Customer Reviews

Char-Broil The Big Easy Oil-Less Infrared Turkey Fryer

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I have never owned or used a turkey frier. I am very safety minded and the thought of all that peanut oil at a high temperature and the open flame, well I just cant bring myself to buy one. I did, however purchase the Char-Broil Big Easy Oil-Less Infrared Turkey Fryer. So far in three weeks I have cooked three turkeys. Since I have never used a real deep fat turkey frier, the operational part of my review of the product is a bit one-sided. I can say that of all the appliances that have more than 2 moving parts, the ease of operation of the Big Easy is just that. Big and easy. The three turkeys I have cooked in the cooker were just under 12 pounds. The first was rubbed with olive oil, it was delicous and moist but a bit dark on the outside. The subsequent 2 were rubbed with peanut oil and had a better complection, but were just as moist and flavourful. I did experience a bit of overcooking of the drumsticks and wings. I believe that this could be cured by sheilding them with some aluminium foil (that will be my next experiment). I have yet to cook anything but turkeys, when I do though, I will make an addendum to this review. All in all, I am pleased with the product and highly praise its ease of use and safety in producing a nice fried turkey. My son is a proffesional Chef and agrees that my terminology is correct, oil has been used and as he states, "technically Dad, it is fried, but not deep fat fried" Thats ok by me.

The "Big Easy" lives up to its name.
In the short time that we have owned this piece of equipment We have done a 16lb. turkey, two 7lb. chickens (not at the same time, two boneless pork loins (one at a time), a standing rib roast (4 ribs) and a pork butt. All were great.
We are experimenting with mounting shelves that can be adjusted to different levels by using the basket structure to support them. We have baked 4 sweet potatoes on a shelf (its a stainless steel cooking grate from a previous vertical smoker) we just cut it down to fit the diameter of the basket. Fixin' next to try Bar-B-Q cabbage on the shelf while the meat is in the bottom.
If I could figure a way to have it clean itself I'd give it a five star rating.
It will never replace smoking but it sure is a lot faster and easier.
I don't have to split the wood like I do for smokin'.
Chris

October 3, 2008
Updater after 10 months of use.
I felt that this cooker was worthy of minute of my time to offer an update about it.
I do a great deal of outdoor cooking all year long. I cant think of anything I haven't cooked on this unit. It has all been excellent. (Oops, I just thought of something. The briskets still get done in the smoker and that ain't gonna change. It takes 2 days prep and 24 - 30 hrs of smokin' @ 180 - 200 deg.)
I have been using metal skewers that are cut to the diameter of the cooking basket plus 1" so they rest on the rungs of the basket. I have hung ribs, multiple pork loins, multiple beef roasts of various cuts and use an electronic meat thermometer with two probes to monitor the progress. When I do multiple chickens I use the skewers just to balance them in the upside down (tail up) position.
I have not needed to spend the money for peanut oil to use in my regular deep fryer. I haven't used it since I purchased the "Big Easy".
A word of note; I do use slightly more propane than if I would cook the roasts on one of my hooded grills, but the key word here is SLIGHTLY, the outcome of the meat far outweighs the propane used. As far as chicken and turkey in the deep fryer, it would require more propane to run the burner to heat the oil than what I use to do them in the Big Easy.
I hope that this helps anyone who is thinking of purchasing a "Big Easy".

One last thing. I have a friend who is always lifting the lid of the smoker and the grills. Well poof there goes the cooking time out the window, real noticeable when cooking at 200 deg. and below.
With "The Big Easy" I don't use the mesh cover when I cook, my buddy's got nothing to open, its all there for the world to see and the temperature is not effected. The meat gets done on time.
Chris

Where I live, people rave about fried turkeys. I've never had the chance to taste one, so I decided to buy a turkey fryer and give it a try. However, I had concerns about the safety of turkey frying, plus the health issues of frying in oil, plus the expense of buying all that peanut oil, plus disposing of the oil...so, when I saw the Big Easy Oil-less fryer, I went for it.

I have to admit, I was skeptical. I really wanted to taste fried turkey and I didn't see how a device which appeared to be more of an oven could fry my turkey without oil. Well, today I cooked my Thanksgiving turkey and I have to say we were blown away. Crispy on the outside, moist and flavorful on the inside just doesn't even begin to do justice to describing this turkey. I still haven't tasted an oil fried turkey, so I can't say if this turkey tasted the same, but I can't imagine any turkey tasting better. My husband raved about it long after the meal was over. He was not too happy about my spending money on a turkey fryer, but after he tasted the turkey, he decided I "did good." He is already talking about cooking a turkey when his sister comes to visit next spring.

Once put together, this appliance couldn't be any easier to use. You hook it up to the propane tank, put the turkey in, turn it on, and wait for the meat thermometer to get to the right temperature. No turning or basting.

I had to do a little finagling because I had already bought a 21 pound turkey. The maximum is supposed to be 16 pounds. It did fit in the basket, though, so I gave it a go. The top of the cooker is open and it was cold enough to be snowing (remember, this is an outdoor cooker). Because the turkey was so large, the end that was up wasn't getting cooked enough. I don't think this would be an issue with a smaller turkey. I took a piece of foil, poked vents in it, and put it over the top of the cooker. This can only be done for a few minutes because the top of the turkey started getting cooked very quickly with the foil over it. However, it did the trick and the whole turkey came out perfectly.

