Being one for simplicity, I purchased the Bradley about a month ago and just got the Charbroil Big Easy Deep Fryer (local Lowe's had it for $129+tax). I have heard everybody brag about deep fried turkeys but didn't want the mess or the extra calories. I also read many testimonials and everybody raved about the Big Easy. I have to say, the turkey I just completely with a combination of the Bradley and Big Easy was absolutely fantastic (I'll describe in detail below). I wish I would have taken pictures, but here's what I did:
Brined the 12 lb. Turkey for 34 hours - (2 gallons of water, 2 cups table salt, 2 cups white sugar, 3 oranges, 3 lemons and lots of fresh thyme and rosemary). I use a 5 gallon orange round Gatorade cooler.
Put in the frige to dry for 7 hours. Once I pulled from the fridge, I rubbed with a Olive Oil infused with basil and garlic which I got from the local farmer's market.
Put turkey in smoker breast side up on level 3 (counting from the bottom up)
Cold smoked (disconnected the oven power from the smoke unit) for 3 hours with a combination of alder (only because I haven't used it yet) and pecan. I live in Northern CA, and with the temp off, it still got to around 100 F even though it was heated purely from the smoke unit.
Once the 3 hours hit, I moved to the Char Broil Big Easy (breast side up) and cooked to an IT of 165 and removed.
The results were by far the best turkey that we've ever eaten and afterwards took the carcass and immediately started to make a soup with it.
2 weeks ago I did a smoke only Turkey and it was very tender and smoky. The "Smofried" turkey was less smoky, but much juicier, which I thought would be impossible because the smoked turkey was the best ever! Also, since the Big Easy has a removable drip pan, we took the drippings and made gravy with it, which was very smoky and perfectly salted. The turkey was phenomenal and since the legs and back were facing down during the smoking process, they had more smoke flavor than the breast. I have to say, my favorite part was the skin which was extremely crispy and had great flavor. The smoked only turkey had rubbery skin. MMMMMMMM, I can't want to do another.
Favorite Turkeys:
1) Smo-Fried
2) Smoked
98) oven baked
I haven't tried a non smoked, fried turkey yet though. . .
Your turkey sounds good...
Easiest / best fried turkey recipe I know (pre-smoker) is to get a turkey, rub liberally outside and in with either Tony Chacheries or Zatarain's creole seasoning. Coat heavily, let sit for 30 minutes, then fry in peanut oil.
turns out fantastic!
(just make sure you pour the liquid out of the cavity before puttin it in the oil and forming a steam geyser... don't ask me how I know)
This sounds :) good. Another project on my To Do list.
I had tought about this a while back but never got up the nerve to try it. Im glad someone else has already proved that it can be done and that it tastes great. Ever since i cooked my family a fried turkey they wont have it any other way...but maybe this will be a nice change for them???
My Family was hooked on the Deep Fried Turkey. Then we went on a diet / lifestyle change, deep fryer is with the mothball fleet. The Honey-Brined Hickory smoked Turkey is the new favourite.
Smofried is a good way to go. ;D
I like deep fried cuz it cuts down some on my fat intake the way the food absorbs less etc. ??? Now that i come to think of it that is also why i am smoking cigars now :-[ it was the healthy alternative :-\
I dont know if its true or not but I had a roomate that had a degree in nutrition that told me a fried turkey was healthy as long as you didnt eat the skin. She said that the skin takes in all of the fat but wont let it into the meat. ??? Like I said I dont know if that is true or not but I like to think it is at least. ;D
I forgot the most important part. The Char-Broil Big Easy is an oil-less fryer. I was concerned how it would turn out and it was great without all the extra calories. The smoked, crispy skin was the best.
Uh, Oil less ? Isn't that like a motor-less NASCAR car ? I looked it up, looks cool. Kinda like an propane oven. I might have to get me one of those!
Hey Big Cat,
I've been making smoked fried turkey and fried turkey for several years now, using peanut oil. Won't ever go back to roasted ;D
Saw the Big Easy Deep Fryer last turkey day and was thinking about "upgrading" to a oil less system.
Happy to hear someone has good results.
Have you done anything else other than Turkey? Chicken or Duck?
In what part of Nor Cal are you?
Thanks
Scotty-G
I live in the beautiful "Produce Paradise" of Salinas, CA. I haven't cooked anything else, but this weekend, we are going to do 2 whole chickens. One smoked and one "oil-lessly fried". I'm planning on brining both together in the same solution and then invite the family and friends over for the taste test. I'll supply pics and results for this showdown!
Quote from: Big Cat on April 09, 2008, 01:02:29 PM
I live in the beautiful "Produce Paradise" of Salinas, CA. I haven't cooked anything else, but this weekend, we are going to do 2 whole chickens. One smoked and one "oil-lessly fried". I'm planning on brining both together in the same solution and then invite the family and friends over for the taste test. I'll supply pics and results for this showdown!
That would be great Big Cat. I've been thinking of picking one up to try but hadn't heard anyones thoughts on the Big Easy until just now. From what I understand I can order it through Home Depot or Lowes.
Big Cat I guess I didnt know that this cooker didnt use oil. Did the turkey not dry out cuz I hate dry turkey!!! >:(
I love fried turkey but I ditched my setup after pumping 4 gallons of peanut oil on my basement floor. I was recycling the oil with a pump made for that purpose (kinda resembles a pump that you would pump oil into a kerosene heater). I left it unattended for no more than 5 minutes, and when I returned, the end of the hose had blown off of the pump, and I had a HUGE MESS. >:( I always seemed to mess up a concrete patio with the oil bubbling over anyway, so I threw everything away but the pot. The Big Easy sounds like something worth checking into, so please keep us posted with your progress. :)
That "fryer" is pretty cool...might have to purchase one of those babies!! Thanks for the post BigCat.
http://www.amazon.com/Char-Broil-Oil-Less-Infrared-Turkey-Fryer/dp/B000W74HI2 (http://www.amazon.com/Char-Broil-Oil-Less-Infrared-Turkey-Fryer/dp/B000W74HI2)
Amazon has a video explaining the fryer.
