Make sure it’s not frozen or too cold. Do it outside on the concrete but if you don’t want grease stains put a tarp down. Wear longish work gloves so you don’t get the oil on your skin and make sure your lifters and pot are the right size for your bird and don’t use just whatever you have!! That and not wearing long sleeves/gloves/closed toed shoes is how people have a little spill and then drop the bird or knock the whole pot and end up burned. It’s easier to do two smaller birds than one giant one for a lot of people.

It was fun for a family event but I like my oven turkey because it is much easier (I’m already in the kitchen) and since I make smaller birds anyways.

Get your turkey from ShoNuff Turkeys in Maple Lawn, right off 29 just south of Columbia.

As far as frying, I buy a large container of peanut oil from BJs and I used the indoor/outdoor electric fryer from Butterball. It’s well worth the money. Takes about 3-4 minutes per pound.

Don’t.

The worst part of turkey frying is the cleanup. Have a plan for the oil.

Every time I fried, I was the only one out on the cold lawn in the dark trying to get the oil managed and everything else cleaned up. So I stopped doing it, and now I smoke the turkey.

That being said, the tail on a fried turkey is amazing.

Are you looking for a source or tips? I don't know anyone that sells fried turkey in the area. I've been frying my own for 20 years without issues. I do recommend doing a smaller bird and getting a large single container of oil (can't remember how much it holds) someplace like bjs. It makes it much easier to pour off and save for reuse. It can be used many times as long as you store it out of the sun.

For safety, shut the burner off when you submerge or remove the turkey. Also, use the displacement of water from the turkey (before you unwrap it) to determine how much oil you should use.

Did you find a source for fried turkey? I was at the Laurel Dutch farmer's market this past weekend and saw that one of the vendors DJ's Wings is selling fried turkey for Thanksgiving. You can check the farmer market website for their phone number to call and order. Another vendor there is selling smoked turkey. I think they were called Yoder's. I bought a smoked turkey last year from ShoNuff near Maple Lawn. It was good, just reheat in the oven.

Don’t deep fry it. It is extremely dangerous and tons of people end up in the E.R. as a result. Just put it in the oven!