By the way, I basted the turkey with a healthy oil with Omega 3, made of a combination of canola, soy, and olive oil. I stuffed the inside with a chopped apple, a small chopped onion, and four kinds of fresh herbs- oregano, thyme, rosemary and basil. The herbs infused the whole turkey with a wonderful flavor.

Lets start by saying that I used the big easy to cook my first ever turkey, so I am obviously not a professional. The assembly was pretty straight forward and the hardware was organized nicely. I followed the included instructions for preparing and injecting the marinade in the turkey. Then all you have to do is insert the thermometer, put it in the big easy, and turn it on.

I cooked a 15lb turkey, and I found that it actually cooked a bit faster than 10 minutes a pound. Overall it took about 2 hours to fully cook it. The math said it would take 30 minutes longer, but I pulled it when the thermometer hit 170.

The results were as advertised. The turkey came out nice and crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. The rub and marinade (Cajun butter) really gave it that little something extra. the bird got rave reviews from all that tried it. Matter of fact I think I may have sold at least two other people on the big easy. One of which is looking for alternatives to peanut oil based frying due to allergies in the family.

Overall, the only way they could make this thing better is if they included a sample marinade and injector for your first cooking experience. Oh and I think I might research a little about the infrared technology so that I can answer the questions the next time I have people over.

This fryer has performed as described. I have used three different outdoor grilling system and I have a standard oil turkey fryer.I have quite a bit of experience at outdoor cooking.I have a Holland Grill which is sensational and I have had two Ducane Grills in the past which were also great. This Big Easy is better in all ways.The results are what matters. This is equal to the Ducane rotisserie grill without the expense and the clean up.It is simple to use, easy to assemble,easy to clean and so much cheaper than the other expensive models.It is also easy to store in the garage.
I cooked two whole chickens at the same time with ease and they came out as tender as any rotisserie chicken I have ever had. If you make gravy the drippings are collected in the drip pan and they do NOT burn.The drip pan is made of a metal that just rinses clean.
The results are what matter.

Sincerly,
Satisfied in South Carolina

PS: To all my fellow turkey fryers who use oil. Throw them away. This is the deal. You will fry more turkeys because it is so much easier.

So, I bought a turkey and my husband's work gave us a free one. We don't really like a lot of turkey and wanted to do something different with the 2nd turkey. After asking around at church for someone who was deep frying a turkey, a friend mentioned he was going out of town and we could use his Big Easy. It was a gamble because he had never used it. Best gamble I've ever made. My husband 'injected' it with a cajun butter mix he found on recipezaar or something like that. We bought a cheap injector at the grocery store. It was super easy to assemble and get the bird into the grill. And easy to get the bird cooked and on the table even easier to get it eaten up. The dark meat was a little overdone, but our one die-hard drumstick fan was converted to the light side....so to speak. The Big Easy put my oven bird to shame (it was moist and wonderful tasting until you had a taste of the other) and will make Thanksgiving a cinch and, even better, no more headaches!!! I'll have my husband outside cooking the bird and I'll have an empty oven to do the rest of the meal.

The Big Easy is truly the Big Cajun No Muss/No Fuss. I have been deep frying birds since 1983. I now have an Oil-less Fryer. What an easy way to do turkey. Prepare the bird in the same manner as you have been used to when oil deep frying. Fire up the Big Easy, drop the bird in the basket and 9 minutes a pound and the Big Bird becomes the Big Easy Cooked Bird. There is some assembly required, but following the instructions makes the process easy. CLean Up is a snap since you don't have to mess with the oil. Char Broil is going to love me since I sold them 4 new Fryers to the people I fed. What's up with dropping the going price $50.00 per unit in less than a month?

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!

I got the big easy for an upcoming birthday party , i needed oven space and also did not want to boil a ton of oil outside , so i thought i would try the big easy .
I decided to have a trial run , i had an old turkey in the freezer , it was past its best so even if i messed up the cooking it would not matter , i seaoned the bird inside and out , rubbed melted butter on the out side and injected a spice mixture as i would with a traditional fryer .
Getting the bird into the basket was tight , too tight , so i checked the recommended size , up to 16 lbs it said , i then realised i did not look at the label on the bird , 24 lbs , oops , anyway the bird did go into the fryer and i thought it would bound to be not cooked but so what , it was my mistake , two and a half hours later the thermometer read 168 , i took it out , it looked fantastic , i let it rest under foil for about 25 minutes and then carved it .
I have to tell you i am retired restaurant owner and have cooked hundreds of birds over the years , this was tremendous , the great thing learned by my mistake is that you have a lot of leeway over the size of the bird.
If there is a downside to the machine it is that the assembly is a bit fiddly but if you take your time it wont be a problem , also there is no recipe book , i called charbroil and they said they did not have one , i would happily pay for one rather than experiment with different cuts of meat .
Thats about it , clean was a doddle , no oil to mess with and a great looking and tasting bird , i recommend it , phil smithies st pete beach florida

The Char-Broil Big Easy oil-less turkey fryer is well made, well designed and fairly easy to assemble. Well written assembly instuctions.

There is a learning curve needed when cooking different cuts of meat. How long you leave the lid while cooking is critical. I have had some excellent results on pork tinderloin, turkey, chickens, but have had some burning with ham. Cook times can be quite long. You just got to experiment. I like the safety, ease of use, and cleaning better than the oil fryers. Easy to set up and use and seems to be very fuel efficent. It cooks the fat out of the meat without drying out the meat making it more healthly. The crispy outside is GREAT! There is a website that has some helpful tips. Maybe when enough people relate their experiences the manufactuer could include better cooking instructions. I have enjoyed it and would buy it again.