Brinkmann 815-4001-S Turkey Fryer

After borrowing a neighbor's deep fryer last year, I felt it was time to buy my own. While tempted to pay twice as much for the "top of the line" brands, I decided to risk it and go with the less-expensive Brinkmann. Some assembly required, and the instructions are NOT particularly helpful. Make sure to insert the spring on step 2! Once assembled, the base seemed very sturdy. I like the knob that gives you control over the flame height, it made it easy to control the temperature. Also included is a temperature sensor that supposedly shuts off the gas if the temperature gets too high. Assuming it works, it is a nice safety feature to have. Other reviews have complained that this feature shuts off the gas at inopportune times- I haven't had that issue.Fill the pot with oil, light the flame, and drop the bird. About 3-4 minutes a pound, and voila- deep fried bliss.

Used it to fry a turkey and a duck this past Thanksgiving. Will use it again next year! It took a while to assemble, but includes pretty much everything you need. Beware, the description says it comes with a marinade injector, but mine did not. Didn't end up being an issue for me though since the marinade I bought came with one anyway.At around 60 dollars, it's a good deal (assuming it lasts a few years). I would recommend this to someone who is thinking about frying turkeys without too bad of an initial investment. You'll end up spending just as much or more on frying oil anyway.Pro tip: Follow the directions when you assemble it and you will not have any problems. I have a hunch that many (not all) of the issues experienced by people who gave negative reviews were the result of not putting the fryer together correctly.

Received this as a Christmas present from my wife, and used it that evening to do two turkey's. Assembly was fairly simple, except for the spring that others have mentioned. The directions surely fall short in that area. They need a better diagram to show where and how the spring is installed. Thankfully I had done some reading previously, and got it installed without a real issue.The pot is a decent size, as long as you're not planning on doing a really large turkey. You could use a slightly larger pot, but only one that's a little bigger in circumference, as the pot needs to sit inside the top ring to engage the safety switch. Personally I wouldn't use anything but the original. Considering the relatively short cooking times, you can do two to three smaller birds in the time it takes to roast one larger bird.Starting the fryer was simple enough, although it can take a little playing to get the air ratio correct, in order to keep the fryer lit. The wrong gas/air mixture will cause the flame to "pulse", for lack of a better term, and it will often go out when it is at the lower portion of the "pulse". Once lit and running, the oil got up to temperature, and remained in the optimum range.I found a number of recommendations online, as to the time to cook your bird, and found most to be high for the 11 lb turkeys we did. Using the recommended 3 - 3 1/2 minutes per pound, the first turkey was a bit overdone. The second turkey I used a thermometer with, to check the internal temp of the bird at the thickest part, until it reached 165. I found that the turkey was actually done in about 2/3 the time the first one was in for. I would recommend this method until you get a better idea of times for yourself.Some safety thoughts...1. Make sure you don't use too much oil. First place bird in the pot, and fill with water until just covering the bird, then remove the bird, and mark the level of the water. This will show you how much oil to use so the oil will not overflow. Be sure to dry the pot well.2. Make sure the turkey is completely defrosted, and patted dry.3. Turn off the flame before lowering the turkey into the pot, that way if the oil splatters, there's no flame for it to hit.4. Don't leave the fryer unattended.5. Keep a fire extinguisher on hand (Class B or K).6. Turn the flame off when removing the turkey.7. Use the fryer well away from structures (house, garage, carport etc...).Enjoy your turkey!

Bought this to boil tree sap for maple syrup. Was easy to put together. The infamous extra spring is in the directions and can barely be seen in the diagram in the picture. it slides between the two connections before you screw them together. My 10 year old figured this out! The rest of the cooker went together ok. The push off button did not line up with the hole but a screwdriver bent the metal to slide it into alignment. I was scared to death to light but followed the directions and it lit nicely and produced a blue hot flame that could be adjusted. I would have no problem using this as a fryer or clam bake. Very pleased with the purchase. For the price and the past reviews my expectations were not very high and I was pleasantly suprised.

I've never used this for frying an actual turkey. I just use it to brew 5 gallon batches of beer. It gets a lot hotter than some of my friend's fryers, which is great for getting up to temperature. However, maintaining steeping temps is difficult, especially in the Summer because the flame can't be turned down low enough.But not having the 15 minute time out like other fryers is great and the flame probe is a great safety feature.I did deduct a star because when you first use it, the paint burns off of the stand and smells terrible and because the pressure switch that detects if the pot fell off the stand doesn't work correctly.UPDATE 12/10/13 I've had this fryer for a while now and the pressure switch that detects if the pot was knocked off the stand has failed. It had to be bypassed in order to keep the flame going. Since I use it for brewing beer this isn't a huge safety hazard. Not as much of a hazard as if oil splashed everywhere and ignited. Sometimes there are TOO MANY safety features. I had to deduct a star for this.Also, this pot is on the razor's edge of the claimed 30qt capacity. If you put 30qts of water in this thing you will be at the very top and any kind of movemnt will cause it to spill over. I wouldn't feel comfortable putting anymore than 28 qts in this thing and if you're boiling it... be super careful.