I think I've become a spatchcock fundamentalist

[Gareth]

mattkime wrote:
I could see deep frying a bird to be worthwhile if you really want to increase risk.

The trick we learned after a couple of times deep frying. TURN OFF THE BURNER while you're putting the bird in!!! (And obviously make sure your bird is dry-ish and not still frozen). With the burner off, if you overflow oil, it isn't going to catch on fire.

We figured that one out after making the crazy A-Frame ladder and pulley system to "safely" lower the bird in. I'm surprised I've never seen it mentioned in any instructions to turn the burner off, but maybe it is, just not in the ones I've read.

But you need about 4 gallons of peanut oil to deep fry a 15 lb bird and it's often sold in 3-gallon jugs... Which gets really annoying and expensive. I've also learned that Smart & Final sells a 4-gallon jug, perfect!