Bacon Fried Turkey

How do take something great, like deep fried turkey, and make it better?

Wrap it in bacon, of course.

We did it this Thanksgiving and it tasted even better than it sounded. The turkey maintained its moist and tender texture while absorbing some of the bacon flavor. Both the kids and adults will fight over the chunks of bacon / skin that fall off in the bottom of the carving plate.

Here is what you need:

10 pound turkey, thawed
2 pounds bacon
3 gallons canola oil (peanut oil will work also)
cooking twine

You will also need a turkey setup.

In the kitchen, wrap the turkey in strips of bacon:

Tie up the turkey with cooking twine, securing the bacon to the turkey.

Set the turkey in the frying basket:

Preheat the oil to 400 F.

Slowly lower the turkey (in basket) into the oil.

Be careful here. The oil may splatter up and get you here. I recomend the following safety precautions be taken when lowering the turkey into the oil:

Long sleeve shirt
Leather gardening gloves
Safety glasses
Use a set of channel locks or pliers to grip the basket handle.

The turkey should cook for 3 1/2 minutes per pound.

You will need to monitor the oil temperature and maintain it at 350 F while it is cooking. This may require adjusting the flame every 5 minutes or so.

After the 35 minutes or so has passed, follow the same precautions you followed when you lowered the turkey into the oil (gloves, glasses, etc) and remove the turkey (in basket) from the oil. The turkey will stick a little to the sides of the basket. Jiggle it loose and slide the bird into a pan.

Remove the cooking twine, carve  and serve.

Delicious.