Turkeys in Peanut VS Veggie Oil

[AquaMan]

OK, we had a family reunion this weekend and I was asked to bring the turkey cookers. We had three all together. I went to Sam's Club and bought 5 gal of Peanut Oil and 2-5 gal of Veggie Oil (The peanut oil was cheaper at $21)

After all the hubub here about better taste in peanut, I thought why not.

I have to say, I, nor anyone else at the reunion, could tell which was which. We did 6 turkeys, about 12 pounds of fish and 30 rolls of bread sticks. It all tasted the same.

HOWEVER, the turkeys and the breads that were cooked in the peanut oil were a little lighter and the skins were not as crispy.

Just an FYI. Buy either one and enjoy cause I could not tell the difference and it was all good!

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.·´¯° --- "It all begins and ends at the water's edge"

Eric@crowncomputerinc.com

[EAGLE EYES]

Thanks for filling everyone in on that Eric!
I have argued with my stupid brother, over and over about that very same issue. I do however, notice that peanut oil seems to hold up a little longer if trying to filter and reuse.
Just one more thing: I've come to realize that injecting the bird right "in the meat" instead of "under the skin" like the directions state, tastes sooo much better! ;-) D'amn those birds taste good prepared that way, don't they? EE

[Borch]

LAST EDITED ON Jul-30-01 AT 01:33PM (CST)[p]Yummmmmmmmm....

I've done them both ways. Peanut oil does seem to hold up longer. Also noticed it does seem to boil over as easily as vegtable oil.

Yes, inject into the meat and then pinch the skin firmly at the punture site. This reduces the marinade leaking out the hole.

[Cangl]

Small wonder the price of turkey never comes down anymore!
Sure sounds like a good feast to me.

[water_wolf]

Aquaman,
Heres another way to prepare your turkey:
Take a beer keg (Bud, Busch, Michelob type with ring on top of it). Cut the top off with cutting wheel or plasma cutter if available. discard the dome part of top. then weld the ring part to the bottom of keg. Theres your cooker.

Drive a 1" steel rod into stone driveway (not blacktop) wrap a ball of aluminum foil on top of steel rod to prevent bird from falling thru to ground. place turkey over rod with legs poining down. season turkey with your favorite seasonings, cover with keg.

Pile up & light aprox 40 lbs of charcoal off to the side. Once it catches good and starts to turn white shovel it around the outside of the keg aprox 6" high, take remaining charcoal and place on top of the keg inside the welded ring. Allow 5 minutes for preheat and then cook exactly 8 minutes per pound of turkey.

It is absolutely the moistest turkey I have ever had without the oil and cholesterol.

This method has been done with metal garbage cans as well but they have galvanize coating. Using a keg you have a stainless steel cooker that will last for a long time. Let me know if you try this you wont be disappointed. Very important that you not exceed the 8 min/lb though.

Rich Ferguson

[Bob G2]

Glad to hear you can use vegetable oil. I was told to use only peanut oil, and my son has a peanut allergy. I'll start using the thing more.

[TJ]

After frying a turkey, do you reuse your oil another time? If so, how long can you keep the used oil and how many times can you use it? Does it have to be refrigerated after you use it once?

Just wondering as that peanut oil is kind of expensive.

[CWS]

THe big advantage of peanut oil is that you can heat it to a much higher temp without burning it. In the case of deep frying a turkey it probably won't make that much of a difference, but for blackening where you want your pan very hot the peanut oil is the way to go.

[AquaMan]

TJ, I get about 12 cooks from a 5 gallon jug. I do not keep it more then about 6 months either way and I store it in my basement that happens to be the coolest place in the house.

After every fry, I let the oil cool to air temp then I strain the oil and do not dump the last cup since it tends to be the worst. I might have to add a few cups after the 3rd or 4th time, but in the past I have always used veggie oil for the same reason. $$$$. But we picked up a 5 gal jug last week for $20 from Sams club. Same as the veggie oil so I tried it.

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.·´¯° --- "It all begins and ends at the water's edge"

Eric@crowncomputerinc.com

[TJ]

AquaMan:

Thanks. I fried one around Christmas with my new cooker just to try it. I'm goin to do another one next week. If the oil doesn't smell bad, I'll probably use it. I was wondering is the turkey fat that cooks off into the oil would make the oil go rancid after awhile. We'll see. Hate to ruin a bird with bad oil.

TJ

[Sculpin]

After I strain the peanut oil I put in my freezer until the next time. Have some that I have stored for over six months and still very usable.
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[Ode]

I also store my peanut oil in the freezer between turkeys. Seems to work great for me. In my experience frying turkeys, the oil seems to turn dark after using the cajun marinade. Anybody else have that happen?????

[EAGLE EYES]

Yep, It sure does. It's no big deal though. You can still reuse the oil but, I would recommend leaving out the oil on the very bottom of the kettle. The marinade that leaks out of the bird, burns, causing the dark color. That "Cajun" sure is good stuff though isn't it??

[Duane-MI]

I noticed you mentioned breadsticks. How and what kind do you deep fry? I am always looking for new things to put in the cooker.

[Sculpin]

Yes. Doesn't seem to affect the flavor however.
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[Sculpin]

>Yes. Doesn't seem to affect
>the flavor however.
>Sculpin
This post should have preceded post 12 and yes Cajun seasoning is great.
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