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Deep fry your turkey with a side of safety

For the perfect holiday dinner, casseroles and cranberries, stuffing and sweet potatoes are all crowd favorites. But turkey is still the start of the culinary show. Of course, not all birds are prepared the same way. Some are slowly oven-roasted and basted for hours, others stuffed with vegetables and bread. And then there are the deep-fried. Many folks swear it’s the juiciest, tastiest way to cook a turkey, and it certainly saves time. But it also creates a lot of safety concerns, from cooking fires to serious burns. 

If you do plan to deep fry on Turkey Day, make sure you serve up these safety tips: 

• Thaw and dry the bird. Adding a partly frozen or wet bird to hot oil will cause spattering or a spill, which could result in severe burns or a fire. 
• Don’t overfill the oil. Turkeys displace a lot of oil, which reacts like gasoline if it spills over and hits an open flame. 
• Take it slow. Make sure the fryer is leveled, and slowly lower the turkey into the oil. 
• Keep a fire extinguisher nearby. If there is a fire, don’t use a garden hose (water spreads an oil fire). Use a Class B fire extinguisher instead. 
• Give yourself some room. Setting up outdoors, away from the home, provides a measure of safety. Garages, covered patios, or decks are not safe locations for using your fryer. 
• Never leave the fryer unattended. Oil stays hot for a long time. Just because the heat source is off doesn’t mean the danger is gone. 
• Keep children and pets away. Keep children and pets far away from a fryer (even after cooking), as they can easily knock over the unit, causing burns or a fire. 
• Read the manufacturer’s instructions. It might sound boring, but it could save your home. 

For informational use only. Not applicable to all situations.