This is the 18th post in our series titled “Twenty Two Thanksgiving Turkey Tips”.  Each day between now and Thanksgiving we’ll have a new tip for you.  Today’s tip talks about How Long You Deep Fry Your Turkey For:

Deep frying a turkey really takes no time at all compared to the traditional route of roasting.  If you want to know how long to cook your turkey for then you can follow this simple tip.  Shoot for 3 ½ minutes per pound and you will be set to go.  You can try 4 minutes per pound, as some people do, but honestly you run the risk of drying your bird out that way.  We suggest to stick to 3 ½ minutes per pound and everything be just fine.  If you are worried about under cooking your bird you can always use a meat thermometer to know for sure when your bird is done.

Here’s a simple time graph to follow for deep frying turkey:

Turkey Weight                                  Deep Fry Time

8 pounds                                             28 minutes

10 pounds                                           35 minutes

12 pounds                                           42 minutes

14 pounds                                           49 minutes

16 pounds                                           56 minutes

18 pounds                                           63 minutes

20 pounds                                           70 minutes

As you can see from this chart, the time to cook deep fried turkey is much quicker compared to that of a roasted turkey.  A whole 20 pound turkey takes only 70 minutes to prepare, that’s only a little over an hour!

When it comes to cooking times, if you have read our “How To Clean & Prep Your Turkey Before Deep Frying It” post, you should have known to save your sticker from your turkey which indicates how much your turkey weighs.  This way you will know exactly how long to cook your bird for without error.  If you follow this chart and our cooking time suggestion (3 ½ minutes per pound) your turkey should come out golden, delicious and cooked perfectly every time.

For more information of this topic or to clear up any questions you may have, watch this instructional video on “How Long To Cook A Turkey”:

–For more tips and ideas on how to prepare your tastiest turkey ever, make sure you download (from Amazon.com) a copy of our book, titled: Turkey Fryers & Deep Fried Turkey: How To Deep Fry A Turkey- Complete Step By Step Instructions To Cooking Your Tastiest Turkey Ever!  As a special bonus for all book buyers, we’re including a complete step-by-step series of videos showing anyone exactly how to deep fry a turkey.  Get this book today!–