A turkey fryer is an apparatus for deep frying a turkey. Fried turkey has been a long time favorite in the southern part of the United States, and has recently become popular in other parts of the country as well because of the reduced time needed to cook a turkey through a deep frier vs. other conventional methods such as an oven or a rotisserrie grill.

Mmm.. Deep fried turkey. Should come with goggles and a burn kit!

A group of administrators at Dulles International Airport in the Washington D.C. area decided to deep-fry a turkey for their holiday party. A vat of hot oil and a hot plate just feet away from the nerve center of one of America's busiest airports ... what could go wrong?!

Can deep-frying a turkey ever be a bad idea, especially at a holiday party?

Automotive site Jalopnik puts a slight gearheaded twist on a preferred holiday cooking method.

Here are step by step instructions for how to deep fry a turkey (complete with pictures). If you're in charge of cooking the bird this year, and you want to try something different, trust me, this is the way to go. Just make sure you have a fire extinguisher handy and you'll be ok :)