If you’re looking for a way to get more people involved in preparing the Thanksgiving feast consider frying a turkey.

First the questions and answer session:

Fry a turkey? Yup, it’s quick and delicious.

How long does it take? It takes about 3 minutes per pound so you’re looking at 40 to 45 minutes. (This is always followed by a… Really?)

Does it taste good? It tastes delicious because you can inject the turkey with all different types of marinades to get everything from a buttery flavor to a down right 3-alarm fire Cajun turkey.

Now here’s the part where you really blow their minds. You start telling them what’s involved in frying a turkey.

You will be frying in about 3 gallons of peanut oil heated up to 350 degrees on top of a turkey fryer burner that is hooked up to a propane tank. The total BTU’s (measurement of heat) on a turkey fryer comes to 150,000. That’s really hot. It sounds like a jet engine when you really have it cranked up.

Oooh

So now that you have their attention comes the time to actually fry the bird. And what will happen is all the guys will circle round the turkey fryer that is set up in a safe location away from the house.

They will be glued to watching the burner light up and the temperature on the thermometer reaching 350 degrees that signals the ceremonial lowering of the turkey into the hot peanut oil.

Once the turkey is submerged the temperature of the oil quickly drops and you begin the process of raising and lowering the flame on the burner trying to keep the temperature at 325 degrees. Everyone will be glued for the next 40 to 45 minutes watching the bubbling oil and making sure the temperature stays constant.

During this time they will think to themselves is the turkey burning? Will this taste good?

Once the appropriate amount of time has elapsed the turkey will be carefully raised out of the oil. There will be more oohs and aahs and the excitement will grow because they will soon taste the delicious fried turkey. What you have accomplished is providing your guests an experience and made them an active part in the preparation of the Thanksgiving meal, which they will appreciate because they now have a story they can share with their friends.

Here is my recipe for Fried Turkey.

Click here for recipe.

Every year at this time I encounter someone who is at the crossroads. Should I really invest the time in preparing a turkey for Thanksgiving? The question I always ask back is do you want to ruin Thanksgiving or do you want to be a rock star?

It’s really easy to ruin Thanksgiving. Just throw the turkey in a roasting pan with a little seasoning and place it in the oven for hours. You will end up with a turkey that is dry and has little or no flavor. So much so that you will find your guests dousing it with gravy or spreading the cranberry sauce on thick. And you will always be remembered for that flavorless dry turkey. You can imagine the conversations or I know you’ve participated in the conversations. It goes something like this.. How was your Thanksgiving? It was ok. How was the turkey? Oh it was really dry, no flavor. Poor thing. She or he really tried but it was terrible. Sitcom stories for years have been based on this scenario.

Yes I know this sounds cruel but c’mon this day is supposed to be a feast. A day to give thanks. And when you give thanks you put out the best turkey possible. And yes believe it or not Turkey is the easiest thing to prepare on the menu. You just need to invest the time in the preparation. I have to quote the great UCLA basketball coach John Wooden now, “If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.”

So what’s the best way to prepare a turkey? The answer in my opinion is brining the turkey.

What is brining? It’s submerging the turkey in salted water in the refrigerator for 24 hours and then allowing it to dry in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Wow 48 hours of preparation? Yup, it sound like a lot but you end up with a juicy bird. The brining adds moisture to the bird and allows the meat to relax and get loose. So when you roast the turkey it really plumps up and gets juicy. Plus the salt in the water brings out the true flavor of the turkey. You will find your guests eating the turkey without any gravy or cranberry sauce. And you will go down in history as knowing how to prepare delicious turkey.

So please invest the time and don’t ruin Thanksgiving.

Here is my recipe for delicious turkey.

Click here for recipe.

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