Fried Turkeys: The Technical Side

Hundreds of curious readers have emailed me with questions about technical details of turkey frying.  Experts have offered their helpful insights on the matter.  Here, we offer the collected wisdom of turkey fryers everywhere:

• Y2K compliance issues
• Saving / Reusing the Oil
• Choosing your frying medium

Y2K Compliance Issues

We all learned a harrowing lesson as the year 2000 approached.  Nearly everything on earth has an embedded computer chip and these computer chips can't tell the difference between the years 2000 and 1900.  The potential consequences could have been catastrophic when we reached the year 2000: airplanes dropping from the sky, bank accounts disappearing, car odometers bursting into flames, etc.  Fortunately, a cult of Y2K consultants incited an irrational worldwide panic then saved us all from a fiery nuclear death by earning enormous salaries drawn primarily drawn from our tax dollars. 

The potential for disaster is no less present for turkey-frying equipment.  Microprocessors embedded in our 135,000 BTU propane burners or ten-gallon pots could confuse November 23, 2000 for November 23, 1900.  The dire consequences of such a mistake are so obvious that I need not mention them. 

For many of us, Thanksgiving 2000 will be the first time we have used our turkey-frying equipment in the year 2000.  If you have not yet tested your equipment for Y2K compliance, it is imperative that you follow these two simple steps:

1. Panic
2. Hire a Y2K consultant to verify that your equipment is Y2K compliant.  

 Step #2 should be relatively easy because all of the Y2K consultants are now unemployed and living under bridges.  By now, you could probably pay them minimum wage to complete the job.  

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Saving / Reusing the Oil

I get about a hundred emails each thanksgiving with the same question:  "Can you re-use the oil after you fry a turkey?"  The simple answer is "Yes."   Personally, I have used the same oil for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years day.  The way to preserve the oil is as follows:

1. Cool the oil
2. Filter out large particles through a sieve
3. Return the oil to the fry pot and fry some sliced potatoes (about 2 lbs)
4. Remove the potatoes and eat them (yum)
5. cool the oil.  
6. store it in a closed container in a cool, dark location
7. expected life: about 6 months

Frying potatoes helps to clear the oil because the potato starch binds the small crispy particles in the oil.  This is a trick that my mother, who is a home-economist, taught me long ago.

Last year, an alert turkey-frying colleague named (no joke here) Doug Fryer actually contacted an expert on the matter: Gary Pepper, Ph.D., of the Crop Sciences Department at the University of Illinois.

 -----Original Message-----
From: G.E pepper [address removed to protect privacy]
Sent: Friday, December 10, 1999 7:27 AM
To: [address removed to protect privacy]
Subject: Re: Peanut Oil Bucket Life

First, I hope the plastic bucket you have your oil stored in is of a
material approved for food storage use. I don't know which plastics are
approved, but you might check the label.

I believe you can safely store your oil for some time. The lower the
temperature where the oil is stored, the longer it should last. I don't
know how long you might be able to keep it, but it will eventually
become rancid. I expect you can detect the problem with your nose.

Gary Pepper
Crop Sciences Dept
Univ of Illinois

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Choosing Your Frying Medium

Another important technical decision is selection of an appropriate frying medium.  I have tried a few options and received numerous emails from fellow adventurers offering their suggestions.  Please email any experience/suggestions you might haveBased on experience and advice, I offer the following summary:

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