Fearless Frying: Machine eliminates much of the danger

Call me chicken, but I had never fried a turkey until a week and half ago.

Frying turkeys has become popular in the last 10 years. Butterball reports that nearly two-thirds of Americans have fried one or know someone who has.

And having tasted a few fried turkeys, I'm sold on the method. It produces a moist, juicy bird in record time.

But the idea of having to cook it outside in a big pot of hot oil over an open flame sounds like a lot of work. And it's dangerous. The manual for one popular brand of outdoor fryer contains four pages of danger warnings. Insurance companies regularly send out warnings about frying turkeys, and just this February, a Stokes County couple lost their home in a fire caused by a turkey fryer.

Butterball reports that less than 10 percent of Americans who are familiar with the outdoor method consider it safe.

But when I heard that Butterball, in partnership with Masterbuilt, had developed an electric, indoor turkey fryer, I was intrigued and got hold of one. I noticed that the safety warnings covered less than one page.

I asked two experienced turkey fryers to help me take it through its paces to see whether it's any good.

Tom Radulovic is a page designer and copy editor at the Winston-Salem Journal. He has been frying turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas for several years. And Bill Mitchell of Clemmons, who works in IT at Wells Fargo, loves to fry, smoke, grill or otherwise cook anything outdoors.

Both men love to fry turkeys not only for the taste, but also for the sheer fun. Mitchell called the super-moist meat and crispy skin "extremely impressive." He also likes that it's quick and frees up the oven for other things.

Radulovic said: "I've never cooked a bad turkey -- and I can't cook. I've done between 10 and 20 and have never had a dried-out bird."

Both men also like the fun of cooking outdoors, and the danger that goes with it. "Cooking outside around ‘the fire' (propane burner, actually) is very social," Radulovic said.

Mitchell listed danger as both a pro and a con. "Even though hanging outside is kind of cool, you never can leave it alone." Not even for a minute, he said.

The three of us gathered at my house on a recent Sunday afternoon to try the new indoor fryer. Overall, I'd say we were pretty impressed.

The Butterball Indoor Electric Turkey Fryer is widely available, including the stores or Web sites of such places as Wal-Mart, Target and Bed Bath & Beyond.

Here's what we found.

Cost

At first, I was put off by the $119 suggested retail price. Then I found that the cheaper outdoor fryers, from $50 to $75, tend to have less-sturdy construction. The bigger, sturdier -- and safer -- ones can run $100 to $200.

Also, propane figures into the cost of the outdoor fryers. A new tank can run $50, and refills -- which appear to have enough fuel for three or four turkeys -- can cost $18 to $20.

Oil is also a significant cost. Many outdoor fryers require 5 gallons of peanut or other cooking oil, which can run $25 at discount stores. The Butterball indoor fryer uses only two gallons of oil.

So the electric indoor fryer seems cheaper in the long run.

Ease of use

This fryer takes up a lot of counter space. It's 18.1 inches long, 16.7 inches wide and 16.8 inches high. It also is limited in size to a bird of no more than 14 pounds.

This fryer has some nice features. Unlike outdoor fryers, it has a built-in thermostat with a light that signals when the oil reaches 375 degrees, the typical temperature for frying a turkey. It also has a digital timer that counts down the minutes and beeps when the bird is ready. Also, a window in the lid lets people watch the bird cook.

You still have to meticulously pat dry the bird to remove excess moisture, as you would for outdoor frying. Radulovic said that the raw turkey splattered a lot less with the indoor fryer. But that may be just because I dried the bird really well.

The fryer made little noise and produced a little steam but no smoke. The kitchen did smell like fried food, but it wasn't oppressive.

A final feature that Mitchell and Radulovic liked is a drain spout at the bottom rear of the pot that allows easier disposal of the used oil once it has cooled. It still requires tilting the cooled fryer to get it completely empty, but it's easier than lifting a big heavy pot.

"That's a big plus for me," Radulovic said.

Safety

The fire hazard of an outdoor fryer mainly involves the open flame of the propane burner that can ignite splattering oil. The indoor fryer doesn't have an open flame, so it's much safer. It also has a lid to reduce spatters, though we witnessed no spattering in our test, even when we had the lid open.

I was initially dismayed by the short, 3-foot cord that easily pops loose. Extension cords are not recommended. But it turns out that the short cord is a good safety feature. It would be hard to trip over this, and even if you did, it would be hard to pull the unit off the counter because the cord comes loose with just a slight tug.

In general, this fryer would be hard to knock over unless you threw your full weight against it.

So, overall, it beats the outdoor fryer on safety.

Results

Thanks to the built-in thermostat and time, cooking this bird was easy. Getting it out of the basket wasn't, though, because the skin stuck to the sides. The manual doesn't mention this, but I'd recommend spraying the basket with cooking spray before adding the bird.

Carving up this bird revealed meat that is as moist and juicy as any outdoor fryer. And the turkey skin came out just as crispy.

"For the beginner, this is a good unit," Mitchell said.

It's not quite as much fun, Mitchell and Radulovic said, but it is easier.

"I like having my (outdoor) rig for the romance," Radulovic said. "But this is really very good. It would be perfect for an apartment. And it's versatile."

The fryer can be used to fry wings, catfish and more. And smaller batches can be cooked with just one gallon of oil. Also, it can steam or boil foods, such as a Lowcountry boil of shrimp, corn, potatoes and sausage.

Mitchell is now thinking that it might be nice to have an indoor and outdoor fryer.

"If I hadn't seen it, I would have never thought of buying one," Mitchell said.