Customer Reviews

Char-Broil 10101480/08101480 The Big Easy Oil-Less Infrared Turkey Fryer

5 star:		(172)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

We have been "Deep Frying" turkeys in oil for nearly two decades and I must say that the "Big Easy" is an AWESOME piece of equipment!

We received a call from a friend in Cajun country and he told us that we should buy the Big Easy. We bought it from Amazon back in Feb 2008. We did not use the fryer until yesterday, for Thanksgiving. We were shocked! It was easy to use and there is hardly anything to clean up . If you follow the directions, you will not go wrong. Before we used the fryer, I went to the Charbroil site and read the tips and updated information concerning the fryer.

You only have to do this the first time you use the fryer:

1. After you put the fryer together, DO NOT put anything in the fryer other than the basket and turn on the fryer for 15 minutes.
2. After the fryer has cooled, spray Pam in the fryer, place the basket in the fryer and turn on the fryer for 10 mins.
3. After the fryer has cooled, put some olive or peanut oil on a paper towel and rub the oil on the basket. Place your season turkey in the basket and turn on the fryer. Make sure the turkey legs are pointing down or resting in the bottom of the basket and keep the metal brace that keeps the turkey legs together intact.

** Each time the fryer is used, repeat step three (Oiling the basket).**


Tip:

If you cover the turkey with olive oil, the turkey will darken so if you like the blacken turkey or dark turkey, coat the turkey with oil. Do not put oil on the wing tips because the tip will burn quicker. If you use olive oil, do not place the cover on the fryer and in fact you really don't need to put the lid on at all. I did not put oil on the back of the turkey just to compare the color of the turkey. You don't need to put oil on the turkey because the turkey will have a pretty brown color without the oil.

Pull the skin back from the breast, place the season under the skin (Dried & Fresh), garlic, onion, etc use your imagination. Pull the skin back in place and season the inside of the turkey. While the turkey is in the basket, I placed half a lemon in the top of the turkey along with fresh rosemary, mint etc.

The garlic did not get mushy as it retained its shape but it was easy to smash. I smashed it with two fingers, placed it on top of the turkey and ate it. It was heavenly! The lemon came out juicy so I squeezed the lemon on the turkey. It was good! The lemon nor the spices did not over power the turkey as it gave a good flavor. The next time I think I will juice the lemon, puree the seasons and rub the turkey inside and out as well as place more whole garlic cloves in the turkey. The season does not burn.

On Thanksgiving, we fried two turkeys, one with oil and one with the Big Easy. The skin was crisp as you cannot tell the difference between the oil fried turkey and the Big Easy turkey. In fact, the white meat held more moisture than the deep fried turkey. We compared the two and the Big Easy won hands down. The Big Easy is healthier than the oil fried turkey. The juice pan collected the drippings, we chilled the drippings, removed the fat so it can be frozen in cubes for a later day. The turkey did not stick to the basket. When you purchase the Big Easy, the savings from not having to buy peanut oil is something that you do not have to buy.

Charbroil has accessories for the Big Easy at their website. I recommend the Big Easy and FOLLOW the direction!

This is a great cooking tool! It takes about 15-20 minutes to assemble (unfortunate, but I'm sure it reduces the cost to the consumer as well). The craftsmanship isn't A-grade because of sharp edges and such, but overall it is sturdy enough to seem like it will last a long time.

I wanted to test it out before Thanksgiving, so I bought a 12 lbs turkey to try it out. The turkey took about 2 hours and 15 minutes to cook, which is a little longer than their estimated time (the outside temperature was rather low at 30 degrees F).

The result? Delicious. The skin was nice and crispy, and the inside meat was extremely moist.

The fryer is easy to use, and it can be used for cooking all kinds of meats. I'm really excited to cook a bigger bird on Thursday!

Good idea and makes great turkeys when it works. I bought this a few months ago, used it 3 times before the bottom fell out of the stainless steel container (that you insert into the fire chamber)and this caused a small grease fire in the unit. Upon closer inspection the container is cheaply tack welded together and will come apart after a few uses. I have confirmed this flaw with another BIG EASY owner who also is having the same problem with the tack welds. Warranty is only 3 months on this product so it will last only one season if you are lucky. Char-Broil needs to look at their quality control concerning critical components with respect to this product since this could be a potential safety hazard.

First, The Big Easy (TBE) cooks much faster than a "regular" turkey fryer. From start to finish, a turkey in TBE takes a total time of about 8-10 minutes per pound plus about 10-15 minutes to clean (by leaving it on) and a few minutes to cool down. Traditional oil frying may take much less time per pound but you have to heat the oil for an hour and then you have several hours of cooling, disposal, and cleaning time remaining.

TBE not only gives you the same crispy skin and incredibly moist flesh as traditional frying but you can also -
- use a dry rub without having it wash off in the oil
- put some "savories" in the cavity
- use fine wood chips for a light smoke flavor
- make "beer can chicken" or similar recipes
- baste during cooking

I've also used it for chicken (whole & parts), duck. leg of lamb, and various cuts of pork & beef and had great results every time.

The only problems I've heard about usually have to do with improper assembly, usually not seating the propane valve properly inside the burner tube to allow for proper gas flow. Other than that, it's pretty much idiot-proof. I'd also recommend you get a decent thermometer (I have a digital with remote alarm) - the one supplied by Char Broil isn't all that accurate.

I've been eating and cooking fried turkey since I was a kid in Louisiana (some 50 years ago when we used cut-down 55 gallon drums and fried the turkey until it floated). I'm totally sold on The Big Easy; it may well be the best cooking tool since cast iron.

