Yesterday was our neighborhood First Annual Deep-Fry Your Turkey Day. We did 9 smallish turkeys, 2 ducks, three chickens. We cranked it up right after church. It was cold enough that we had trouble getting the peanut oil above 320, so it took longer than we planned. All the neighbors got well-fed last night, and all dogs enjoyed the venison butchering scraps. It was reminiscent of a barn-raising.
Why go to the trouble of setting up a fryer just for oneself? We served tons of beer, and venison-black bean soup and cornbread. And cupcakes. And ceegars. Red-neck Yankees know how to have fun. Next time, we'll do two pots of oil, not one, to halve the time - but we did not expect such a response for a last-minute plan. All dogs were invited, too, of course.
One bucket of birds in brine:
Our fryer set-up. The basket insert works best for the turkeys, but chickens and ducks don't need it and can just go on the stick.
Our Louisiana-style rub and bird-injection table. The green stuff is sauteed, pureed, then strained garlic, shallot, onion, carrot, and celery for injecting.
We cranked up one of these in the driveway to keep warm. Worked well, as long as it didn't set you afire.
We set it all up like this. Readers have seen that old fire engine before. 
We also had the last doe of the season to butcher as the birds were frying. She'd been hanging for a couple of weeks, but probably frozen through most of the time. Note Golden chewing on the hide. That always happens. A pal is just beginning the skinning. I brought home a foreleg with the hair for my pup to play with. Yes, that is an old fireplace in the 1890 garage, so the gentry would not have to get into a cold car. For the comfort of the chauffeur no doubt, too.
That's how one of my LI ducks came out of the fryer:
How is the turkey after all of this effort - overnight brining, injecting, Cajun rubs, etc.? Tastes like turkey, but pretty good turkey. The skin is especially good. In future, I think I'll do ducks and chickens, but not turkey - things with a higher skin/meat ratio.
I brought a venison shoulder home, too, from that doe in the garage. I think I'll braise it with root vegetables when the turkey is eaten.
What a fine country we Americans live in. We are not convinced that the Obamanites know how to appreciate it. A good life is a simple matter.
We used one of those plastic Cajun Classic meat injectors (image on right) to inject the birds with a Cajun herb and vegetable mix the other day. Those plastic injectors are worthless. The herbs and spices jam up the injector holes, and the whole thi
Tracked: Feb 14, 12:07
We used some of those plastic Cajun Classic meat injectors (image on right) to inject our birds (ducks, turkeys, pheasants, etc): Deep Fry Turkey Day with Red-neck Yankees, aka Les Tres Riche Heures du Bird Dog. Those plastic injectors are worthless crap
Tracked: Nov 17, 19:41