How to ensure that frying a turkey doesn’t ruin your turkey day

10/28/2021 (Permalink)

At SERVPRO we prioritize safety and we want you to do the same for this Thanksgiving. Make sure to enjoy the holiday season!

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, SERVPRO of Iowa City/Coralville wants to help ensure that your turkey day doesn’t get ruined by an accidental fire. According to the National Fire Prevention Association, on average, frying turkeys have been the main cause of about 900 homes in the United States every year.

Preparations for the turkey before you start frying

It is critical that when you are cooking a turkey that you should NEVER fry a frozen turkey. In fact, you should start thawing it in the refrigerator a few days before the big day and make sure it is dry beforehand. You will want to set up the unit on a flat surface, preferably, on a cement driveway far from the home with nothing overhead. One of the most important aspects to keep in mind is to not overfill the turkey fryer with oil. Overfilling the unit can run the risk of having the oil spill out and which could cause the whole unit to engulf in flames.

READY…SET…FRY!

It is time to get that turkey cooking, when placing the turkey into the frying unit, you will want to SLOWLY drop it into the fryer. After the turkey is in the fryer, you shouldn’t leave it unattended because the oil will continue to rise in temperature until it reaches 450? which is the temperature that oil will start to smoke. At any time during the frying process, you see any smoke coming from the unit you then immediately TURN OFF THE GAS. The turkey is cooked all the way through when the dark meat is at an internal temperature of 175-180? and all the white meat is at an internal temperature of 165-170?. Finally, one should never try to touch the unit without any form of oven mitts due to the extreme temperature that the fryer can reach.

GOBBLE GOBBLE Time

From our family here at SERVPRO of Iowa City/Coralville to yours we hope that you have a fun and safe Thanksgiving.