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seaeagle2's avatar
seaeagle2
Explorer
Nov 23, 2017

Big Easy vs Deep fried Turkey

There was an earlier thread about the Charbroil Big Easy Oil less turkey cooker. First I have no connection with Charbroil. I have deep fried over 100 Turkeys in the last 18 years, and have it dialed in, and have never burned down a house, exploded a turkey, etc, etc.... After seeing the other post, I decided to try the Big Easy. We did a chicken earlier in the week and it was great. Today we did a turkey and it's great. The Big Easy cooking time is based on Internal Temp vs time based, but as a rule of thumb 10 minutes a pound gives an idea of aproximate cooking time. The biggest advantage I see is since you don't have a pot of boiling flammable oil, you can monitor it a little less closely. I used a remote wireless thermometer so I could come inside and watch some football while it cooked. Would I leave the house and go shopping for 2 hours no, but I check on it every so often. Once the bird is done, I don't have to deal with 5 gallons of HOT oil and cleaning an oily mess.
Sorry if this is a long post, but based on my experience, it's well worth the cost, and reduces the clean up and disposal issues.
  • home depot had a electric smoker half off so im smoking on a electric smoker this year i cannot say how easy it is
  • newman fulltimer wrote:
    home depot had a electric smoker half off so im smoking on a electric smoker this year i cannot say how easy it is


    Please let us know how it works out. Been looking at eletric smokers, looks like they would work better for a fulltimer. Only been smoking a shoulder when visiting the DD and SIL.
  • I started out with a Big Easy turkey oiless fryer a few years ago, then upgraded to the Big Easy Smoker Roaster Grill, which is the big brother of the Turkey oiless fryer, but with a bigger chamber, adjustable gas valve, grill insert and hinged lid. I cooked a 14.7 pound turkey in it this morning which came out great.
  • I think you are referring to the thread I started; I have been deep frying for years, my concern about switching to the Big Easy was using a marinade instead of brining and dry rubs, so I got the Big Easy injected the turkey with Creole Butter and then using our Cajun Marinade for 12 hrs (16lb turkey) and I will say it was every bit as good as deep frying but without the mess. Cooking on a sunny 73 degree day it took 14 minutes per lb. using an iGrill thermometer with 2 probes. Highly recommend the Big Easy over Oil.
  • It's good to see a cooking appliance that lives up to its advertising. That makes it easier to use it more frequently. Cornish hens come out great too. :c
  • Love the Big Easy Grill. One time, I thought I burned some chicken (I was pre-occupied and forgot about it.) The skin of the chicken burned but not a lot. The inside stayed so juicy and was not dried out. Amazing...
  • We're huge Big Easy users, even though we have a vertical smoker. Between those two and the "egg" grill, we hardly ever cook meat in the house.
  • Fried many turkeys over the years until I discovered the Showtime Rotisserie about 15 years ago. Best turkey and chicken cooker. Then my neighbor bought a Big Easy grill and was very impressed with burgers n steaks he did. Bought one 5 years ago and my favorite grill. Turkey in the basket came out great after the 1st learning experience (low n slow is the key).
  • We "accidently" used a Big Easy a few years ago when one of the kids rolled a turkey as they were putting it in the trailer to take home from the fair. Ended up cleaning a turkey at the campground since that's where we were staying. Finished the plucking about 3AM and stuck the turkey in a cooler. A friend had a Big Easy, so the turkey went into it the next day. 3 hours later a 25+ pound turkey ended up on the picnic table and everyone around started eating. Best turkey I've ever fixed. We bought our own and haven't fixed a turkey or chicken in the oven since.