My first attempt at frying a turkey was a rousing success this year. Not only did it come out great, from start to finish took less than an hour, down from at least 4 hours of baking time in a conventional oven.

I was concerned about introducing a dozen pounds of water based avian flesh into 4 gallons of 320° boiling oil, feeling downright leery of the violent reaction that was to result. And there was one, replete with boiling, bubbling, splashing and hissing; but as I had taken...