Cheap Brinkmann 815-4001-S Turkey Fryer

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List Price: $99.95
Sale Price: $77.19
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Used this for 2 all-grain homebrew beer batches so far. If you do a 6.5 gallon boil, this gets pretty close to the top for a while. If you have lots of hop additions you might want a different pot as it gets close to boilover with a big addition.

The "safety features" are kind of annoying, I think when I get the time I will bypass all of that stuff.

But for the price it is great. Comes to a boil plenty fast, and I can keep a full roiling boil of 6.5 gallons without having the gas cranked all the way.

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I picked up one of these kits at Home Depot and used it yesterday to fry two 13-lb Thanksgiving turkeys and it worked great no problems at all. I fried them one-at-a-time at about 40 minutes each and they were delicious. The wide three-legged base is very stable and the burner provides plenty of heat which brought the oil up to temperature fairly quickly both when initially heating the oil and after putting a bird in. The hottest the oil got was 375 and auto shutoff never engaged so there were no problems with that for me. Other reviewers had complained about that elsewhere and I was prepared to defeat it if necessary.

There is a max-fill line on the side of the pot which turned out to be exactly the amount of oil I needed and was about 3.5 gallons. Next time I'll just fill right to that line and skip the whole water-fill measurement step described in many places on the Web.

The only annoyance was that during assembly I missed installing the spring in step 2 because it is not shown in the assembly drawing. When I had the spring left over I read all the text and had to disassemble part of unit to install the spring. The purpose of the spring is to provide a little friction for the air mixing control.

I tested the thermometer provided with the kit by placing it in a pot of boiling water and it was fairly accurate but I plan to buy a better quality one before I use fryer again. There is too much riding on the temperature of the oil both from a safety standpoint and when trying to cook based on cooking times that assume a certain oil temperature. I plan to just use them both and as long as they agree with each other I should be good to go. I also need to buy a large metal funnel with a fine mesh screen and/or cheese cloth to filter the oil after use.

One thing I learned worth sharing is that you have to be careful where you buy the oil. Home Depot sells a 3-gallon jug for $30 which they call peanut oil but it is a blend that is mostly vegetable oil and soybean oil peanut oil is listed last of the three ingredients. Costco sells a 35 pound (4.5 gallon) jug that is 100% peanut oil for $37. Thus Costco is selling the more expensive oil for less per gallon. Further, 3 gallons would not have been enough for my turkeys because I needed 3.5 gallons. I initially purchased the oil at Home Depot and returned it when I saw what Costco offered.

Happy frying.

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As the author of Turkey Fryers & Deep Fried Turkey: How To Deep Fry A TurkeyComplete Step By Step Instructions To Cooking Your Tastiest Turkey Ever! a friend of mine recently asked me to help him deep fry a turkey. He had just purchased this turkey fryer kit, but felt that the instructions were lacking, so he asked me for some pointers.

As far as fryers go, while this is a very basic kit, you certainly can't beat the price! I know for a fact that this is the most affordable turkey fryer on the market today, so if you're just getting started, it's a great turkey frying kit. While the kit is basic, it does come with a thermometer (remember you deep fry at 350 F for 3.5 minutes per pound) and even an injection kit. (This is so you can inject a flavorful marinade into your turkey, even though I myself prefer a brine).

The gas valve to the propane tank on this kit is also great, because it really allows you to adjust the flame to maintain your heat at a constant 350 F while you're deep frying your turkey.

I would have given this turkey frying kit 5 stars, but I downgraded it to 4 stars for 2 main reasons:

1. It doesn't come with a fryer basket, which you really need to when you recycle your oil and make chicken wings and french fries afterwards!

2. The instructions aren't great, especially if you've never deep fried a turkey before. Of course, I am a bit biased there, since I wrote an entire book on how to deep fry a turkey, but still, for a rookie, the instructions aren't completely "idiot proof".

Overall, this is a solid fryer that is affordable! I would recommend this fryer to anyone about to deep fry their first turkey, or looking for the most cost effective equipment to do so.

Enjoy your deep fried turkey!

Honest reviews on Brinkmann 815-4001-S Turkey Fryer

The biggest piece of junk you could buy.

1, in putting it together, the screw tabs were stripped. I had to modify with a nut on the end

2. After lighting, it kept going out even though the oil was only at 100

3. Determined problem was the safety shut off. Since it was thanksgiving, we could not go out and get another fryer.

4. Determined problem was a missing spring on one side of shut off. This was a factory installed spring with a nut to hold it in place.

5. Used a ballpoint pen spring and nut to repair the shut off valve

6. Finally got it working but after 20 minutes it went out. From there we had to relight it every 5 minutes or so

Please do not buy this item. I promise you you will be sorry

JW Illinois

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I love this thing! Not only will it cook a 14 pound turkey in 20 minutes, but it will scare the hell out of you and your neighbors at the same time. The turkey comes out great-moist, tender, and not fatty at all. It was a big hit this year with my family and will make you look like a genius too. Nonetheless, you definitely need to show this thing some respect. The burner is huge and the oil splashes as it boils. The turkey must be dry and FULLY defrosted to avoid a catastrophe. While I like a good explosion as much as the next guy I don't like taking out my house with it.