By Jonathan Reynolds
- Total Time
- 1 hour 40 minutes, plus 24 hours' brining and 24 hours' refrigeration
- Rating
- 5(236)
- Notes
- Read community notes
As every politician since Huey Long -- or possibly Madison himself -- has said, ''We can do better.'' And in Louisiana, they have, by doing the unthinkable: deep-frying an entire turkey in a bubbling vat of peanut oil or lard. The result is delicious, surprisingly ungreasy and fast. (A 14-pounder cooks in 49 minutes -- 49 minutes!) I've made five of these things, and comments have ranged from ''This is the best turkey I've ever eaten!'' to ''This is the best turkey I've ever eaten!'' with nary a discouraging word.
Deep-frying must be done outside, which means you will need a propane tank. In New York City it is illegal to cook with propane gas except in large gardens or outdoor spaces of single-family dwellings. It should work fine in a yard, where your fryer can double as a defensive weapon in case of intruders scaling your wall.
In case the oil overflows, place a large bowl and a ladle next to the pot. Also, just before lowering the bird into the oil, and again just before taking it out a scant 49 minutes -- 49 minutes! -- later, turn the flame off for the same reason.
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Ingredients
Yield:8 servings
- ¾cup chopped onion
- ¾cup chopped celery
- 3 to 6tablespoons chopped garlic
- 4tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2tablespoons (or more) chopped hot peppers from pepper vinegar
- 2tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt
- 1tablespoon cayenne
- 1tablespoon black pepper
- 1cup chicken stock
- 1recipe for internal turkey brine
- 114-pound turkey
- 1tablespoon of cayenne or favorite Cajun spice
- 5gallons of peanut oil or lard (approximately)
For the Internal Turkey Brine
For the Turkey
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
Eight to 24 hours in advance, make the brine by sauteing onion, celery and garlic in butter until tender. Add hot peppers and Worcestershire, then stir in the salt, cayenne and black pepper. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.
Step
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Strain into a bowl, pressing the solids to extract as much juice as possible, to yield about 1½ cups.
Step
3
With monster hypodermic, inject the turkey's breast in five places and each leg in one place.
Step
4
With your bare hands, rub the cayenne into the turkey's breast under the skin. Omit if you don't like the flavor -- though it's very mild in this quantity.
Step
5
Refrigerate, uncovered, for 8 to 24 hours. Or if you prefer, you may fry the bird immediately.
Step
6
On the day you plan to eat it, remove the turkey from the refrigerator, place it in the empty fryer pot and cover with water. Then empty the pot, measuring the water to find out how much oil you'll need (usually about 5 gallons for a 14 pounder).
Step
7
Dry the pot very thoroughly and fill it with the same amount of oil or lard, attach the extra-long thermometer and heat the oil to 350 to 375 degrees. Just before lowering the bird, turn off the flame to make absolutely sure that Mr. Peanut's essence won't start a fire. Then pierce the turkey with its holder and lower slowly into the oil. Boil for 49 minutes or longer (3 to 3½ minutes per pound).
Step
8
Remove the turkey, drain excess oil and rest it on a platter for 10 to 30 minutes. Slice and dive in!
Tip
- Turkey kits are available from $85 at Cabela's (800-237-4444, www.cabelas.com) and at the Cajun Shoppe in Louisiana (natch), (800-434-2809, www.cajunshoppe.com).
Ratings
5
out of 5
236
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Cooking Notes
Erica
They are little green peppers in vinegar in a jar. Look for Louisiana brand peppers in vinegar or Texas Pete brand pepper sauce.
Chris P
I loved it, but it was a little too spicy for much of my family. This should be labeled "Cajun Fried Turkey".
Joe B
Hey all- am I missing something on the timing here? The intro says 24 hours for brining and 24 hours for refrigeration, but then the recipe seems like you can do the brine, inject it, then refrigerate it all the day before. I’m trying to figure out if I need to start prepping on Friday or Saturday for my Friendsgiving on Sunday!
miacooks
This is an amazing recipe. A couple of pointers:1) measure the amount of oil needed BEFORE injecting the bird. This way, you don’t run the risk of spattering because of left over moisture after the dunking trial.2) use up ALL the brine- it is such good stuff and so what if you have to poke it another time?3) the flavor is piquant as opposed to downright spicy to me who finds med spicy Thai food enjoyable 4) the cayenne is to be rubbed UNDER the breast skin not on itThis beats oven method!!!
half raw ugh
Very disappointed as our $50 15 pound turkey brined as stipulated in recipe and cooked at proper temp was half raw when we started to carve it. Had to throw on grill and over cook in order to eat a little. Any thoughts on what went wrong???
Sylvia
It’s says to submerge into water after you inject it with the brine and put the cayenne. So doesn’t that wash it all away? Or is that the point... that you need to rinse before frying?
Elaine
So if the reason to refrigerate the turkey uncovered is to dry the skin out, why does step 6 have you dunking the entire turkey in water right before cooking? Seems that the steps are in the wrong sequence.
Ryan
Do you just discard all the solids from step one? Can it be used for anything?
Peter
After doing Emeril for the last several Christmases I changed it up and tried this one. Hands down this is the winner. Comes out golden brown, not black, the brine is easy to inject, crispy skin, and just incredible flavor.
peter
Why dry rub? Doesn’t it just burn off when the bird hits the oil? And do you even eat the skin?
Diego
Anyone know why the turkey should be refrigerating uncovered? I prefer to cover things in the fridge to avoid them picking up unwanted flavors.Thanks
Chumley
It is to dry the skin out so that it comes out crispy. I live in Montana, so I just put my turkey in my unheated garage.
Alex Martin
I believe it is to allow the skin to dry so when you lower it into the oil it won't spatter all over you. Either way you should pat it down with paper towel prior to frying.
Jack
Diego, do you live at altitude and if so, what is your adjustment for cooking time?
EmulsionMike
Sounds good. I'm going to try it. I made Emeril Lagasse's once and that was good, too. When it came out it was blackened. I thought I screwed up dinner. Turns out it was perfect. BTW Does anyone know what "hot peppers from pepper vinegar" are?
Erica
They are little green peppers in vinegar in a jar. Look for Louisiana brand peppers in vinegar or Texas Pete brand pepper sauce.
Becky
Delicious! Can't wait to make it again next thanksgiving.
Dustin
Do you turn the flame back on after submersion? I assume so?
Jeremy
You absolutely turn flame back on, it's just for safety to have it off as you lower in the turkey because the oil will splash. It's always a good idea to have cardboard under the fryer and surrounding area for easy cleanup.
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