Deep frying large turkey

[midwest]

I have to deep fry multiple turkeys tomorrow. I ordered them and all came in about 14 pounds and one of them is 22 lbs. My initial thought was to maybe split it in half and do each half at a time? I just think the outside will be burnt bad before the inside can get done at that size? Curious what you guys would do or if anyone has done one this large before.

 

[traeger860]

Largest one I ever fried was about 18 pounds. But it still took the standard 4 minutes per pound for it to be done. I temp checked at 3.5 minutes per pound and the legs were still a little underdone. Are you going to smoke any of them first?

Smoked Fried Turkey

Smo Fried Turkey. Or is it Smoke Fried Turkey or Smokafried Turkey? I thought if smoking meats is my thing, but fried turkeys are my favorite, why not combine the two methods to make the best turkey ever?

www.meatchurch.com

 

[midwest]

No, they have to be ready by 11:00 am and we have always just deep fried them. We have 3 cookers going so we usually drop three in starting at 6 am and once those are done (45 minutes to an hour) we drop the next batch, let those sit and then cut them and repeat the process. I would like to try smoking one first but for this deal it is easier to just go with what we know works.

 

[midwest]

We ended up just trying it as is. Dropped the big bird in and cooked it the same as the others (3 minutes per pound plus 5 minutes) and it was perfect. Turned out just like the smaller ones we did.

 

[RayClem]

If you were cooking a 22# bird in the oven (especially if it was stuffed), it would take quite a while for the breast to cook thoroughly. In an oil fryer, the hot oil cooks the bird from the inside as well as the outside. It will certainly take longer to do a big bird than a smaller one, but the cook time per pound should be similar.

I am glad both birds turned out well for your feast. Next time, however, try to get matching 18# birds.

 

[midwest]

We ordered 12 birds, all of them were supposed to be 12-14 pounds. With the amount of time it takes to defrost them there wasn't much choice once they came in but to deal with it.... All but one of them were over 14 pounds.