Char Broil The Big Easy Oil Less Infrared Turkey Fryer
Description: The Big Easy provides oil-less cooking w/patented infrared cooking technology. Easily cooks large cuts of meat, produces juicy/flavorful taste. Features cool touch handles, grease tray, rotary ignition, meat thermometer & propane hose. Tank not included.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars I was very skeptical and now I am a believer
I received this as a gift and was very skeptical as to how well it would work. Before I aquired it, I was impressed by everything but the fact it didn’t use oil (no belief it would taste good). Well, all the stuff like drippings, no oil to store, easy use/storage, ability to use rubs, etc. were right on. Very easy to use and clean. When the turkey came out it looked just like the fried turkey I had growing up in the south. In fact, everything including the taste was there. I am pretty sure that it works just like when frying with oil only it sears the juices that cook out of the meat instead of oil in a fryer. I do not think you can get any closer to a oil fried turkey. It does get extra points cause it looks cool and is actually kind of interesting to cook on. Although it has a novelty factor to it, it is something that a true BBQ guy can get into simply because it works. If you still want to mess with all that oil, go ahead. I will be sitting on the couch full of turkey and you will be outside with the kitty litter cleaning the concrete.
5 Stars Happy cooking
We really love this gizmo–getting the crispy skin without boiling in oil is our main goal, and the meat stays very moist. Takes lots less time, too. We do two small (12-pound) turkeys when we have a bunch of folks. Frees up the oven, too.
Sunday, I’m going to try kabobs. They may only take 5 to 8 minutes!
by the way, don’t bother with a cookbook for turkey fryer–it’s not much help for this cooker.
5 Stars Un Freaking Believable
As other have mentioned, I was skeptical. Really skeptical. I passed this in a store and thought “nice idea but no way”. I’ve been deep frying my turkeys for years and love the results, but I have grown less tolerant of the cost and hassle of using all that oil so when the holidays approached I remembered this thing and read a few reviews.
What I read was mostly favorable and after using it I am convinced that people who’ve experienced poor results are doing something wrong. I did the usual injection then plopped it in the basket and let it rip (lid off). There was very little heat inside the basket and after an hour the bird just looked a little pale and sweaty. I thought we might have to resort to cold cuts for dinner. I was even more concerned when I checked the drip pan towards the end and found several cups worth of liquid in it. The bird reached temperature in just about 10 mins a pound, and I put the lid on for the last 30 mins to brown the top.
The first thing I noticed when pulling it out was that it was heavy. I expected it to be like styrofoam with all the liquid that ran off but it weighed almost as much as it did when I put it in. As I brought it in the kitchen to carve one guest looked at it and said “I don’t believe it”. It looked like a deep fried turkey. When I made the first cut juice actually squirted out. The breast had separated from the bone and the well it created was full of liquid.
Not exactly like deep fried, but close enough and even more moist. No oil, no babysitting, just put it in and take it out. If you want great results with a minimum of hassles, buy it.
5 Stars Magnificent machine!
Temperature, 45 degrees. Overcast, no wind. Nineteen pound bird. I rubbed it with olive oil and seasoned with equal parts of thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Placed the bird in the rack, put the rack in the cooker, put the lid on, and lit it. Roughly 10 minutes per pound and 3 hours and 10 minutes later took the bird out, covered with foil, and let it rest for 15 minutes. In the meantime, I cleaned the cooker. Wiped it with a paper towel. . .done. Took 30 seconds. I was also careful to remove the heavy metal mesh lid when my desired browness was reached. If I handed that turkey to you on a platter, you’d say “I just love deep fried turkey!”, except, it wasn’t fried. Skin was perfectly browned, perfectly crisp and tasty. Bird was moist, tender, and perfectly PERFECTLY cooked! Nine people raved about it, and I’m raving about it. I could not believe how good this thing works. Used very little propane too. If I could give it 6 stars, I would. (I think someone was in a bad mood in another review, eh?) EXCELLENT PRODUCT. I CAN’T RECOMMEND IT HIGHLY ENOUGH!! I’m buying another one and keeping it in the box in case they stop making it in 20 years and I need a new one!
1 Star Maybe the worst buy yet
I was not able to use the final sheetmetal screws, had to buy some that would work. The directions are not very good. I can not use the built in lighter to light the cooker or the match hole. The cooker will not stay lit after lighting.
not sure what to do at this point. Right now I can’t even use it. Please someone tell me what to do.
I was forced to give it one star.
