Deep fryer turkey tips, how to stay safe this Thanksgiving

Humboldt, Ca., (KIEM) Thanksgiving is almost here and cooking all that food can get stressful. But do you know how to properly cook the main dish?

Fried turkeys are the main course of a Thanksgiving feast but it said to come with several safety issues. Reports show thousands of fires and many deaths and injuries happen each year due to turkey fryer fires.

But if you do decided to deep fry the main course, here’s a few tips:

1. Set up the turkey fryer more than 10 feet away from your home and keep children and pets away
2.  The oil must be even and steady at all times

And as far as cooking the main course, Chief Bill Reynolds of Humboldt Bay Fire said accidents happen but come “Turkey Day” use caution when touching a turkey fryer.

“The common mistakes that people make is they overfill the oil and put the turkey in it. It displaces the oil and it gets under the burner which causes a fire,” said Chief Reynolds. “The other thing I seen people do, is put a turkey that’s not fully thawed, a frozen turkey, into the water. The water sinks to the bottom because the oil floats on top, the water begins to boil, the steam tries to get out and that causes it to basically explode out and can again cause great bodily injury.”

Humboldt Bay Fire urges those to also have a fire extinguisher or baking soda ready at all times in the event of a fire.