How To Cook A Whole Turkey In An Air Fryer For Thanksgiving?

Whenever turkey crosses your mind, it’s almost inevitable to associate it with Thanksgiving, regardless of your location. In this article, we’re diving into the process of preparing an entire turkey using an air fryer. If you’re as big of an air fryer enthusiast as I am, possessing a recipe for cooking turkey in an air fryer will definitely be a handy trick to keep up your sleeve.

Air Frying A Whole Turkey Recipe

Most people wonder if it’s possible to put a whole turkey into an air fryer. I say it will depend on the size of both your air fryer and the turkey. Other than that, it is possible. It is best to check out your air fryer owner’s manual to see which size you can get. When you’re cooking the turkey in the air fryer it’s going to come out nice and juicy. You’re bound to have a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner.

Cooking A Whole Turkey With Gravy In An Air Fryer

Being lazy is a bad thing but cooking for Thanksgiving can be very stressful. If you haven’t cooked during thanksgiving with your friends and family there, you’ll try and find any way to make things easier on yourself. I know that I promise you a method on how to cook the whole turkey with gravy in the air fryer but it would be in the recipe section. You will not regret it.

Pros & Cons Of Using An Air Fryer & Of Any Brands:

Let’s begin with the pros:

Air fryers don’t use a lot of power as a traditional oven. If you’re trying to be energy efficient then you know what you need to use.

If you’re cooking during thanksgiving and have a lot of stuff to cook. Use both the air fryer and the oven to help you to free up some space.

Cooking things in the air fryer will make your food crispy and it cooks things in the air fryer quicker as well. A test was done on a thawed-out turkey that weighs out 14 pounds. It will cook your turkey for 2- 3 hours, or depending on your specific air fryer.

No worries are needed about using a lot of oil on your food. The air fryer eliminates unnecessary oil so that your food can be crispy and healthier too.

You don’t have to stress yourself to clean yourself up. Cleaning the air fryer has never been easier. No need to soak anything.

For some air fryers, you can feed more people. Some air fryer does come in large size, that can feed four or more people.

Let’s end it with the cons:

Some air fryers are big and bulky after being assembled. It’s funny when you assembled an air fryer and it doesn’t fit in the box that it comes out of.

From the previous point, when you have a big and bulky air fryer it will take up a lot of space. If you have a small kitchen or not a lot of space in the kitchen then it would be best to get a small air fryer.

Some air fryer makes loud noises when the hot air is circulating.

How To Cook A Whole Turkey In An Air Fryer

Here is a recipe that you can try for yourself.

Awesome Gravy Whole Turkey

Before you can make a delicious turkey, the first thing you need to do is make sure that the turkey is properly thawed out. If you don’t do this your turkey will not be cooked properly. Depending on your air fryer power and the turkey weight, your cooking time will vary. Enjoy this recipe with your family.

Yield: 12 servings

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 3 hrs 15 mins

Ingredients:

• Whole Turkey, 14 lbs., raw
• Butter, 90 g, cut into slices
• Garlic, 4 cloves, sliced thin
• Kosher salt, 15 ml or to taste
• Black pepper, to taste
• Oil, to coat turkey
• Chicken broth, 360 ml
• Flour, 95 g, for the gravy

Instructions:

1. Take out neck bones and giblets from the turkey cavity. Use whatever you can to dry off the turkey.
2. You can either combined the garlic and the butter or separately place it between the skin of the turkey breast. Coat the turkey with oil all over it, season the turkey with pepper and salt.
3. Place the lower rack in the air fryer and spray with oil. Place the turkey breast side down in the air fryer. Pour the broth over the turkey, at least 1/2 cup of broth. If your air fryer has an extender ring, then place it and lid on the air fryer.
4. Set your air fryer temperature at 350°F. Depending on your air fryer power, your turkey can cook for 2.5 to 3 hours.
5. Baste your turkey with the broth every 30 minutes.
6. Take off the air fryer lid and extender ring, after cooking for 2 hours. Flip the turkey breast side up.
7. Cook the turkey until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.

Notes: When you’re checking the temperature of any meat, put the thermometer in the thickest parts of the meat whether it be the breast, wings, and thigh. Also, the juices will run clear when you cut between the thigh and the leg.

8. When the turkey is properly cooked. Let it rest for 20 minutes.
9. While the turkey resting, it time to make the gravy. Remove the turkey juices and broth from the air fryer.
10. Put the flour in a medium bowl. Ladle in about 1 cup of the drippings and broth into the flour and whisk until smooth.
11. Place the mixture into the air fryer and cook for 10 minutes at 400°F or until thickened. Whisking a couple of times while the gravy is cooking.

Conclusion

I do hope that you enjoyed this one, not a lot of theory, not a lot practical. This post is something that you will need to experiment with your air fryer. See you in the next one.