Turkey Fryer Options... Anyone use an oiless "The Big Easy" propane?

6BangBronk

6BangBronk

Well-Known Member
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Jul 15, 2005
Location
Durham
I'm thinking this is the way to go? Being I'm a health nut and half my family has some sort of illness to peanut oil anyways. Not much mess, no buying a bunch of oil, no heating the house up, no 4 hour cook times and just as juicy. Just takes a tad longer than oil but the reviews are very high.

There's a lot of you-tube to back it up. Seems to be kinda all new logic but a lot of great ideas from different folk to cook stuff.
 
I didn't even know they made one. Save a lot of money not buying oil that's for sure.
 
Buy a smoker instead. Once you figure out the smoker thats all you will use year round!
 
They say this is a smoker too??? I found it $94 at Target with online coupon. I see smokers are a tad less. What's the advantages of a smoker??? @snappy
 
It's looks like a round version of the infrared burner on the back of a gas grill. I can see where that would work well on big birds but it's a pretty big marketing stretch to call it a fryer.
 
I use my smoker 3-4 times a week. We cook about everything you can think of on it. Spend a little more and get something you will use all the time.

On a smoker you can get the flavor and skin crispy without the oil being introduced. My wife tripped when i spent big money($500) on a tragaer then she quickly saw the value when i started cooking whole meals on it. I will cook chicken tenders, corn on the cob, mac and cheese, veggies(zuks and onions with pepper and little butter) and corn bread all at the same time with little clean up....
 
Can you determine temps easy in a smoker? I'm a firm believer in probing the meat and exact cooking. Especially birds.
 
Just discovered a smoker takes longer than conventional stove / over half a day. Think I'm sold on The Big Easy still... A tad over an hour and done.
 
I'm all for a smoker any other time guys but our fam likes to hit the bird at 11-12. I'd be far fetched to throw a bird on the table then. Especially with 20 of us camped out at Grandmothers. May only use it T-giving but I see why reviews are so high.
 
The Big Easy is an infrared oven basically. You can get a smoker version, but all it is a chip box that hangs next to the burners, under the meat. Very hard to add chips later. I have a friend that uses it all the time, and I would rank it as better than oven but not quite a fried turkey. I also smoke mine and prefer it. I picked up an electric smoker last year so that my wife didn't need to mess with the coal/gas and we use it all year round.
 
I use a Big Easy and have for several years. Turkeys, Chickens and Pork butts mostly. Prep the meat, drop it in with a thermometer and pull it out when it's ready. Simple, clean and super easy.




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anvilrubi said:
I didn't even know they made one. Save a lot of money not buying oil that's for sure.
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I see this said all the time in these discussions.
We routinely fry 5 turkeys a year and have for 4 years. I bought 2-3 gallon cubes of oil....4 years ago. I still have over half a cube of fresh oi. Are people really throwing their oil away after every cook? It doesnt even season in and get good until the 3rd or 4th cook. Let it cool then pour it back into the container. The very bottom of the fryer with the fat and the seasoning droppings toss. I save 95% of my oil after every cook.

A cube cost $25/ea...how much money are you saving?

By the way, infared searing isnt deep frying...by definition
 
Good point Ron.
The only real difference I see (besides the oil) is that you can use a dry rub in a infrared cooker. I imagine both gets the job done in reasonable time and not getting up at the crack of dawn. I know you're not supposed to put a frozen turkey in oil fryer, wonder about the infrared?

Bottom line is this has become an outdoor sport period. Cooking a turkey in the kitchen oven is just not practical in any way anymore. Especially with everything else that needs cooked as well (pies, rolls, lots more) the turkey hogs valuable oven space.

I've deep fried mine the past 3 years at a friend's house the night before where they have 3 going all day long taking care of the entire neighborhood on the same oil. And I have nothing against oil. But I never thought there was an alternative for taste and juiciness until I saw this thing. It just helps to get input from actual users and not die hard against-it's that's never heard of it before going out and dropping a Benjamin...
 
Ron said:
I see this said all the time in these discussions.
We routinely fry 5 turkeys a year and have for 4 years. I bought 2-3 gallon cubes of oil....4 years ago. I still have over half a cube of fresh oi. Are people really throwing their oil away after every cook? It doesnt even season in and get good until the 3rd or 4th cook. Let it cool then pour it back into the container. The very bottom of the fryer with the fat and the seasoning droppings toss. I save 95% of my oil after every cook.
Click to expand...

Peanut oil has about the longest shelf life that I can think of, and that's up to 3 years when unopened. Knock a year off of that if opened. I don't know what kind of oil you're using, but it sounds like you're waaaay over the normal shelf life, like a few years. That doesn't even account for oil that has already been damaged by heating and also contaminated.

Are you refrigerating it or freezing it, and are there some really heavy-duty additives in there to stabilize it? I'm absolutely amazed that it didn't go rancid in the fryer at least 2 years ago.
 
6BangBronk said:
Especially with everything else that needs cooked as well (pies, rolls, lots more) the turkey hogs valuable oven space.
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My mom has a double wall oven, which handily solves that problem. I'm getting one when we remodel our kitchen, whenever that happens (like 10 years from now probably). Two ovens, two different temperatures, so awesome.

6BangBronk said:
The only real difference I see (besides the oil) is that you can use a dry rub in a infrared cooker.
Click to expand...

Holy crap, why has that never occurred to me? I need to do that, I already dry-rub everything else, but don't really cook poultry (I got really bored of chicken and turkey a few years ago).
If we have T-giving at my house (with only a few people) I usually make salmon or gumbo or whatever, because forget making a turkey for like 3 people. I guess we did do turkey legs one year, which was perfect. Maybe turkey curry or something this year, just to keep the turkey tradition (somewhat) intact.
 
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Fabrik8 said:
Peanut oil has about the longest shelf life that I can think of, and that's up to 3 years when unopened. Knock a year off of that if opened. I don't know what kind of oil you're using, but it sounds like you're waaaay over the normal shelf life, like a few years. That doesn't even account for oil that has already been damaged by heating and also contaminated.

Are you refrigerating it or freezing it, and are there some really heavy-duty additives in there to stabilize it? I'm absolutely amazed that it didn't go rancid in the fryer at least 2 years ago.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about shelf life. After use I pour it back into the plastic container and seal it up and stick it in the basement. Besides once you heat the oil to 350F I am pretty sure you kill any bad joojoo hanging around.

And fwiw we dry rub our birds and let them season for 12 hours before dropping them in the oil...
 
Love fried turkey. But a few years ago my company gave us turkey to cook for thanksgiving at work and we did it in one of those $35 table top roasters from Walmart, no seasoning at all and it was the best I've ever had, cooked 2 hams in it for x-mas that same year. Outside was crisp and the inside was tender and juicy.
 
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