Deep-Fry a Turkey
Though many people have never eaten deep-fried turkey, those in the Bayou have known for ages that this is a marvelous way to prepare a moist, flavorful bird. So if you’re looking to deep fry a turkey for a Thanksgiving dinner or any other occasion, just follow these step-by-step instructions that make learning to deep fry turkey almost as easy as making gravy.
Difficulty:
Challenging
Instructions
Things You’ll Need
- 10- to 12-lb. turkey
- 5 gallons peanut oil
- hot pepper sauce to taste
- lemon wedges
- pepper to taste
- salt to taste
1
Remove the neck and giblets from the turkey cavity and rinse the inside and outside of the bird.
2
Dry the turkey well, inside and out, with paper towels.
3
Fold the wings of the turkey behind the bird’s shoulders and then remove the hock lock. Place turkey on a large wire rack.
4
Place a 10- to 12-gallon stockpot on a 12-inch propane gas burner with at least 100,000 BTUs and fill with vegetable oil. Light fire and heat oil to 390 degrees F.
5
Lower the well-dried turkey, breast first, into a deep-frying basket. Put on oven mitts and gently lower the basket into the oil.
6
Lift up the turkey and dip it into the oil again three or four times so the oil adjusts to the temperature of the turkey.
7
Fry the turkey while keeping the oil temperature as close to 365 degrees F as possible. Fry for about three and a half minutes per pound, until meat is golden and a deep-frying thermometer in the thickest part of the turkey thigh registers 175 degrees F.
8
Lift basket out of oil and drain turkey, including the cavity, in a roasting pan. Carve and serve after the turkey has cooled for 20 minutes.
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • Licensed General Contractor • Real Estate Appraiser • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of Executive Appraisers Louisiana, an MBE-certified real estate appraisal firm, and EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu
Publisher — Black Source Media
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • Licensed General Contractor • Real Estate Appraiser • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of Executive Appraisers Louisiana, an MBE-certified real estate appraisal firm, and EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu