How do I brine, inject, AND rub a to-be-fried turkey, and do I want to?

Question

I am going to deep-fry a turkey for the first time this Thanksgiving, and have been reading up on the best way to prepare the bird. I have seen many recommendations for brining, injecting, and rubbing, but when I look at instructions for those methods, they don't seem to go hand in hand. Can anyone help clarify how these methods are used together?

Should I inject , then brine, then let the turkey dry, then rub, then fry? And when should I do each of these things (brining recipes suggest 10-12 hours before cook time, while rub/injection recipes suggest 24 hours in advance). 

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Answer

I would not brine, and inject. Cocaonut is right about the added moisture with the addition of brining. Your fried turkey will be plenty moist without the brine. What you should do is apply the rub the night before, and refrigerate. Next day use the injector, maybe an hour or two ahead of time. If you don't do that it really won't affect it much at all, but it is a bit better if it has time to rest in the seasonings.

A lot of recipes don't even call for doing anything more than putting the rub and injection on/in the turkey at the last minute.

Answer

Just say no to frying turkey!!!!!

Answer

We've been deep fryer our turkeys for the past 10 years. One year I did brine the turkey and attempted to deep fry it, based on the amount of bubbling and noise we baked it. 

Since this is a once a year thing, we've make a mix of things that we think makes our bird tasty. We do not measure its all based on personal taste. We usually inject the bird with 1 to 1 1/2 cups of liquid marinade. Some of our favorite injections have been garlic and onion powder, hot sauce, butter, beer worcestershire and orange juice. Sometimes we use the juice sometimes we don't. After we inject, we rub the outside and the cavity with Bad Byrons Butt Rubb or a Cajun seasoning and let it sit for a couple hours so the seasoning sticks to the skin.

We also do an asian style with soy sauce, pineapple juice, sesame oil, garlic powder. It just depends on how you want your turkey flavored. We also found that garlic and herbs have to be tiny otherwise it clogs the injector.

Answer

Doesn't Alton Brown brine and then deep fry his turkey?

Answer

According to my cable TV guide, Alton will be deep frying that turkey bird tonite at 7:30pm central.

Answer

My father in law brines, injects, rubs and fries his turkey. It's a very tasty, moist bird. Probably better than what I will crank out in my little oven next week :)

Answer

I've been brining, injecting, and lightly rubbing (more like sprinkling) my turkey for the last 3 years and haven't looked back. The biggest thing to remember is the rate at which you introduce moisture to hot oil. The reason that turkeys "explode" when you drop them into the fire when they are frozen or damp is because the oil superheats the water molecules to the point that they evaporate to a gaseous state. Water vapor is lighter than the oil, so it bubbles to the top, and FAST. So, a little bit of moisture, a little bit of crackling at the surface of the fryer. A LOT of moisture, and you're stuck explaining to grandma why she doesn't have a garage anymore (P.S.A. Never fry your turkey in an enclosed environment and make sure you're at least 15 feet from any structure).

Anyway, the point is if you've introduced more moisture via brining and injecting, drop the turkey into the fryer SLOW, SLOW, SLOW. As in, it may take you 5 minutes to get the whole bird submerged. That's the way I've done it and I've never had an issue.

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How do I brine, inject, AND rub a to-be-fried turkey, and do I want to?

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