Best Fried Turkey Ever
By Deb Murray
In 1988 I was introduced to fried Turkeys. The super fun cooking personality Justin Wilson on
PBS changed the way I thought about turkeys. No longer slow roasting in the oven for hours,
but immersing in peanut oil and cooking for 4 minutes per pound. This yielded a juicy delicious
turkey with crispy skin like a chip….It was love at first bite for me!
I actually started a small business in 1990 where I would fry turkeys and deliver them for parties
in the St Petersburg area. It was very popular, but I discovered then, there were some serious
draw backs to deep frying turkeys. One the oil was very expensive, and rarely could you get 2
uses out of the 5 gallons, and disposing of the oil was a chore in itself, plus the danger of the oil
over flowing and starting a fire was also a very serious drawback. But they were delicious.
I would inject my turkeys 12 hours in advance with my own creole butter, now a days they are
readily available with the needle in most grocery stores. Then I would rub them with creole
seasoning salt right after removing from the oil.
This past year of demonstrating on TV a company introduced me to air frying. It seemed to
good to be true. Yet if anything you put in the air fryer was kissed with oi, the rapid hot air did
give the exact same results as deep fried with none of the negative attributes.
As my love affair with air fryers continued to grow. A manufacturer brought me a larger
capacity air fryer. One that would make double the amount of fries or wings in the same
amount of time. Sounded like a great idea to me, since there is no such thing as too many
fries, especially when they are fried with avocado oil and Himalayan sea salt and air!
After playing with it for a few weeks, it dawned on me. Could I possibly air fry a turkey!! Crispy
skin, super juicy meat, faster cook time. Could it be?! Yes! With a 5.8 litre air fryer or larger
you can air fryer a turkey breast better than deep frying in my opinion. With none of the
negative attributes like $40 for oil, the disposing of the oil, the dangers of the open flame near
the oil. Not to mention the calorie savings.
I bought 3 different sized turkey breasts, ranging from a bone in turkey breast half to a 6 pound
turkey breast. All of the cooked with in the same time frame. I did skin side down for half the
cooking time, then when the cooking time was complete, sprayed one more time with an oil
and cooked for 5 minutes more at the highest temperature. Every time, perfect results.
First when buying whole turkey breasts you want them to lay down flat, so I cut off the back
bone to use for making stock.
Next I like to inject with the creole butter. You can do this and let marinade up to 12 hours,
however I found even 30 minutes added great depth of flavor and texture.
Next place a piece of parchment in air fryer basket and spray entire turkey with your favorite oil
and place in the air fryer skin side down. I cook for half the time at 330 degrees.
Next turn the turkey breast, spray again with oil and cook for the remaining time at 330
degrees. When the timer goes off that turkey is finished. I spray with oil one more time and
raise the temperature to 400 degrees and cook for 5 minutes longer.
Use an instant read thermometer to make sure the internal temperature at the thickest past is
at least 140 degrees. Let the turkey rest before carving for at least 15 minutes.
This 5 pound turkey cooked to perfection in 1 hour and 15 minutes. Verses a traditional almost
3.
The flavor and juiciness are fantastic. This will give you a new twist on your Thanksgiving feast,
or even just to help supplement your turkey servings for your holiday. I would serve this is old
fashioned corned bread dressing.