Step One, The Fryer

In order to deep fry a turkey, one requires a turkey fryer. A turkey fryer isnt your creepy uncle's fry daddy. No sir. A turkey fryer is a far more serious investment. In recent years turkey fryers have become synonomous with Thanksgiving day disaster as drunken yahoos nationwide disobey the cardinal rules of turkey frying and set their backyards and kitchens en fuego. As a result the cooking ware saftey committee, UL, will not even rate various turkey fryers.

The average turkey fryer will cost around 100$ US. Cheaper models are likely to result in bodily injury, and more expensive brands are unproven to be superior. Fortunately for this experiment the good folks at Cost Co had a fryer set for $99. The package stated that the contents included a giant stainless steel vat, a slightly less giant stainless steel cooking pot, a basket, and a wire hanger style turkey meat hook. Also included are some propane hook ups and a large base on which to set the whole affair atop a flame. Stability is provided by a steel girdle and the hopes that the user is discerning enough to put the thing on something firm and inflammable. After some substantial hemming and hawing, a coin flip, and a debate over oil flash points, we left the store with fryer in tow. It now sits a top a 35 lb box of peanut oil in the kitchen, next to the 20 gallon cooler of condiments.