thumb|A turkey fryer
thumb|A deep-fried turkey
A turkey fryer is an apparatus for deep-frying a turkey. Fried turkey has been a popular item in the Southern United States, and has become popular in other parts of the country because of the reduced time needed to cook a turkey in a deep fryer, versus other conventional methods such as an oven or a rotisserie grill.
History
An early mention of deep-fried turkey appeared in a 1984 article in the New Orleans Times-Picayune and in articles written for the Food sections of the Baton Rouge Advocate/States Times, which were attributed to Charlie Gant and two other Cajun friends. A number of homes and other buildings have been destroyed due to the unsafe use of a turkey fryer and Underwriters Laboratories has refused to list turkey fryers.
Preparation
The first deep-fried turkey recipes called for cooking 12-15 pound turkeys in lard at 375 degree temperature.