Deep frying a turkey is an amazing way to get a crisp, golden outside while keeping the inside juicy and full of flavor.
Oh, and did we mention that you can cook a normal sized turkey in about an hour?
That’s part of the reason the trend is starting to creep into the rest of the country from the Southern United States. A delicious bird, prepared in a fraction of the time an oven-cooked turkey would take means that people are starting to take up frying their turkeys during the holidays.
Here at Crispy & Golden, we’ve reviewed a lot of deep fryers, have given you a run down of ‘air fryers’, and have many other helpful articles about frying, so of course we’ll be giving you our reviews of the best turkey fryers! If you aren’t satisfied with our picks for the Top 3, click here to go to the end of this page to find our interactive chart of the top 11 units we researched.
Top 3 Turkey Fryers
Char-Broil The Big Easy TRU-Infrared Oil-less Turkey Fryer
Thanks to it’s fair size, low cost, and massive popularity, we can’t give this anything less than a glowing review.
You can fit a turkey up to 16 pounds, which is right about in the middle of size options for turkey fryers, and cooks at about 8 to 10 minutes per pound. So, if you max it out with the biggest turkey it’ll take, you can expect the 16,000 BTUs to finish the bird in 128 – 160 minutes…between 2 hours and 2 hours 40 minutes. This is not the fastest unit out there, but it sure beats the 3+ hours you’d be waiting if you did it in the oven.
Of course not having to deal with oil is a big plus for this model. Not only do you not have to deal with it when it’s hot, prone to splashes and a pain to clean up, but the turkey isn’t going to be sitting in the oil for hours, which means it will have less fat and fewer calories.
You’ll get a handled cooking basket, meat thermometer, obviously the burner unit itself, and the pull out grease tray. This simple cylindrical design has cool-touch handles and is stainless steel on the inside.
The price is something we could hardly believe. After tallying up our information, looking to the price, we expected that even though it was probably still going to be among the top 3, there was no way it would be a cheap gadget. Well, we were wrong. This awesome unit can be found on Amazon for just over $100 (sometimes even less if it’s on sale), making it one of the least expensive turkey fryers available today.
Enjoy the juicy, never-dry glory that an infrared model can bring to your turkeys with the Char-Broil. If you do, you’ll be joining over 500 real users on Amazon who have collectively given this a whopping 4.6 out of 5 star rating. 78% of customers give it a perfect 5 star review!
Click here to see pricing, ratings, and reviews on Amazon.com.
Masterbuilt Butterball Indoor Gen III Electric Fryer Cooker Extra Large Capacity
This stainless steel monster will cook up to a 20 pound turkey, making it one of the biggest fryers available. It’s 1650 Watts are enough to get that oil nice and hot in about half an hour (it uses a max of 2.75 Gallons of oil per fill) and you will love the convenience of being able to do your turkey inside. Depending on where you’re located, that may be a huge relief, not having to deep fry your turkey outside over the cold holiday season.
For your convenience, the Butterball unit has a cooking basket with a drain clip so you can easily lower, raise, and drain oil from your food throughout the cooking process. We liked the convenience of having the drain valve to make clean up easier when it’s time to take the oil out.
Perhaps the biggest draw is the limited cooking time compared to oven baked turkey. Well, if you have a 14 pound bird, for example, cooking time is just 56 minutes! That is a significant time saver that allows you to spend more time with family or preparing the rest of the meal.
Masterbuilt goes on quite as bit about the safety of this fryer. Some things that will minimize the risk of injury and damage include:
- Stainless steel fryer and porcelain coated inner pot keep oil contained
- Uses 33% less oil than conventional fryers
- Thermostat control to keep temperature steady
- Automatic shutoff if oil gets too hot
This surprisingly compact unit (15.6 x 18.5 inches, 15.2 inch high) is also helped by the fact that this line of turkey fryers boasts a 4.5 out of 5 star rating and 70% of actual users give it a perfect rating.
Click here to see pricing, ratings, and reviews on Amazon.com.
Waring Pro TF200 Professional Rotisserie Turkey Fryer/Steamer
The Waring Pro TF200 is an absolute beast. With an 1800 Watt heating element and the ability to cook up to an 18 pound turkey in just over 1 hour, you could be forgiven for already wanting this product.
