Planning Thanksgiving lunch meal for the folks at work next week. Probably going to fry 3-4 turkeys. Has anyone deep fried a whole ham before? I can't decide if it's a genius idea or a terrible one.

Lots of recipes online for doing this, they say it's very good, but never done one myself.

Following,

I've wanted to try this with a pork shank (picnic) roast. I assume the skin would be entertaining. I also like the texture of the shank better than the shoulder. Those things are only around 1.60/lb at Walmart, if you don't like it your dog will.

AgEng06 said:

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B-1 83 said:

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Following…….but my first thought is "Why?".

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This is the OB... your first thought should be "Why not?".

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If you been here long enough it's a sarcastic "what could go wrong?"

I've never seen it tried with ham, but a buddy of mine deep fried a couple racks of babybacks in a turkey fryer. Cut each rack into individual ribs, then salt, pepper, and meat tenderizer and let 'em sit for a few hours. Dropped them into the fryer and pulled them when they were done. Best pork ribs I've ever had.

I haven't heard of frying a ham but recently been seeing videos of smoking a ham to 200+ and then eating it like a pulled pork.

I would be concerned about the density when frying it. A turkey has the open cavity so the oil gets it from the inside too. I would worry the outside would be too well done before the inside cooked. I am sure there is a youtube that addresses this.

The one I did last Christmas I used a fully smoked/cooked bone in ham. Jess Pryles had a guide on it that I used.

Don't cut them into individual ribs. I've been doing this for 20 years. After the turkey is out and resting, season your ribs as you like (in this case I do Cajun rub), cut the racks in half so they fit in the turkey pot in the same oil. 15 minutes at 350 and you'll have great ribs. Keeps them moister than individual ribs and you get a better mix of textures. In a 30qt turkey pot you can fit about 2.5 racks at a time. Can do spares or baby backs but I prefer baby backs in the fryer. Enjoy!

BBQ flipper works great for getting the racks out of the fryer.

BurnetAggie99 said:

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The one I did last Christmas I used a fully smoked/cooked bone in ham. Jess Pryles had a guide on it that I used.

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We did the same thing last Christmas as well. Followed the Jess Pryles guide on an HEB Fully Cooked Spiral Ham. The fry was to warm the already cooked ham it turned out quite good.

Frying will always give you better flavor and moisture than roasting/baking the ham will. Just like a turkey.

m.stat said:

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Don't cut them into individual ribs. I've been doing this for 20 years. After the turkey is out and resting, season your ribs as you like (in this case I do Cajun rub), cut the racks in half so they fit in the turkey pot in the same oil. 15 minutes at 350 and you'll have great ribs. Keeps them moister than individual ribs and you get a better mix of textures. In a 30qt turkey pot you can fit about 2.5 racks at a time. Can do spares or baby backs but I prefer baby backs in the fryer. Enjoy!

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Thinking about trying this. Do you suspend the racks in the oil in some way (and what do you use) or just drop them in?

Just drop the half racks in and use a bbq flipper to get them out. I usually fit 2.5 racks of baby backs at a time in a 30qt turkey fryer pot.

I saw a video for pulled ham. It looked amazing. 10 hours on the smoker, pull and glaze then another 4 hours.

AgEng06 said:

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B-1 83 said:

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Following…….but my first thought is "Why?".

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This is the OB... your first thought should be "Why not?".

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I'm thinking about deep frying some of our Christmas tamales for Christmas Eve.

Never had fried Ham, but fried Pork Tenderloin is awesome. Inject and season the same way you would a turkey. Great flavor and very moist.

ChampsAg said:

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I saw a video for pulled ham. It looked amazing. 10 hours on the smoker, pull and glaze then another 4 hours.

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Has anyone done this? I saw the same video and am gonna give it a go on T Day

m.stat said:

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Don't cut them into individual ribs. I've been doing this for 20 years. After the turkey is out and resting, season your ribs as you like (in this case I do Cajun rub), cut the racks in half so they fit in the turkey pot in the same oil. 15 minutes at 350 and you'll have great ribs. Keeps them moister than individual ribs and you get a better mix of textures. In a 30qt turkey pot you can fit about 2.5 racks at a time. Can do spares or baby backs but I prefer baby backs in the fryer. Enjoy!

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These were plenty juicy. They just cooked a little faster is all.

And they stayed hot with a crispy exterior for quite a long time.

I'm smoking everything instead

m.stat said:

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Just drop the half racks in and use a bbq flipper to get them out. I usually fit 2.5 racks of baby backs at a time in a 30qt turkey fryer pot.

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This is how we do it