I've cooked three 15 lb turkeys since getting this cooker before Thanksgiving. All have come out perfect. I brined all three overnight, and inserted the thermometer in the thickest part of the breast during cooking. No un-cooked areas.

I also did a traditionally fried turkey on Thanksgiving so we could do a taste test. You cannot duplicate the exact taste of a fried turkey with this cooker, but all agreed it tasted great. Even at twice the cook time of frying, this cooker uses much less propane as it is a low flame in an enclosed area. And no oil to deal with!

I did two birds at Christmas. We then cooked down the carcasses into a stock that included the drippings from the bottom of the cooker, and made a great turkey gumbo. I recently cooked a couple of chickens, and will next try a pork loin. I may never fry a turkey again. It looks like my old rig will go back to just boiling crawfish.

My only complaint is that it comes with a basket, and then Char-broil wants you to buy the hinged "Easy Out" basket as an accessory for $20. They should have made the original basket an easy out. It is a pain trying to get a hot, 15 pound turkey out of the basket.

Other than that, it was a great buy.

I purchased my first BIG EASY COOKER for my dad for fathers day in 2008. That first weekend we cooked a pork roast, turkey and roast beef. Not only did we have fun becuase it is an amazing device... but the drippings are intenese which translate to the best gravy we'd ever made and the dry rubs really infuse the meat. What we learned that first weekend 1-we only leave the lid on long enough to get a sear on top, 2-when cooking beef or pork if you use a 5" or thicker cut of meat it will not cook in the middle, that can be good or bad depending on your preference and 3-watch the amount of salt you use in your rubs, now we use only a pinch and use more herbs and other salt free spices/seasonings.

The food is so good, cooks fast without having to hover around a hot grill and cleanup is a breeze!! My dad said I could borrow his, but I knew after that weekend I'd use this cooker often... so I bought my own and used it throughout the year for turkey breasts (put rosemary, oil and misc seasonings between the meat and skin), pork roast and fish.

Early Nov 08 I traveled out of state to visit friends. They had planned to fry a turkey for the holidays. They learned family would be able to come visit that year. That was very good news, but they were planning on frying turkey this year and they knew their family members kept to a strict diet for health concerns. I couldn't resist surprising them with an early Christmas present. I checked online and found a local lowes that had them in stock. They were skeptical of this infared cooker and love their fried turkey - so we put it to work that weekend. We tested it and sure it didn't taste identical to a fried turkey, What did it taste like: Bursting with flavor, the meat moist and skin crispy - and it was healthy, they loved it!!

We all continue to fry turkeys once or twice a year. THE BIG EASY is an everyday cooker we continue to use! The food is GREAT, it is ecconomical to use, it cooks quickly and easy to cleanup.

Let me start by saying I am not a seasoned cook nor do I BBQ; however, when I saw this I was excited to try it. I picked one up from a local hardware store and rushed home. First was a turkey, that turned out great but then I cooked a ham in the cooker. It was amazing! I cooked the ham while at my parents place and they had company over. Everyone thought it was wonderful and wanted to know when I was going to cook with it again. I have done ribs in there a few times and they turn out great also. How much easier can it get? Turn it on, put in the meat, and wait until the desired temp. You don't have to worry about watching or basting. I like the fact that I can spend more time relaxing with my guests. If you're wondering what it can do other than turkey, there is a forum where people discuss all the different things they've cooked with it, recipes and tips. [...]

Had less than year, used twice! The handle to tighten valve to tank crystalized and broke! Charbroil wants $40+ incl. shipping for whole new hose assy.(will not sell part separately) and cannot find anything that will work anywhere! Don't have part in stock, backordered for a month now!

The Big Easy is all it is billed to be. Easy to put together, easy to use, and easy to clean. I cooked with it for the 1st time on Christmas morning and closely followed the instructions. The turkey was moist as could be on the inside and the skin was nicely crisp and golden brown. Beautiful turkey and very tasty. I am very pleased with this purchase and recommend it to anyone not wanting to get into the expense of oil, and the disposale/storage/safety issues associated with oil.
Merry Christmas!

I asked my coworkers one day if any of them had a turkey fryer. One of them got real excited about NOT buying an oil fryer and that I should really buy this "Big Easy" oiless fryer. Like most people, I assumed the taste would not be as good as an oil fryer...more on that later. So he began to become really excited (and he's not an excitable fella) about the benefits of not having to purchase $50 worth of oil to fry a single turkey and not to mention, the danger and disposal of the oil. So I was convinced that this was the way to go and I purchased it here with free shipping.

I took this out to our beach camping event and we cooked Mexican churros in this and it worked flawlessly. The grate holes were a little too big, but we managed. Later, I cooked a 3.0lb chicken in it. I got a little impatient and put the probe in there one too many times, but it got up to 160F when I pulled it out. But i put it back in b/c I wanted to get the skin crispy and brown. So I put the mesh lid on for about 5 mins and the skin got brown and crispy.

We took it out and ate it. Wow, it was really, really good! What also helped was that my coworker was kind enough to buy me Lawry's seasoning salt for beef and chicken. Of course we used the chicken, and it was really, really tasty.

I cannot say enough about how easy this is to use. I'll probably buy another grate so i can double deck/cook two chickens too. My mind is turning like crazy thinking about all the great things I can good in this.

One thing though is that the top gets really hot and the height of this thing is at a height that children can easily grab. A few times the kids came over and curiously wanted to peek in. They would naturally want to grab the top of the fryer, so be aware and keep the little ones away b/c it will burn them.

I can't wait to practice (and eat) some more bird!