GREENSBORO, N.C. — We've all seen the fire department demonstrations and watched the turkey fryer explode in flames. While the demos are cool to watch, no one wants that to happen on their Thanksgiving day.
The three things you need to keep in mind when frying a turkey will keep you from dealing with a scary Thanksgiving.
#1 Use the fryer outside.
Don't put it in the garage, even with the door open. Don't put it under the porch overhang. The fryer needs to be outside and away from any overhang.
#2 Never fry a frozen or partially frozen turkey.
The turkey needs to be thawed or you could be seeing those big flames. It’s a good idea to pat your turkey dry before you put it in the fryer oil.
#3 Don't overfill the fryer.
If you put in too much oil it will bubble over and possibly cause a fire.
"You need to know how much oil should go in there so a day or two before, mark it out and fill the fryer with water and dip in the frozen turkey, measure it out, mark it on the pot, do it a day or two before,” said Dee Shelton of the Greensboro Fire Department.
NATIONAL THAWING DAY
Whether you're frying, roasting, or smoking your turkey, November 17, 2022, is Thawing Day. A week before thanksgiving is when you take out the frozen turkey and put it in the refrigerator to thaw.
Butterball has a thawing calculator on its website. You put in the number of pounds of turkey and the thawing timeline is calculated for you, so you'll know for sure how long the bird needs to be in the freezer or if you do the cold water thawing method in the sink.
Butterball answers all kinds of questions, in fact, on most Thanksgiving Days, they answer calls or texts from 15,000 people.
You can call the Butterball turkey talk line at 1-800-BUTTERBALL or text the experts at 844-877-3456.