Big Cat,
Can you do chicken wings or boil water in it? It looks awesome but I am trying to figure out if it is strictly a Turkey fryer.
I just watched the video. Way too cool! Be our 'guinea pig", Big Cat, and let us know how it performs. All eyes are on you now! :o
Yeah...I'm with OnTrack BigCat...tell us what else that thing can do...(I watched the video too). It could be an interesting purchse for us...should we ever have an "issue" such as the "E" word we would need a cooker that is other then natural gas.
Im on board with the rest of em. I watched the video as well. I was just wondering how much it dries the meat out and also what all you can use it for.
I can testify that it didn't dry the meat out at all, even after 3 hours of cold smoke. It was very juicy and tender. I did brine for 34 hours before hand though. My only beef with it so far is that the cooking accessories are limited to the basket. I would love if they had some type of shelf structure similar to the Bradley where you could cook multiple items at same time.
Quote from: Big Cat on April 10, 2008, 01:38:33 PM
I can testify that it didn't dry the meat out at all, even after 3 hours of cold smoke. It was very juicy and tender. I did brine for 34 hours before hand though. My only beef with it so far is that the cooking accessories are limited to the basket. I would love if they had some type of shelf structure similar to the Bradley where you could cook multiple items at same time.
Also a stock pot with a pail handle would be a great accessory for steaming clams, lobsters etc.
All Clad makes a gem of a lobster pot (with steamer). Looks like it would fit too. We use ours alot...kinda pricey but well worth it.
I saw one of your American butane-powered turkey fryers on a UK TV program once. :-\
Aren't they just a little bit dangerous? I mean, I presume you don't let kids go within a mile or two of them. Wouldn't it be safer just to put your head on a railway track? :o
One of those would never, ever, get European safety accreditation (the 'CE' mark you might see on goods).
Quote from: EnglishGuy on April 11, 2008, 01:42:54 AM
Wouldn't it be safer just to put your head on a railway track? :o
No EnglishGuy, then I would have to be at the scene and do a lot of paperwork. We had a train hit and kill a trespasser on Tuesday. Not a pretty sight, for sure... :P
Quote from: EnglishGuy on April 11, 2008, 01:42:54 AM
One of those would never, ever, get European safety accreditation (the 'CE' mark you might see on goods).
The other option is fry in peanut oil that is burning in an open pot over an open flame. . .
Now
that won't even get UL certification here.
Hey Big Cat,
The Charbroil web site said you could use round baking cooling racks to act as addtional shelves.
One question I have is how does it do with breading coating the outside for some KFC style deep fried chicken??
Probably not too well but there's an experiment if your interrested.
Scotty-G
Quote from: Scotty-G on April 11, 2008, 04:48:25 PM
Quote from: EnglishGuy on April 11, 2008, 01:42:54 AM
One of those would never, ever, get European safety accreditation (the 'CE' mark you might see on goods).
The other option is fry in peanut oil that is burning in an open pot over an open flame. . .
Now that won't even get UL certification here.
Hey Big Cat,
The Charbroil web site said you could use round baking cooling racks to act as addtional shelves.
One question I have is how does it do with breading coating the outside for some KFC style deep fried chicken??
Probably not too well but there's an experiment if your interrested.
Scotty-G
It should work fine with breaded chicken, and other breaded foods. I often make baked "fried" chicken in my oven. Substituting crushed corn flakes for bread crumbs will give you a crisper coating. If you are thinking of doing this, first do a search on oven fried chicken to get an idea of how to apply the coating, also some recipes call for spraying the coated chicken with a non-stick spray, but I found that is not necessary.
Picture Test:
(http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm261/bthure74/START.jpg)
Now that I own both pieces of equipment, I couldn't resist but to test them yesterday and here are the results:
1) In order to keep an apples to apples comparison, I brined two chickens for 12 hours in a salt, sugar, thyme, rosemary solution with a couple of lemons and oranges tossed in. Here is the pic once the brine was washed off
(http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm261/bthure74/START.jpg)
2) A picture of the chicken and ribs in the smoker after 3 hours (all Cherry)
(http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm261/bthure74/Smoker.jpg)
3) A picture of the chicken in the oil-less fryer
(http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm261/bthure74/Fryer.jpg)
4) Side by Side Comparison after cooking
(http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm261/bthure74/Comparison.jpg)
5) Sliced Smoked Chicken Breast
(http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm261/bthure74/SmokerCut.jpg)
6) Sliced Fried Chicken Breast
(http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm261/bthure74/FriedCut.jpg)
The results . . . All in all, both chickens were very tender and moist. The crispy skin from the fryer was outstanding, but have to give overall flavor to the OBS! The next comparison will be to compare a brined smoked item vs. a seasoned skin fried item!
Hey Big Cat,
Any new upates with the "Big Easy"?
Just saw it listed tonight on Amazon for <$100.
Thanks
Scotty-G
I did a smoked fried turkey a few times. They are very good eats ;D
nepas
Took the leap and ordered mine and am waiting for delivery from Amazon.
Nepas - when you smoked your turkey first, did you cold smoke or hot smoke?
How long did you smoke for?
What woods & rubs?
Thanks for sharing