johny b wrote:

> hello everyone,
>
> i purchased a turkey fryer this year and am going to give this a shot.
> i have a few questions which i'm unable to find while googling. any
> info will be most helpful.

serveral general tips for using a turkey fryer:

1. do it away from your house. not on the deck, not in the garage, not anywhere
the house.

2. fill the fryer up with water and dunk your turkey in to find out how much
oil the turkey will displace.

3. make sure you have a thermometer to monitor the temperature of the oil
during the entire cooking process

> 1. when injecting the marinade with the syringe, am i putting it in the
> middle of the meat...or am i trying to get it between the sking and
> meat? The later seems like what most people are talking about when they
> refer to the turkey "inflating".

i'm not a big fan of injecting meat. i don't see any need to poke holes in meat
where there were none before. to me, it just gives the juice an avenue to run
out during the cooking process. however, lots of people do it and swear by it.
but they inject into the meat. not between the skin and meat.


> 2. i've also come across posts which mention putting a whole onion in
> the cavity of the turkey. this seems pretty interesting, i just toss
> this in before frying and leave it in the whole time right?

i've never tried this myself. i've deep fried lots of onions in my time and they
never took as long to cook as a turkey takes to fry. i'd be interested to know
how this turns out.

> 3. are there any other vegetables i should toss in the cavity as
> well...i'm pretty intrigued by this method

again, i haven't tried it but would be really interested to hear the results if
you do it.

> 4. i've come across many marinade recipes. i myself would like to try
> the hot ones with cayenne pepper however i feel the majority of guests
> would like something mild. which type seems to be most pleasing to the
> mass?

i'd prefer the hot myself but when you're cooking for lots of people, it's best
to go with the mild to placate the folks with spicophobia. :P

> 5. please feel free to share any of your favorite methods (vegetables,
> spices, marinades etc.). i'd love to hear them!

one thing you might want to consider is brining. it's a great way to get flavor
into the meat
without having to poke holes in it. there are tons of brine recipes available on
the web.