Category Archives: 46

Nov 23 4 comments
46, Public Service

Fried Turkey Recipe

(This assumes you bought a Turkey Fryer, and have all the accouterments included in the fryer kit. )

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and soon the month long feasting and imbibing (Thanksgiving until New Years Day) will begin.

I want to share a turkey brine recipe, and some tips, with those of you that will bravely try to fry turkey for the first time this year. I guarantee, after you taste fried turkey it will be the last time you’ll want to cook a turkey in the oven.

I found this brine recipe on the internet a few years ago, and have been tweaking it every Thanksgiving.

Ingredients:
6 quarts hot water
2 Bulbs of crushed garlic
1 pound kosher salt
1 pound dark brown sugar
5 pounds ice
1 (13 to 14-pound) turkey, with giblets removed
Approximately 4 to 4 1/2 gallons peanut oil*

Other necessary items:
FIRE EXTINGUISHER!!!
Turkey Fryer Kit (pot, stand, propane, tools, etc.) 
Meat Thermometer
Candy Thermometer
Old long sleeved shirt
Thick Leather gloves/Cooking Mits
Several gallon sized zip-lock bags
Aluminum Foil

DeepFryingTurkey_H

***** TAKE HEED! – THIS STEP COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE, OR YOUR HOUSE! *****
In order to determine the correct amount of oil, place the turkey into the pot that you will be frying it in, add tap water just until it barely covers the top of the turkey and is at least 4 to 5 inches below the top of the pot. Pull the turkey out, and take note of the water level in the pot without the bird. This will be the amount of oil you use for frying the turkey. Pour the tap water out.

MAKING THE BRINE (the evening before frying):
Place the hot water, garlic, kosher salt and brown sugar into the cold fryer pot and stir until the salt and sugar dissolve completely. Add the ice and stir until the mixture is cool. Gently lower the turkey into the container. If necessary, weigh down the bird to ensure that it is fully immersed in the brine.  Fill 1 or 2 gallon sized zip-lock bags with ice, or water and close the bags. Use these bags to weigh down the buoyant bird. The reason we do this is to keep the water/ice in the bag from diluting the carefully measured brine. Cover and set in a cool dry place for 8 to 16 hours.

FRYING THE BIRD:
After 8-16 hours remove the turkey from the brine, rinse and pat dry. Allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes prior to cooking. Dump the brine (do not save, or reuse).

WARNING: Regardless of how cold it is outside, DO NOT fry turkey indoors, or in the garage. If an accident happens it is better to set your grass on fire, than your carpet. Be safe. Do it outdoors, and do it a good distance away from any flammable structure.

Place the oil into the turkey fryer, and set over high heat on an outside propane burner with a sturdy structure. While checking with a candy thermometer, bring the temperature of the oil to 250 degrees F. Once the temperature has reached 250, slowly lower the bird into the oil and bring the temperature to 350 degrees F. Once it has reached 350, lower the heat in order to maintain 350 degrees F. After 35 minutes, check the temperature of the turkey using a probe thermometer (Make sure to insert the probe in the thickest part of the breast, and not contacting the rib cage. This will provide a false high reading). Once the breast reaches 151 degrees F gently remove from the oil, cover with a loose tent of Aluminum foil, and allow to rest for a minimum of 30 minutes prior to carving. Once the bird reaches an internal temperature of 161 degrees F, due to carry over cooking, carve as desired and serve.

Note: On cold windy days I set up a wind break around the fryer. I use 2 pieces of ductwork that almost completely surrounds the pot. This keeps the outside surface of the pot warm as the rising heat from the propane burner warms the space in between the ductwork and the outer pot wall. I don’t enclose it completely as that would suffocate the flame from lack of oxygen, and be unsafe.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! ENJOY!!!

Sep 30 3 comments
46, Humor Central, Pointless Posts

Le Freak

I place little stock in Astrology and Zodiac signs but I do find it humorous though that they are uncannily spot on when it comes to describing most of my personality traits.

imageAccording to the Roman Zodiac I am a Libra. It’s the Scales which symbolize Libra, and just like that balancing mechanism wants to stay even, Librans want to be on an even keel.

I want to confess I have a sickness. I don’t know what it is called (probably OCD), but I do know it exists. I feel the need to have sets, pairs, or kits of things. Nothing makes me happier than a complete tool kit, with every single socket in its intended spot. On the flipside, nothing makes me feel despair (yes, it’s that bad) like an empty spot in the tool kit from a socket, or when a 12 piece flatware set has a missing teaspoon. I have been known to spend 4 hours tearing apart the garage looking for a missing 3mm socket (a useless socket size that comes in the kits) that I didn’t need for the 10 minute job I needed the 7mm socket to do.

Recently I needed to start getting allergy shots 2 times a week for 4 months. I hated the thought of getting shots and was going to ask them to stagger the shots, left arm on Mondays, right arm on Thursdays, just so I could get the balance of both arms hurting. When I arrived at the Doctors office for my first shot I was “pleasantly” surprised to find out that I was allergic to so many things that they had to give me 2 shots per day, one in each arm. Oh joy – true balance. See, a sickness. I told you.

My two youngest children are Libras just like me. I noticed my 9 year old son’s penchant for sets and kits a long time ago and chalked it up to just having a similar personality as mine. The recent occurrences regarding my 2 year old daughter, however, took us completely by surprise.

Last weekend, on her second birthday, I sat and played with my little girl and I marveled at the changes she had gone through just in the last year. There were the visible physical changes, but what struck me most was her burgeoning personality. I play rough with all my kids. No one gets treated differently because they are girls. I might hold back on the baby a bit, but that is just because she’s still small, but that too will change as she gets older. I made her voice sound funny as I playfully batted at her cheeks with my right hand. She was giggling and laughing until I stopped. “NO, NO DADDY!” she shrieked. “OTHER HAND!” she demanded. So I continued the cheek patting with my left hand as she continued to enjoy herself.  I thought about it for a bit and, after a few pensive minutes, came to the conclusion that the odd behavior was due to being a Libra, just like me. She wanted the balance of equal cheek smacking time from both hands. We all had a chuckle at her silliness.

Another instance: We have two mirrors in the bathroom upstairs and after she gets her ponytails done in the morning she has to look at herself in both mirrors before giving them the “stamp of approval”. When we don’t have enough time we do the “Fountain”. We collect all the hair on the top of her head and tie it up with one rubber band. She dislikes the mono-pigtail, but will tolerate it if she gets to see it in both mirrors.

I cited her other odd behaviors to my wife, ones that we’ve had difficulty understanding until now, which served no other purpose than to solidify the Libra stigma.  My wife rolled her eyes and said, “you and all your kids are freaks”. Having no evidence for a rebuttal, I concurred.

 

My Roman Zodiac Sign = Libra

My Chinese Zodiac Sign = Monkey