Inarguably the most EPIC method to cooking your holiday bird is a southern style deep fry. Those who have experienced the unique contrast between the outer layer of crispy fried turkey skin next to the moist and tender deeper muscle know that this cooking technique is the pinnacle of dominating your holiday feast. Because we love good food, innovative ways to prepare good food, and winning at cooking good food, we are excited to share with you our founder’s family secret recipe to making the most EPIC turkey of your life.

INGREDIENTS & SUPPLIES:

• 10-14 pound Turkey (preferably pastured)
• 3 gallons of cooking oil (preferably EPIC Duck Fat or coconut oil) but a non-gmo peanut or canola oil can work. Its also possible to blend your oils for a uniqe flavor profile! Try using 1 or 2 jars of duck fat to supplement your readily available oil!
• Turkey injector (this culinary game-changer looks like an oversized syringe and can be purchased at your grocery store around the holidays)

FOR THE MARINADE:

• 1/2 cup grass fed butter (or coconut oil)
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon finely ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon finely ground thyme
• ¼ teaspoon finely ground oregano

METHOD 

The first step is to create the most EPIC marinade one the planet. Do so by melting the butter in a sauce pan over medium-low heat and adding the remaining seasoning ingredients. Stir constantly to avoid burning and mix until the butter is completely melted and the spices are evenly blended. Taste some of this liquid gold and decide if you want to customize it further. I tend to add more sea salt. Next, take your turkey injector and fill it with the heavenly marinade. You will be injecting this marinade into the maximal amount of muscle meat in this bird. Inject slowly and evenly throughout the entire bird. Afterwards, massage the skin areas of the injection sites to help the marinade penetrate deep into the meat. Allow your marinade injected turkey to rest for 20 minutes as you prepare the deep fryer.

Place the cooking oil into a large pot (28-30-quart size) and set over high heat on an outside propane burner equipped with a sturdy structure. Bring the oil temperature up to 350 degrees F and slowly lower the bird into the oil. The temperature will likely start dropping due to the introduction of a large room temperature turkey, so adjust the heat to land back at 350. Once stabilized, cover large pot and allow the turkey to cook approximately 30-35 minutes. Check the temperature of the turkey using a probe thermometer towards the end of the cook and once the internal temperature of the breast reaches 151 degrees F, gently remove from the oil and allow to rest for at least 20 minutes before carving. The bird’s internal temperature will continue to rise until it reaches 161 degrees F due to carry over of cooking.

Cooks Notes:

*Although its impossible to find this much duck fat (unless you work at EPIC), we encourage you to blend a few bottles of EPIC duck fat into the oil of your choice. It will help with flavor, stability, and color!

** Make sure that your turkey is fully thawed prior to cooking. Deep frying a frozen bird (or even a bird with an icy core) is the quickest way to burn down your house and ruin your holiday gathering.

*** In order to determine the correct amount of oil, place the turkey into a large waterproof bag and place it inside the pot that you will be frying it in, add water just until it barely covers the top of the turkey and is at least 4 to 5 inches below the top of the pot. This water will equal the amount of oil you use for frying the turkey. Using too much oil can be dangerous and is a sure way to lose all culinary street credibility as well as burn your house to the ground.

**** Once you deep fry a turkey with an injected marinade, all baked turkeys will forever taste inferior.

Enjoy the majestic art of deep frying a turkey this year! It's an EPIC way to celebrate the holidays and will blow away the rest of your culinary spread. Onwards to the most glorious holiday feast of your life!