How to deep-fry a turkey for Thanksgiving (it’s so good!)

You've been hearing all about "Meat Day" coming up — but first, it's time to talk turkey.

Last year, the entire staff of the morning show realized it was a little inexperienced in frying a turkey, and started soliciting help (and advertising its own adventures) under the hashtag #TestTurkey. We even incorporated the services of cousin Phil Aaronson, a certified barbecue judge, to help us with the frying process.

Between cousin Phil and Eric Scott, they spent all morning prepping the fryer and cooking. Eric brought his knives and carved up the turkey upon the completion of the frying process.

We put together a step-by-step instruction for you to make it easy this Thanksgiving if you do indeed decide to fry a turkey. Here are some of the notes from cousin Phil below:

• Don't get too big of a bird. It takes too long to cook. It'll ultimately burn the skin before the meat is done. Around 16 pounds is good. Ours is 12.

• You'll want clean oil — don't put too much in. Put the bird in the pot with water, take the bird out, mark that level. Then you know how much oil and don't overflow.

• Make sure the bird is thawed and dried — oherwise it will splatter.

• Bill says fry it for about four minutes per pound. Phil's heard 3 minutes per pound, plus five minutes total. Then add 15 to 20 minutes to rest it after you take it out of the fryer before you start carving. That way, the juices flow back into the meeting. Otherwise, when you cut it, the juices go out of the meet and will be dry.

• Have a thermometer to check the temperature — 160 is done. You want to make sure it's really done before you get too far away. You don't want to be taking it out and in over and over again.

• Safety: Wear heat-resistant gloves, have a fire extinguisher. Don't overheat the oil. It should be cooked at 350 degrees, no higher.

• This depends on the frier, gas fired ones definitely need to be outside. Electric friers like the Butterball fryer that we used, can be used inside.

You can watch the entire frying process, including the finished product in the video above.

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