Aurora Catering's
Oil-less Fried Turkey
Yield 8 - 10 dinner servings
EQUIPMENT
Char-Broil's Big Easy Oil-less Turkey Fryer
The Big Easy is really that EASY!! It takes about 30 minutes to assemble out of the box, and you have to do a one time season of the interior stainless steel cooking drum with oil before use (and additional 30 minutes), but from there on..... you are good to go!!
You can check out the pic of the seasoned interior drum on the
second pic down.....
The darker the char the better the fryer cooks because of the infrared heat
radiated by the darkened surface.
Ingredients
1 12-14 LB TURKEY (Defrosted)
1 ONION (Quartered)
10 SPRIGS ROSEMARY
1 LEMON (Sliced)
1 TBSP OLIVE OIL
2 TBSP CREOLE SEASONINGS
Method
Turn the fryer on to preheat...
Meanwhile,
remove and discard the plastic or wire leg restraint and plastic meat
thermometer that is normally supplied with the turkey...rinse the bird under
cold water, remove giblets....stuff the interior of the bird with about half of
the rosemary sprigs, onion and some of the Creole Seasonings. Then use
your fingers to separate the skin from the turkey breast and place the lemon
slices and remaining sprigs under the skin and between the breast meat.
Rub the skin with olive oil and remaining Creole Seasonings.
Place the giblets and neck in the bottom of the wire basket and arrange the bird legs down and breast up in the basket. Place the (supplied meat thermometer) in the thickest portion of the breast, insure the tip is not touching any bone, or else you will get a false reading.
There is a drip pan that comes with the fryer.... Make sure that you have placed it correctly in the bottom drawer rails.... otherwise you will get greasy drippings all over the floor!!
Lower
the basket in the fryer and cook about 2 and 1/2 hours or until the internal
temp reads 165F. See pic (right). There is a wire mesh lid that comes with
the fryer... use it to conserve heat in windy or cold conditions.... so far,
living in New Orleans I found that I did not need it.... you don't want to cook
the bird too fast.
Remove basket (with supplied hook)... and allow the turkey to rest for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make a gravy!!!
Retrieve
the drippings, discard collected grease... in a sauce pan and over medium heat
warm the drippings. Retrieve the cooked onion from the inside of the bird, chop
fine and add to gravy.. add your favorite seasonings to taste (granulated
garlic, white, black and/or red peppers, salt). Dice the giblets, pull
meat from the neck and add to sauce... incorporate 2 cups of white wine and
about 2 tbsp of a cafe au lait colored
roux.
Alternate Method
Before cooking the turkey can be injected with your favorite marinade ....Also,
if you are looking for a VERY moist turkey, brine the turkey refrigerated
overnight.
Plate Presentation
For family or banquet settings, use a Chef's knife and carve off slices, serve!!
Chef's Notes:
This is a great recipe because you get the flavors of a Cajun fried turkey
without the cost of a lot of expensive oil!! Also, because the internal
and exterior rubbed seasonings would burn in a traditional fried turkey you get
to impart those flavors with this method.
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Chef Emile L. Stieffel, Aurora Catering, Inc. email address: ChefEmile@CustomCatering.net
Copyright © 1995 - 2012, Aurora Catering, Inc. All rights reserved.
Revised: January 13, 2012