Page 236 - Turkey Book from Meathead

submerged in oil there is at least 4 inches of space above the oil level. We’ll explain below how to do this.
Water is the enemy. Do not inject, marinate, or wet brine the bird. Pat the bird dry before dunking it in oil. A wet bird, rain, or snow can cause flying droplets of oil, and scorching steam. Wear heavy gloves, a long sleeve shirt, long pants, and shoes, not sandals.
What causes bubbling, then overflow, then fire? Water. The bird is 75% water and if you take it out of the fridge at 38°F and lower it into 350°F oil, the temperature of the bird will rise rapidly. Near the surface it can easily reach 190°F and start steaming. It can even reach 212°F, the boiling temp. That steam within the oil creates large bubbles that burst on the surface aerosolizing the oil. If that oil falls onto the flame it can ignite, and if there are a lot of droplets, there can be a flaming cloud that ignites the surface of the oil in the pot. If this happens, turn o the valve on the gas tank and place a lid on the pot to extinguish the fire. But that might not work.
Have on hand a dry chemical fire extinguisher. Never use a hose or water to try to douse a grease fire. It will only spread it around and make it worse. Keep a phone nearby with the fire department on speed dial.
You can reuse the oil once, but the heat alters its chemistry and it does not keep well once it has been used. In addition, it now contains fats from the bird and burned bits of spices.
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