All turkey fryers come with instructions and I recommend you read them before playing with your new toy, even if it's against your nature as a human being. That said, making a deep fried turkey takes a bit of prep time and precaution, but is well worth the effort.
Place the fryer on concrete, grass, or dirt. A wooden deck is not recommended. Place a stove bald or something else that's fireproof under your deep fryer to prevent the inevitable oil spatters from marring your brand new driveway.
Don't put too much peanut oil in the vat or the whole thing will boil over, creating a nasty, roiling mess. To measure the correct amount of oil, place the bird in the empty vat and fill the vat with water until the turkey is totally covered. Remove the bird and note the water level; this is how much oil you will need.
To properly cook a deep-fried turkey, make sure the turkey is thawed and completely dried inside and out (you can pat the bird dry with paper towels). If you don't do this, boiling hot peanut oil will spatter and pop all over as the turkey submerges. Not a good way to impress the neighbors.
Other important notes:
- Do not stuff a turkey that will be deep-fried. Your oven's freed up now, so use it instead.
- You won't have any of those nummy pan drippings to make homemade gravy, but fear not! Deep fried turkey is so moist that it doesn't need any.
- Dunking the turkey a few times into the hot oil before leaving it in to cook sears the skin and reduces excess moisture. Be warned: the oil will splatter when you do this.
- Be sure to remove that plastic thingie that pops up when the turkey's done. That only works for conventional oven cooking; it'll just melt in