It’s a southern tradition: a Cajun-injected turkey fried in peanut oil. And firefighter Chris Blanchard has perfected his recipe:
“I put it in a brine for 24 hours, the brine is brown sugar, kosher salt, garlic, worcestershire sauce," he said.
He’ll inject it with some Cajun butter, then use a mix of Cajun spices on the skin.
“Coat it real good, put it back in the refrigerator while you’re waiting for your oil to heat up, then dunk it in, that’s it," he said.
It’s got to be fully thawed and patted dry for safety reasons: water and oil don’t mix. The New Hanover County Fire Department had a pot set up outside. And when it came time to dunk the bird into the oil, Blanchard wore long sleeves and long pants with fire-safe gloves — the turkey on a long metal hook.
Britney Melvin, the community risk reduction coordinator for the fire department, set up this demo as a public safety announcement, hoping for a viral video. That’s why she also set up a risky version of turkey frying — with a fire truck at the ready.
A frozen turkey in hot oil can be a disaster — the ice on the outside melts, and the water sinks to the bottom of the pot. The hot oil turns it into a whole lot of steam. That has to go somewhere, and it can blow all the oil out of the pot - and straight into the fire.
For this demo, the frozen turkey got the bomb treatment — dunked in oil from the end of a pole, with observers standing 40 feet away.
It created a bit of a flare-up around the pot, and the oil spat everywhere. But no real explosion, to Melvin’s disappointment.
“Hahaha! New Hanover County Fire Rescue is so good at putting out fires that we can’t start one," Blanchard quipped.
But Blanchard says at least his cajun turkey won’t go to waste: it’ll have a safe home in the bellies of firefighters.
"It’s a covered dish thing. So everybody kind of brought stuff, Thanksgiving type foods, sweet potato pudding, rice and gravy, what else? Green bean casserole, bunch of different desserts," he said.
Maybe this demo was just a fun excuse for a department potluck. And even though the test turkey didn’t explode, Blanchard’s secret recipe sure smelled nice.
