Light the burner before placing the pot on it for better sight and chance of knocking over the pot. Once lit, never leave the cooker unattended. The most important thing for a great fried turkey and to prevent any accidents is to always have at least one adult watching the cooker at all times. Add the oil to the measured waterline before placing the pot on the lit burner. Placing an empty pot on the burner will damage the pot.
Monitoring the oil temperature is important for deep frying anything. If the temperature reaches too high, there's risk of fire. If the temperature drops too low, the food will stop "steaming" and oil will soak in causing it to become greasy a soggy. 350 Fahrenheit is the target cooking temperature for a turkey with peanut oil. Slight less, around 335 Fahrenheit is target for lighter oils such as canola. 400 Fahrenheit is a good critical limit. This means once 400 Fahrenheit is reached, shut off the gas. It will take more heat to flash the oil on fire than 400 Fahrenheit, but there's no need to go this high and it will hurt the estimated cooking time. Temperatures under 400 Fahrenheit that are higher than target, should be controlled by lowering the heat on the burner. Turn off the gas if at any point the oil starts to smoke. Keep in mind that reusing oil will lower it's flash point temperature.
Once the target temperature is reached, about 350 Fahrenheit, it's time to drop the bird. Reduce the heat of the burner. Wearing thick gloves, long sleeves and thick shoes or boots, very slowly lower the turkey rack into the pot using a long grab hook. Lower the turkey so slow that it'll take over a minute to completely do. Without gloves or long sleeves, oil splatter could cause "flinching" and might result in knocking over the pot filled with boiling oil.
After the turkey is completely inserted, increase the heat to raise the oil temperature back to target, this could take several minutes. Once the target temperature is reached, adjust the heat to maintain it. Be mindful of the critical limit, once 400 Fahrenheit is reached, don't attempt anymore adjustments and turn off the gas. A turkey takes about 3 to 3 and a half minutes per pound to deep fry, about one hour for an 18lb turkey.
When the turkey is golden brown and done cooking, turn off the gas. Place newspapers or paper towels close by on a flat surface. Slowly remove the turkey rack from the pot using the same safety clothing as when it was lowered. Make sure the rack is high and clear of the pot before attempting to move to reduce chance of knocking over the pot still filled with boiling oil. Place the rack on the newspapers or paper towels to cool and drain. For several minutes.
Do not leave the fryer pot and burner unattended until it has cooled down which will take quite some time. Do not attempt to move the pot and burner until the oil has dropped down past 110 Fahrenheit. It's very important to keep in mind that the oil is still boiling after the cooking is done and to keep children away from it.
Congratulations on your beautiful bird. Only problem is that you won't ever be able to go back to dried oven cooked turkeys again.
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