But if you throw in the high quality Waring brand design and the fact that it comes with an innovative rotisserie that uses less oil than many other units, this becomes one of the absolute best, most versatile turkey deep fryers you can buy.
You can use it as a turkey fryer either in the cooking basket or, as recommended, on the rotisserie. As mentioned, this means less oil is used because the rotisserie constantly spins the turkey, making sure all parts of it get equally crispy and cooked in the oil. It’s worth mentioning that if your turkey is on the heavier side, you may run into trouble with the rotisserie gears staying aligned. This isn’t a widely reported issue, but we have seen it, so you should know about it.
Additionally, you can use the TF200 for frying just about anything else if you remove the rotisserie and let it function like any other fryer. If that isn’t enough, what about being able to use it for a massive steamer? Just fill it with water instead of oil and you’ve got a massive steam machine. This can be great for things like clams.
Being a Waring, the quality is top notch, including the stainless steel vented lid, but it’s very nice to know that you have a 5 year limited warranty on the motor, in case anything should happen and you can no longer successfully use the rotisserie.
You’ll enjoy the features on this, such as the easy to use oil drain at the bottom of the reservoir for easy emptying and cleaning. The temperature and timer are also easy to use and there are lights right at the top to let you know the status of the oil and your food. Use the included thermometer to double check and make sure that meat is cooked nicely all the way through before you take it out and cut into the delicious golden brown skin. There’s a good video the company put together showing you how to use it, which you can see here.
While it’s a bit more expensive than some of it’s competitors, it’s quality, and you can get it for a much better price on Amazon than anywhere else, typically. Speaking of Amazon, it has a 4.3 out of 5 rating from real users of the product, including nearly 70% of people who gave it a 5 out of 5 star review. This is helpful in determining if other people who have actually used it would recommend it to others, and this unit certainly passes all the tests.
Click here to see pricing, ratings, and reviews on Amazon.com.
Our Interactive Fryer Chart
| Turkey Fryer | Size | Power | Rating | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Char-Broil The Big Easy TRU-Infrared Oil-less | 16 LB Turkey | 1500 W | 4.7 | $$ |
Masterbuilt 23011114 Butterball Indoor Gen III Extra Large | 20 LB Turkey | 1650 W | 4.6 | $$$ |
Waring Pro TF200 Professional Rotisserie | 18 LB Turkey | 1800 W | 4.5 | $$$$ |
Brinkmann 815-4001-S | 18 LB Turkey | 45,000 BTU | 3.8 | $ |
King Kooker 1265BF3 Portable Propane Package with 2 Aluminum Pots | 20 LB Turkey | 33,000 BTU | 3.6 | $ |
Masterbuilt Butterball Professional Series Indoor | 14 LB Turkey | 1650 W | 4.6 | $ |
King Kooker 1266B 12-Inch Propane with 29-Quart Aluminum Turkey Pot with Basket | 20 LB Turkey | 38,000 BTU | 3.6 | $ |
Cajun Injector | 14 LB Turkey | 41,000 BTU | 3.6 | $ |
Masterbuilt 23011014 Butterball Indoor Gen III Large | 14 LB Turkey | 1650 W | 4.6 | $$ |
Masterbuilt 20100809 Butterball Oil-Free | 18 LB Turkey | 1650 W | 4.3 | $$ |
King Kooker SS1267 Stainless Steel 30-Quart Turkey Frying Propane Outdoor Cooker Package with Battery Operated Time | 20 LB Turkey | 38,000 BTU | 4.1 | $$$ |
We’ve included 5 columns in the table above:
- Turkey Fryer brand and name/model & Picture (click to view more details or to purchase)
- Size – Maximum size of turkey it will cook
- Power – Amount of power (Watts for electric units, BTU for propane units). The higher the wattage or BTU, the more powerful it is (more power = less heating time)
- Rating – The average user rating on Amazon.com. This helpful statistic tells us if people are satisfied with their purchase
- Price – Approximate prices based on Amazon.com listings. They change sometimes based on availability, sales, and more. Generally speaking: $ = under $100, $$ = $100 to $150, $$$ = $150 to $200, $$$$ = $200+
*Click on any column to sort the data