying "Wellcome has 20 lb turkeys!!" I think, ok, 20 lbs is quite a bit - how the hell are we going to cook this thing? When I call him later, he busts out the three golden words: "deep fried turkey."After googling "How to deep fry a turkey," Fabulousfoods.com had detailed instructions for how to attempt this feat. Hey, if they say it's "moist and delicious and not at all greesy," I guess I'll give it a shot.
- "You should also keep a fire extinguisher and plenty of heavy duty pot holders nearby."
- "Because so much oil is flammable, you should never fry a turkey indoors."
- "Be sure to measure for the amount of oil you'll need BEFORE you marinate or bread the turkey."
- "Heat the oil to about 325°F and no higher than 350°F."
- "Never leave the hot oil unattended."
And now, for the story.
So, after buttering our baby down, we proceeded to add oil into the massive soup pot, which was sitting on two burners, plugged into an electrical outlet about 2 feet away. We had a bit of trouble determining exactly how much oil to put into the pot, considering we didn't want the oil to spill over and burn us all after placing the turkey in. I read afterwards that we should've done a test run with water before using the oil. Oops.
As the oil was heating up, we measured it with a heat thermometer. We were supposed to heat the oil to somewhere between 325°F and 350°F, but the thermometer wouldn't read anything higher than 281°F. Ha. Our solution?
Phil: "Eh, let's just wait another 5 minutes."
Paul: "Let's wait another 10 minutes."
Phil: "5"
Paul: "10"
Phil: "Alright alright, we'll wait 7.5 minutes."
...should be enough time, right?
We gently placed the darling into the approximately 325°F pot of burning oil, and the sizzling began. After leaving it to do its thing, as I was watching a movie and the gang was chatting in Phil's room, it was golden brown in a little under an hour. The boys had to strategize for quite a bit before removing the turkey from our soup pot. Their weapons of choice: 2 massive soup spoons, a spatula, and some weak tongs. I'm surprised no one got third degree burns or permanent scars.
In the end, we had an awesome meal of deep fried turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, yams & marshmallows, buttered corn, pork, deviled eggs, pumpkin pie & cool whip. Finger lickin' good I tell ya.
And, the turkey was indeed moist and delicious and not at all greesy.
So, after buttering our baby down, we proceeded to add oil into the massive soup pot, which was sitting on two burners, plugged into an electrical outlet about 2 feet away. We had a bit of trouble determining exactly how much oil to put into the pot, considering we didn't want the oil to spill over and burn us all after placing the turkey in. I read afterwards that we should've done a test run with water before using the oil. Oops.
As the oil was heating up, we measured it with a heat thermometer. We were supposed to heat the oil to somewhere between 325°F and 350°F, but the thermometer wouldn't read anything higher than 281°F. Ha. Our solution?
Phil: "Eh, let's just wait another 5 minutes."
Paul: "Let's wait another 10 minutes."
Phil: "5"
Paul: "10"
Phil: "Alright alright, we'll wait 7.5 minutes."
...should be enough time, right?
We gently placed the darling into the approximately 325°F pot of burning oil, and the sizzling began. After leaving it to do its thing, as I was watching a movie and the gang was chatting in Phil's room, it was golden brown in a little under an hour. The boys had to strategize for quite a bit before removing the turkey from our soup pot. Their weapons of choice: 2 massive soup spoons, a spatula, and some weak tongs. I'm surprised no one got third degree burns or permanent scars.
In the end, we had an awesome meal of deep fried turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, yams & marshmallows, buttered corn, pork, deviled eggs, pumpkin pie & cool whip. Finger lickin' good I tell ya.
And, the turkey was indeed moist and delicious and not at all greesy.
the before shot.
we didn't burn down HKU! woo!
"Whyy??"
food coma-ed.
k.o.-ed
And, to end the night, the locals said to us:
"Hey, if you guys are doing this again next week, make two turkeys."
