Posted on 11/21/2003 3:38:08 PM PST by mhking
JACKSON - Mississippian George Glenn set out to fry a turkey last holiday season and almost cooked his goose.
After flambéing his bare hand on the turkey fryer's hot lid, Glenn flung the bird into the bubbling grease with a bit too much gusto. "It exploded like a cannon," said the Rankin County resident. "Grease shot up and I got second-degree burns on my forearms and hands."
Glenn doesn't blame the fryer for his misfortune. "You can't idiot-proof the world," he said.
But you can take steps to ensure your holiday menu doesn't land you in the emergency room, says Lauren Fairburn, coordinator for Think First, Methodist Rehabilitation Center's statewide safety and injury prevention program.
Her advice: Use extreme caution around turkey fryers.
"These fryers are very popular, but they also can be quite dangerous," Fairburn said. "Underwriters Laboratories Inc. won't even give any of these cookers its safety seal. The labs' testing revealed too many risks."
Among the labs' concerns: units can easily tip over, spilling hot oil; spillovers can hit the burner/flames, setting the whole unit on fire; lack of thermostat controls means the units can overheat oil to the point of combustion; the sides, lid and handles get dangerously hot.
Given the risks, Fairburn says families might want to go back to cooking their turkey the old-fashioned way. But if you can't forgo the taste of deep-fried turkey, she recommends heeding Underwriters Laboratories' tips for safe turkey fryer use:
Always use turkey fryers outdoors, keeping them a safe distance from buildings and other materials that can burn.
Never use turkey fryers on wooden decks or in garages.
Use fryers on a flat surface to reduce accidental tipping.
Never leave the fryer unattended. Most units do not have thermostats and oil can continue to heat until it catches fire.
Keep children and pets away from fryer during and after use. Oil can stay dangerously hot for hours after use.
Do not overfill cooking pot.
Use well-insulated potholders and oven mitts when touching pot or lid handles. Safety goggles can protect your eyes from oil splatters.
Make sure the turkey is completely thawed and be careful with marinades. Water or ice crystals (from partially thawed birds) introduced into boiling hot fat can cause oil to bubble over, leading to fires or even explosions.
If any part of the turkey fryer catches fire, do not attempt to extinguish. Get everyone away from the fryer and any areas that are endangered and call 911 for help.
For more information about safe cooking or the injury prevention programs offered by Methodist Rehabilitation Center, go to methodistonline.org.
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Question...what's with this new-fangled frying of turkeys that's going on? What ever happened to roasting them? It's probably much healthier...in more ways than one!
Perhaps you should try one. ymmmmmmmmmm
Wonder how many homes or patios will get burned this year...
Rookies who attempt this at home without having an experienced friend oversee the process are risking the sight of a turkey rocket, nanoseconds before they get covered with boiling oil.
Can't...they don't fry turkeys in the UK and I don't have anything that would hold it anyway. I roast my Thanksgiving and Xmas turkeys in the oven and that's the way I likes 'em.
Before anyone asks...Thanksgiving is not a holiday here. You'd be surprised how often I get asked that! I take a day and a half off work for it. I get 21 days vacation here (one of the only GOOD bits about living in the UK) so I can take all the Brit holidays and the American ones. :-)
I may try one when I move back to the U.S., but I wouldn't want to make a habit of it; I'm sure it's much higher in fat and cholesterol than a roast turkey!
Frying a turkey is easy as long as you use common sense (IE follow the rules above). My brother and I have fried at least 20 birds over the past 5 years with no problems.
Put the fryer on a level concrete pad away from the house and keep an eye on it and everything is fine.
15 Lb bird is fully cooked in under an hour.
To the moon!
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