I don't know about you but we are getting pumped for the Thanksgiving Holiday on Thursday, and all of the other activities with the weekend. It is truly fun getting to spend time with family (yes even Cousin Eddy, and no your family is not any more dysfunctional than the next, they all have their issues some just hide it better), deer hunting, watching football, and eating way too much food. In the past, Hybrid Redneck has experienced some real Thanksgiving victories, blow-ups, and near-misses.

I can clearly recall the first year we deep-fried a turkey, we really didn't know what the heck we were doing and it was several years before major insurance companies started spending money on TV commercials to warn us of the possible damage to real property associated with guys who didn't know what they were doing.  The good news is that we were able to turn the gas off quickly and we had easy access to fire extinguishers that worked well on oil.



The picture above is not a result of our "incident" however, insurance companies have files full of pictures just like this one. Here are some helpful hints to prevent you from having the same issues we did:
 
#1. Make sure said turkey is completely defrosted.
#2 Put the turkey in the pot prior to frying, fill the pot up with water so it covers the turkey leaving at least 3-4 inches from the top of the pot. Then remove turkey and mark the pot where the water line is, this is how full you should fill the pot with oil and avoid an uncontrolled burn. (If you can't cover the turkey with water and leave room to the top of the pot, then much like us the first year, you bought the biggest bird you could find to assert your manhood,,,this is absolutely not the time to do this, get a turkey that fits your pot). 
#3 Do not deep fry turkeys on decks, in garages, next to your home, or within 20-30 feet of any other structure that you value.
#4 Don't hit the PBR until the turkey is at least half done. Others will suggest that you wait until you are completely done. However, this is half of the fun, standing around a boiling pot of oil, with open flame, chatting about the Packers, your tractor pull victories the past year, the big buck you knocked down opening day,,,etc...while preparing food for your family.

If you follow these easy steps, your turkey preparation ability will suddenly become the toast of your family and neighborhood. Now that we have learned our lesson, the rest of the family looks forward to deep-fried turkey, my insurance company hasn't sent me a nasty-gram, and the dog is much more relaxed on Thanksgiving day.

Take care and have a Happy Thanksgiving.