Although Halloween is still coming up, it’s not too early to start thinking about Thanksgiving and the weeks leading up to it. Every year, authorities across the country respond to reports of a fire or a serious injury related to a turkey fryer. These products have grown in popularity over the years, and if you plan on frying a turkey on Thanksgiving or really any other time of the year, then please consider the safety tips being offered by the CSA Group in a new report.
You first have to understand the exact directions for proper usage, especially if you haven’t used your fryer since last fall or winter. You also ought to check to make sure no damage has accumulated in that time period.
When you actually get ready to set the fryer up, make sure you take it outside and keep it a sufficient distance away from anything that could catch fire. That means that a garage wouldn’t be an appropriate venue, nor would a deck. Instead, you have to find an open space, like a sizable driveway, before you cook anything. That surface needs to be completely flat. Finding this type of area proves difficult for many households, especially given that many driveways are tilted slightly toward the curb.
If you are able to access this type of surface, then be sure when you’re getting the fryer situated that you keep an attached liquid propane cylinder far away from the unit. At the same time, don’t stretch the hose out to the point where the equipment at either end is in a precarious position.
Once you’ve gotten the oil inside and heated up to a sufficient degree, you have to take care when you’re actually placing the turkey within the fryer. Rather than frying a frozen bird, thaw the meat out before you deposit it inside. Otherwise, it becomes harder to cook it all the way through and the oil could boil to the point where it comes over the rim, posing a severe scald hazard.
If at any point your turkey looks like it’s going to cause the scalding hot oil to come over the side, stop what you’re doing and adjust levels as needed. Use oven mitts and whatever other protection you may have at all times.
Make sure that pets and children can’t access the area, as they could be severely injured if they contact the fryer or knock it over. Stick around throughout frying, and if a fire does break out, dial 911 immediately. Grease fires can actually get stronger if you douse them with water, so you should instead have a fire extinguisher on hand rated to fight those types of blazes.