This Is Why You Never Deep-Fry a Frozen Turkey

There are many ways you can cook a turkey—but deep-frying a frozen turkey shouldn’t be one of them.

The Wayland Fire Department posted a video of a controlled experiment showing a firefighter dipping a frozen turkey in a pot of hot oil. It explodes in a fireball and the flames are so intense you can see the videographer moving backward.

The problem is frozen turkeys contain a lot of water, which doesn’t mix with hot oil. And if your pot is too full of oil, it will spill over, hit the flame, and blow up.

“Make sure your turkey is fully thawed and the oil level is low enough before dropping it into that vat of scalding hot oil or else disaster, injury and fire are sure to follow,” the fire department said.

Check it out for yourself: