Char-Broil The Big Easy Turkey Fryer

[njsmoker83]

I recently bought the Char-Broil The Big Easy Oil-Less Infrared Turkey Fryer from the Home Depot and im going to use it for Thanksgiving.  I am doing a trial tomorrow with a roaster chicken to see if i have the right mixture for the

brine and rub.  I have it brining now in one gallon of water, 1/2 cup of salt and 1/2 cup of brown sugar.  I am going to put the rub on it at 11:00am and

start the fryer at 12:00.  Ill post some pics and we'll see how it works out.

wish me luck

 

[linguica]

Saw the unit and was very curious. Look forward to your review,

 

[ronrude]

They use one every year on the Bob and Tom radio show.  They love it. 

 

[njsmoker83]

Put the chicken on a little while ago.  Smells really good already.  I'll have lots of pictures when its finished.

 

[njsmoker83]

Good news and bad news.  The chicken smelled great and looked insane, until i sliced into it.  I had the Maverick (which was just calibrated) in the breast and it read 165.  I sliced it and the breast was completely pink on the inside, and i dont mean a little pink i mean completely raw.  I must have had the thermometer on the bone or something.

************

I bought another chicken at Stop and Shop today.  Im going to get this thing right.  Hopefully if will be one and edible in a few minutes.

 

[lhenderson]

I just bought the "Big Easy" from Amazon with hopes of cooking my Thanksgiving Turkey in it instead of the usual frying.  I tested it by cooking a 4 lb roasting chicken in it that I had brined for about six hours.  I had results very similar to yours, well done in areas and completely RAW in others.  I can't say how dissapointed I am.  I ended up microwaving the raw parts.  The cooked parts had excellent flavor and juices but now I have no confidence in cooking my Thanksgiving turkey in it. 

I am confident that everything was working correctly, the only thing that has me wondering is that I placed some corn on the cob vertically in the basket along with 3 potatoes in the bottom, could they have absorbed some of the heat?

I'd love to hear some input, as of now, No way will I attempt a turkey in this thing but I will cook another chicken in it without the veggies.  I'm not willing to give up on it yet.

Laurie

 

[hiram]

I initally cooked 2 cornish hens in mine and they came out perfect, tried a roasting chicken last night and it also came out excellent. " and now the rest of the story" It was about 40 degrees outside on the car port, kept the lid on the entire cooking time checking it occasionally. I let the temp guage in the breasts run above 200 while checking the outside to get an overall brown crispness to the skin without burning the outside.

One would assume the birds would be dried out but exactly the opposite was true, my wife remarked about how juicy both birds were. We liked the game hens much better because they didn't have as much fat. I've always cooked fowl to above 160 both for crispy skin and tenderness. I rubbed the outside of both with olive oil and they were golden brown.

Try running temp to 190-200 next time, I assure you they won't be dried out and will be done.