Thank you Char-Broil for sponsoring this post and making hosting something to look forward to doing again.
I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I am entirely too old to have never hosted (or offered to host) Thanksgiving dinner. You see growing up, we weren’t really near extended family and I watched my mom do every little thing solo, to pull off Thanksgiving dinner without a hitch. From the grocery shopping to the cooking to the decorating to the clean-up, the woman did EVERYTHING. By choice mostly, because she doesn’t love the help. But I’ll be the first to admit, I am not my mother’s daughter when it comes to cooking and cleaning. My husband will also vouch for me on this one. So this was never in my cards.
Anytime Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving came up and we started talking out details, I would slide out of the room. It always seemed so overwhelming. Until I realized, no one person should have to bare the brunt of pulling this off. Not sure if I should be proud of this or not, but a hidden talent of mine is that I am really good at figuring out the easiest most efficient way of doing most things. So when I offered to host Friendsgiving I knew I needed to get to work.
I’m pretty sure millennials will be blamed for ruining this too, but dinner parties and events are better when everyone chips in. I’m so glad my friends are also into this because hosting an event should be fun for everyone, not just the guests. So put together a “sign-up” sheet of sorts so everyone can share what they are bringing as to not have thirty Mac and cheeses. But honestly, would that be a bad thing if it happened?
Choose the Right Equipment for your Turkey:
Living down in the South, a fried turkey is a rite of passage at a Thanksgiving celebration. But traditional turkey fryers need a lot of oil which in turn means you need to discard a lot of oil. Yuck. Plus with kids running all over the house, the idea of a traditional turkey fryer was terrifying unless we had waivers at the door, and that’s kind of tacky (but brilliant). Well, guess who made this imposter southerners dreams come true? Char-Broil with their THE BIG EASY® OIL-LESS TURKEY FRYER. Yep, you can fry a turkey without splattering your rented dress. You heard it here first.
As the host, I am of course covering the main dish of fried turkey. What I love most about The Char-Broil Big Easy Oil-less fryer is that there is no prep time and clean-up is a breeze. Not to mention, I was able to do start to finish with zero assistance from the football watching men. Feeling like a boss right about now.
Since the ultimate turkey fryer is powered by TRU-Infrared™ technology, it requires no oil. Which means no mess, you can cook in your good clothes. This infrared cooker features a rotary ignition for easy lighting and a removable grease tray for easy cleanups. There is no need to pre-heat or anything. Just toss it in. It’s estimated to run 8-10 minutes an lb, but this is dependent on temperature. We don’t have a covered porch and it was in the 40s when I used it, and it was 11 mins a lb to reach 160 degrees internally. So while your bird is cooking to be served, you can enjoy your guests.
Tips and Tricks
- Spray your rack with pam, it’ll make clean-up even easier
- Follow all the directions, including seasoning before you start.
- Stick to the dry rubs without sugar.
- Use a liner in the tray and you can make gravy.
- Try to find a non-windy area outside. This will speed up cook-time
- Start with a full tank of propane. Running out mid-cook would be a bad idea.
- Enjoy your friends and family.
Want to make your guests think you have it all together? Head on over to charbroil.com to purchase the Big Easy®. I of course have a coupon code for you because I want to make your life as easy as possible. So grab your Char-Broil Big Easy Oil-less fryer and wow your friends and family while save 15% off The Big Easy® Better yet — this can be used in addition to the “buy The Big Easy®, get a free cover” promo that will be on Char-Broil’s website — using promo code ‘MODERNDAY’!
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