Deep Fried Turkey

I've been deep frying my turkey ever since I got married and decided to cook the turkey for Thanksgiving. I was always afraid of cooking turkey myself for fear of possibly over cooking and and drying it out. So for our first Thanksgiving as a married couple, I decided to deep fry it. I was so new at cooking a turkey that I left the packet of innards inside the cavity of the turkey. I thought I had pulled everything out, but didn't realize there was more to it. lol. Anyway, it still came out so flavorful and so moist. I've never done it any other way. Except that now, I'm more of a pro in cleaning out the turkey. My deep fried turkey has made a lot of non-turkey eaters love eating turkey. I also made this for a potluck at work. My boss bought the turkey and I deep fried it. It was a huge hit. I think this is the reason why I end up having Thanksgiving dinner with my family at my house every year.

18-20 lb. turkey (cleaned and dried)

2 cups warm water

2 Tbsp. store-bought creole seasoning

2 Tbsp. store-bought turkey rub

peanut oil

1) Measure out the amount of peanut oil you need by placing turkey in the deep fryer and pouring water until the turkey is completely submerged. Remove turkey. Mark the water level on the outside of the fryer with duct tape. Pour out water and completely dry the fryer.

2) Pour peanut oil to the previously measured level. Heat oil until it reaches 360-380 deg. F, about 1 hour.

3) Mix water and creole seasoning in a deep bowl. With a turkey syringe, inject mixture into different parts of the turkey. Note: since the breast area tends to dry out quickly, inject more of the seasoning in this area.

4) Rub turkey rub throughout the skin of turkey. Let sit for 1 hour while oil is heating up.

5) Place turkey on the fryer holder, neck down. Gently place turkey in hot oil. Cook turkey for 5-8 minutes per pound, and the internal temperature at the thickest part of the turkey (between thigh and breast) is 160-170 deg. F.