- Today might be my favorite day ever,
because we are frying a turkey
in this guy!
The Butterball Turkey Fryer.
So for those who were
terrified to fry a turkey at home because
guess what, it is a little scary.
Now you don't have to be,
with this beautiful electric turkey fryer,
the safest way to fry a big bird.
This turkey will fry for a third of the time
that it cooks in the oven.
The manual says something like
three to four minutes per pound
which means that this 18 pound turkey
will cook in less than an hour.
So, today's tests are 18 pound bird,
we're doing a very traditional oven roast as well
just so we can have a comparison.
So we do want to see how the turkey cooks,
the tenderness of the bird,
we want to see how moist it is
in comparison with the oven.
So, is this turkey fryer worth it,
for $109 plus $75 in oil?
For $109 plus $75 in oil?
We'll see.
Our oil has been preheating,
and it does take about an hour,
it recommends using peanut oil,
so that's what we're using here.
It has some very high smoking point,
so it will be very crusty and beautiful, hopefully.
There's a max fill line, so you don't have to worry
about this blowing up and getting all crazy
and creating fires, it is very safe,
it's electric, there are no fires.
It takes about three gallons of oil,
and you can obviously control your temperature
up to 375 degrees which is
what it recommends frying your turkey at.
And also it comes with this beautiful turkey basket
that will fit up to a 20-pound bird.
So this turkey is 18 pounds that we're testing today,
this also comes with a hook just so we're being safe
when it's coming out of the fryer,
it's your best option, cause you don't
want to stick your hand in there.
And that's pretty much it!
So here's our bird, our beautiful bird,
and one thing about frying a turkey,
you want it to be like super, super, super dry,
and this is because when you add
anything that has a lot of water into a fryer
where that's where you see
all those crazy fires happen and etcetera.
So really, dry turkey, make sure
you let it sit out for a while.
Salt and pepper, very generous,
just probably gonna fry off anyway.
So if you wanted to really inject the salt
into this turkey you can use one
of those meat injectors to really get the salt in.
You can see the shape of this basket,
it looks like the turkey shape,
and that's how we're gonna lay it in there.
Oh god, you're a heavy bird.
See this, it fits perfectly.
Now of course, I have to address
a little bit of concern,
because right off the bat here,
the turkey is touching too much surface
and what's the point of frying a turkey
if you don't get all the crispy skin?
One other concern I have is this basket itself.
It's a little flimsy, and with this hook
that it came with, I just feel like it's a little unstable
and when you're dealing with very hot oil
that could be very dangerous, but we'll see!
Okay, ready for this guys?
So, as you can tell, I've grown like five inches.
I need to get up real, real high
to make sure that I'm lowering this guy
very safely down into this fryer,
and of course, if you do it at home,
you can put this fryer on the floor.
Okay, so we're doing this.
(boiling bubbles)
So that was really scary,
but it's in there, it's cooking, it didn't blow up,
and there's no fires that were created.
Says to close the lid, and that's it.
Turkey is in, 57 minutes until we see
if this indoor turkey fryer is worth the price tag.
So while that's going, I'm gonna take
my turkey that's been in the oven for a few hours.
Okay, so this one needs to rest for about an hour,
so by the time my turkey is done in the fryer
this should be ready to go,
and then we can taste at the same time.
- Alright, the big reveal!
Finally, it's ready!
We're gonna take a look.
So we're gonna slowly, carefully lift this up.
So, we are hooking it on the side,
and letting it rest and drain for about 10 minutes,
that's what the manual says.
Wow, this bird looks freakin' good.
Okay, so 10 minutes, finally, finally,
because I've been smelling this all day
and I just need to eat it now.
So not using the hook for this
because it is too flimsy
and it's not that hot anymore,
take this out of the basket,
wish me luck.
It's pretty amazing for about an hour.
Got my two birds, and now right away
you can see the difference.
With the fried bird, definitely more evenly browned
on all the sides.
With my oven turkey, you can see
a little bit of differences in color,
like the breast is a little different than the legs.
So let's talk about the skin real quick.
The fried bird, the skin could have been
a little bit crispier, there are crispy areas
but, you know, some areas are a little soft.
On the roasted turkey, it's your classic sort of
like, crispy parts, but not the entire bird is crispy.
So in terms of skin crispiness,
I would say dead even, but you know the biggest
thing is, of course, the taste test,
which I've been waiting for all day.
And remember, less than an hour,
this was about three to four hours,
so there's a huge thing there.
Okay, so we're gonna start with our roasted turkey first,
and I'm gonna get a slice of the breast first
because it has a tendency of getting a little dry,
so we're gonna test the white meat,
and then we'll test the dark meat.
Very beautifully cooked, but you could see
it's a little dry on the top.
You could tell that down here is like juicier.
So that's our roasted, let's go with our fried.
Alright, so here is our fried turkey.
I definitely can tell that it's juicier
than the roasted bird.
You can see that because it's,
when you slice into it, it's actually wet,
you can see the juices,
but we will taste it to be sure.
Starting with the oven.
Mm-hm.
So, it starts juicy, then it finishes dry.
The salt is very prominent, and it definitely
has that salty bite, which I love.
Let's test the fried.
Definitely juicier, like, that is juicy,
but the salt hasn't penetrated that well
into the meat like this one has,
so there's a little bit of difference there,
but definitely more juicy, tender.
So, which the breast comparison,
definitely the turkey takes the cake,
it's just super juicy, but let's check on the dark meat.
This is what my grandma does,
she just goes in there with her hand.
I'm just gonna pull a little meat
from the thigh area, and obviously
I can already tell that it is
a lot more tender than the breast,
but, it's a little stringy.
But still, being dark meat, it's still tender,
and it has a lot of flavor, I think because
the salt really penetrated into the meat.
Little bit of uneven cooking, but we all
have this issue when we're cooking a turkey
in the oven, it just happens.
Well let's look at our fried turkey.
Alright, so if you like it is juicier
so I'm just gonna take a piece
of the outer layer actually for this one.
Mm, again, super moist.
This is like almost like eating a large fried chicken.
It is perfect, and there's some
really crispy skin over here, just really good.
Okay, so I love the fried bird.
It take like a third of the time as the oven-roasted turkey,
it's pretty evenly cooked, and super juicy and moist.
However, one caveat to all this, pan drippings.
And now if you're like a crazy gravy person,
this is very important, right?
You don't get pan drippings from this,
you just can't, it's fried.
This one, pan drippings, beautiful, lovely gravy.
So if you are that person, then maybe this is a downfall,
but don't forget, while this is cooking,
you can make like ten other sides in the oven,
that's huge, and for me, and I cook Thanksgiving meal
for my entire family, I need that oven space.
We always fight for it.
So, do I love the fryer?
Yes, I freakin' love the fryer, I love this fryer.
Can we fry more than just a turkey?
Yes, also you can fry brussel sprouts
and you can make french fries.
There's so many different things
that you can do with this fryer,
it's not just for the turkey.
Also, it's definitely the safest way
to fry a turkey, I definitely recommend
this gadget for $109 dollars, it is a steal.
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(upbeat music)