Food Blogs!

The first words that came out of my mouth were: "holy crap!" Not only is it huge, but disaggregated into categories including "dormant." The funniest classification might be the Not Food but Food in the Name blogs. Thanks Ed, this is a great resource actually.

Thanks for the link. I have 25 (or so) years of Bon Apetit and Gourmet in the basement (not kidding). http://www.epicurious.com which is run by Conde Nast, the publishers of BA and Gourmet is a useful link if you want recipes. I can also link you to a German website http://www.alfredissimo.de/ which has some interesting recipes.

I'm thinking about doing a smoke-fried turkey for thanksgiving this year. That's where you put it in the smoker until it's about 130 degrees (internal temperature), then take it out and put it in the turkey fryer until it hits 170. That way you get the flavor from the smoke, but still get the crispy skin and moisture of the deep frying. I'm told it's delicious this way.

You must have a huge fryer if it will accommodate an entire turkey.

This somewhat (but not exactly) reminds me of one roommate I had in college. He would make what he would call "oven fried chicken." All that that meant was that, when it came his turn to cook, he would crumple potato chips over the chicken (for the grease, of course) and then roast it in the oven. Except for the fact that the result didn't taste very good (he was not a gourmet chef), it was somewhat hilarious.

Turkey fryers have become really popular. Mine is a component system so I can use it for other things as well. It's basically a huge outdoor burner fueled by LP gas. I've got a 30 gallon stainless steel pot that is used for frying turkeys, and a smaller pot for frying fish, chicken, and so forth. And I can use it with a huge wok as well, or for crab boils and things like that. Very versatile.

Now if you can just find some local bio-diesel users to process your fryer oil. I almost hate to admit that i still haven't tried frying a turkey. I have been a Thanksgiving smoker since, well, you were still little kid Ed. I haven't found anything to replace the flavor of good fruit tree woods reduced to fine charcoals. But i do so love the crispy, tasty flavor of fried skin---maybe one of these days.

30 gallons? The thing must be huge. I've never heard about such a thing before, but it's good that you're doing it outside. If it were done inside, one mishap with the oil might send your house up in flames.

Which brings to mind a weird story. Around the corner from where we live, a man had a motor boat in his garage. For a reason that nobody can figure out, he decided to start the motor in his garage. The motor fell off the boat, and initiated a fire that burned down the garage and some portion of the house. Stupid is as stupid does. I don't know what he thought he was accomplishing by starting the motor in his garage--maybe he was just testing it out--but if he had taken the boat into the street to start the motor, he could have avoided that. The house and garage were rebuilt.

Thanks for the link.

As Alton Brown once said, you really have to reconsider a cooking process where the risks can be described with the words "engulfed in flames". Here's a scary movie that demonstrates just how dangerous it is. www.ul.com/consumers/turkeys.html

kiplog wrote:

As Alton Brown once said, you really have to reconsider a cooking process where the risks can be described with the words "engulfed in flames". Here's a scary movie that demonstrates just how dangerous it is. www.ul.com/consumers/turkeys.html

Is Alton Brown really against turkey frying? I've friend them before and never had a problem. It's really not a big deal, it just takes a little common sense to avoid that risk. And you're welcome for the link. Thanks for all the links to cool food blogs.