Turkey friers, popular in some parts of the U.S., are very dangerous. If they overflow or boil over, they will often ignite, producing a very large and uncontrollable fire in a matter of seconds.
My suggestion would be to have a ring around the frier which would catch any overflowing oil and pipe it into a rather large container in a weighted base. This base would be constructed to be mostly enclosed except for some moderate-sized (1" or so) holes in the top into which the oil would be funneled and would contain some baffles so that even if burning oil went into the base, it would not be able to burn very well.
Although it would probably work best to construct a frier to work with the described base, it would probably also be possible to apply the base as a retrofit improvement to existing units.-- supercat, Nov 23 2005 Turk N' Surf Electric Turkey Fryer http://www.tabletoo...yes&Product_ID=4378Electric indoor-use units like this one minimize some of the inherent danger by eliminating the open flame. But I suppose that also eliminates part of the masculine allure of the traditional turkey fryer. [jurist, Nov 23 2005] The Aqua Teen Hunger Force http://www.adultswim.com/shows/athf/great fryers, as well as world class super heros [sleeka, Nov 25 2005] It's been a while, [supercat]. Current turkey friers are stovetop things, no? Would the base also sit atop the stove? Or would the frier with base be a standalone affair like a "Frydaddy" with its own heat source?
It seems to me that the collar alone, without pipe or reservoir, would go a fair ways towards solving this problem. The collar could contain some overflowing oil, and hopefully the appearance of the oil would prompt those tending the frier to turn down the heat. It could attach magnetically.-- bungston, Nov 23 2005 I don't know of any stovetop turkey friers in the U.S., and I would think it unlikely they would be sold here. Current turkey friers include explicit warnings that they should not be used within ten feet of any building, wooden deck, or other flammable object. It would be difficult to use a stovetop unit under such conditions.
I agree that even the collar by itself could be somewhat helpful, but if the grease within the collar does somehow ignite it could still pose a significant hazard.
Thinking about it, it might be possible to improve the design further by having overflow pipes connect to the lower tank a few inches down from the top of the pot (or else have a collar that extends up four inches or so from the top of the pot). The collar could contain a heat-operated chemical CO2 generator (e.g. a bunch of baking soda and some acid in a container that will melt at 800F). This would allow for the extinguishment of a fire on top of the boiling grease.-- supercat, Nov 23 2005 There's a food franchise chain (called Buffalo Bubble) in the north of Australia that deep fries whole water buffalo in specially made pyrex friers, so that all the patrons sit around drooling while their dinner bubbles away in the middle of the room. The friers hold about 1200 litres of oil (these places use 95 parts peanut oil, 3 parts sesame oil and 2 parts chilli oil - though that might be a secret, you didn't read that here) and there is at least a two foot margin between the rim of the giant cooker and the safe level of oil.
It can be quite disconcerting to see the buffalo, some of which weigh almost a ton and a half, lowered into the hot oil, but fascinating to watch through the glass as the cooking proceeds - sort of like an aquarium.
When they get it out they just lower it onto a huge mattress type thingy and everyone tucks in. Of course there is always some idiot who wants the testicles and often there are fights over that bit.-- ConsulFlaminicus, Nov 25 2005 [ConsulFlaminicus], are you f**king serious? I saw something like that on Aqua Teen Hunger Force <link>, where they fried a whole cow, after injected it with cheese first, and I thought "if only...". I now know I must visit Australia.-- sleeka, Nov 25 2005 The phrase "fried water buffalo" when googled returns only 23 results. For your edification, "fried giraffe" returns 119 results and "fried scorpion" returns 561 results. Also of note, no mention of whole fried water buffalo among the results.-- Gusbus, Nov 25 2005 I'm sorry, I think my previous anno was some sort of hallucinogenic reaction to the consumption of [UnaBubba]'s cabbage and blue cheese soup. There is of course, no such thing as 'Buffalo Bubble'.
It is however no more, or less, ridiculous than the concept of deep frying a whole turkey. I'm sure the French have an expression for 'a crime against gastronomy' and I wish I knew it.-- ConsulFlaminicus, Nov 27 2005 random, halfbakery