Turkey Fryers

[Pony Express]

I have a loaner propane fryer stand and did my first fried turkey for TG last month. Got oil to 375 and lowered 10 lb turkey in. Temp dropped to 325 and would not come up until the last 10 minutes of the cook time.(no frozen spots I'm positive) Bird was cooked fine.

Watched a guy do some 12-15 lb turkeys and he was having to turn his down to keep it from going over 350 once his turkeys were in.

So question.

The loaner has the round burner that is about 5 inches in diameter .

I bought one yesterday from Academy. One they had said 38,000btu. The one I bought said 58,000 btu.

Once I got home, and opened the box, the burner on the new one looks to be the same as the loaner.

Is the difference in the regulator and how much gas it will let pass or am I going to have the same problem with keeping the temp up?

Should I return it and get something else?


I am planning to fry 2 12 lb ers for Christmas day.

Thanks and sorry for the long post

[Bockbock]

Are you sure the thermometer was not in the meat or touching the meat when frying? I have noticed that the long thermometers are not designed well to be in the oil and not touch the meat. Make sure you situate the thermometer to be straight up and down on the side of the pot instead of sticking out diagonally toward the meat. I have the same burner and did 2 13lb turkeys with no problem in keep the temp up. Had to actually turn it down at 1 point. Hope that helps.

[Pony Express]

yes thermo was properly situated.

I noticed that there are 5psi and 10 psi regulators. Im thinking that is the difference.

[BigDave]

35,000 btu's is a fish fryer and not a turkey fryer. You need many more btu's to fry a turkey to get past the initial heat sink when that cold bird is put into the oil.

All my turkey fryers are bout 75,000 to 100,000 btu's and they are the regular round burner. Maybe the newer ones have less btu's but a 35,000 btu burner is gonna have to work really hard to fry a turkey.

I usually bring oil up to 360 degrees, turn off burner, lower turkey and oil temp drops to 320 or so. Light burner and turn wide open. It should have the oil back up to 340 degrees in less than 15 minutes. Then lower flame to maintain 340 degrees for duration of cook. Towards the end of the cook, the burners are barely open.

[Pony Express]

So I fried 2 12# turkeys yesterday for Christmas. The new fryer worked much better that the borrowed one.
However, with the first one, I lowered the turkey into 375 degree oil and it droped to 300. I lifted it out and let the oil heat back up to 325 and lowered again. Iy held there till about 1/2 way thru the time and started climbing till it reached 350. I then had to turn it down, and down and down to keep it from going over.

the second Turkey only dropped to just slightly under 350 and after 15 minutes cliomed back to 350 and had to turn way down to hold it.

Not sure why the difference but they were delicious and all enjoyed.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

[RWBTEX]

Good to hear Jimmy, I have four different burners and honestly never looked at the btu labels but i made sure that I had the adjustable regulators so I can add more or less pressure to suit the food. Happy Holidays to you and Teresa.
Arnie