bayou classic

so, who's all using their sp10 or sq14 or banjo burner this thanksgiving?

i've been on here enough that i almost think of it as a secondary purpose!

Nope, not spending the money on all that oil. If I get up off me arse and finish the UDS I'll smoke a bird.

I've had a deep fried turkey and it was very good, but so is the wife's roasted turkey, and it's easier.

And I'm not wasting a perfectly good turkey fryer on frying a turkey!

We have smoked our turkey for the past couple of years and are going back to roasting this year just to change things up.

We just moved into this house in June and its a small subdivision (<40 houses.) The other day I was out doing yard work and the HOA pres who lives kitty-corner from us stopped by to invite us to his annual Thanksgiving Eve turkey fry. The have 2 burners going and folks from the neighborhood bring their turkey down and drop them in one after the other. He said last year they did over a dozen! Sounds like the perfect setup to me: everyone shares the cost of the oil and someone else uses their burner for that purpose...

crisis averted!

i went to go build my "turkey derricck" (from alton brown/good eats) and discovered my 7.5 gallon brew kettle was to short.

thanks to craigslist, i now have ANOTHER propane cooker (70k BTU) and a taller enough pot (but i think it's only 5 gallons, so no brewing upgrade)

i think i will sell the "new" stove to see if i can make all/some of my $40 back :rockin:

I've got one brining up right now.. just put it in the fridg.. I think I'll toss it in the smoker tomorrow.. Early, I know.. but... it's thawed.. no room in the freezer. Smoke it up.. have some for dinner.. package the rest and make smoked turkey soup to warm up those cold(er) evenings.

I've done quite a few in the Big Easy "Oilless Fryer" and have been very impressed with the results, as long as you brine the turkey. The white meat tends to get very dry without the brine. It isn't quite as good as a bird done it oil, but is very close, and much less expensive.

One alternative you may look into if you are in an area with a Bojangles, they are offering fired turkey's this year for about $40.00. We had one at work on Friday, it was as good as any I've ever had.

autobaun70 said:

I've done quite a few in the Big Easy "Oilless Fryer" and have been very impressed with the results, as long as you brine the turkey. The white meat tends to get very dry without the brine. It isn't quite as good as a bird done it oil, but is very close, and much less expensive.

One alternative you may look into if you are in an area with a Bojangles, they are offering fired turkey's this year for about $40.00. We had one at work on Friday, it was as good as any I've ever had.

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I am in the heart of BoJangles country. It's $39 and change here too. It seems like it has been that same price for several years. Kinda surprising.

i have never even heard of a bojangles until just now.

bengerman said:

i have never even heard of a bojangles until just now.

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Fried chicken, salty biscuits, really salty fries.

I'll be roasting in the wood-fired oven. I'll build a nice hot fire on Wed. and use residual heat on Thursday for almost everything.

Evets said:

I'll be roasting in the wood-fired oven. I'll build a nice hot fire on Wed. and use residual heat on Thursday for almost everything.
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That's impressively nice. Did build it?

Yeah. I hate him a little for having it. That thing would look like a guest house in my tiny yard.

TxBrew said:

That's impressively nice. Did build it?

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Why, yes. Yes I did.

That's a nice backyard addition ya got there.

jeepinjeepin said:

Nope, not spending the money on all that oil. If I get up off me arse and finish the UDS I'll smoke a bird.

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Do it. I have three. The are amazing cookers.

lex990 said:

Do it. I have three. The are amazing cookers.

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I "finished" it this afternoon. There is a Boston butt on it right now.

I picked up a 7.5 gallon Bayou Classic at a garage sale dirt cheap. Mainly got it to brew in, but going to try my first deep fired turkey tomorrow.

i am envious of all of you in drier climates. i just got done rigging up a tarp to keep me and the turkey dry while it fries.
hopefully saveral gallons of 300*F oil and my sp10 will help keep me warm, too.

cincydave said:

I picked up a 7.5 gallon Bayou Classic at a garage sale dirt cheap. Mainly got it to brew in, but going to try my first deep fired turkey tomorrow.

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check the depth of your 7.5 gallon pot. mine wasn't deep enough, to i had to buy a tall 5 gallon pot on CL to fry in.


watch out for the "hot break"

tried it yesterday with the turkey and water in the pot. comes up to about 3 inches from the top. Close I know. after removing the turkey, looks like I need to put oil in up to about the 3.5 gallon mark

cincydave said:

I picked up a 7.5 gallon Bayou Classic at a garage sale dirt cheap. Mainly got it to brew in, but going to try my first deep fired turkey tomorrow.

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That's what I use to brew! I finally tried a 5 gallon batch a few weeks ago (had old grain n said screw it, I learn fastest when I have to), I use around 4.5 gallons in the mash, then I rinse and drain the bag into a seperate pot. I boil the 2nd pot for a couple minutes then cool that n pitch yeast in it while I do my full hop boil in the bayou.

I do it all on an electric stove with a paint straining bag. It makes great beer! I will probably never buy a mash tun, I ll use that space for another carboy. BD

Hey Jgerard,

A friend and I just started brewing a few months ago. We've only done extract kits so far, but once our last couple of kits are gone, we're going to try BIAB. Great idea about using the sparge wort to pitch the yeast in and get it going. Will probably go that route.

cincydave said:

Hey Jgerard,

A friend and I just started brewing a few months ago. We've only done extract kits so far, but once our last couple of kits are gone, we're going to try BIAB. Great idea about using the sparge wort to pitch the yeast in and get it going. Will probably go that route.

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I plan on putting the whole process online in the next couple of weeks including evey tool I use; spoon, bowls, pots, and how much wate I've used for how many lbs grain. It can be intimidating to a new brewer (I'm still new, I ve been brewing for about a year n a half starting w mr beer) to see all the equipment out there and I don't see too many ways around it online. All you really NEED is a paint bag a fementor and a turkey fryer.

Sorry for hijacking the thread just realized y'all were actually talking about turkey!

jgerard said:

I plan on putting the whole process online in the next couple of weeks including evey tool I use; spoon, bowls, pots, and how much wate I've used for how many lbs grain. It can be intimidating to a new brewer (I'm still new, I ve been brewing for about a year n a half starting w mr beer) to see all the equipment out there and I don't see too many ways around it online. All you really NEED is a paint bag a fementor and a turkey fryer.

Sorry for hijacking the thread just realized y'all were actually talking about turkey!

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Its all good. Biab is a worthy cause.
There are plenty of threads about it on here. I would say them out and jump in with both feet.