Turkey Fryer As Scalder???

[Oregon Blues]

Those of you who use one of those turkey fryers to scald your birds for plucking, does the fryer have any sort of thermostat to keep the temperature steady?

Keeping the scald water the right temperature is my most annoying job involving the processing.

 

[yinepu]

we shut our off when it hits around 150*.. it stays there for a while with the lid on.. and have never done so many birds at one time that we had to fire it back up.. so if you have a bunch to do just keep an eye on the temp...

 

[bigredfeather]

If you use the vessel that comes with the stand burner that is going to be the case. I have figured out if you use a larger vessel, once you get it up to temp you can turn the burner down so it's just barely on and it will hold that temp much better. I use a 20 gallon galvinized trash can that works great. I can scald 3 at a time easily. THis weekend we did 58 birds which took a little under 2 hours. I was scalding and only had to turn the burner off once. Instead of shutting it down when it gets too hot, I have also just added a little bit of fresh water to bring it down a little.

 

[bwmichaud]

I have to agree with you. It is very annoying keeping the water at the right temp. It's hard to regulate the flame on my turkey fryer so if I have it too low, it blows out. I tend to run it higher than it needs to be and then I add water to get it exactly where I want it. I'm thinking of building one that regulates itself for next year or maybe even buying one.

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
58?.. nice! i can't do that many at one time by myself because the standing in one spot for that amount of time kills my back... so we do around 5 to 10 at a time before I have to call it quits for the day.. then again I don't have any help for the processing.. my husband shoots the birds.. i do the rest
may have to resort to a trash can when we process the bigger turkeys.. i was wondering what to scald them in when the time comes.. so thanks for that tip!