Each year, families gather around a roasted or baked turkey for the holidays. Some families decide to go outside of the box and deep-fry turkeys for the holidays, which is when things get more serious.

I grew up with my dad frying turkeys for the holidays. As newlyweds, my wife and I will fry a turkey for our first Thanksgiving together and may continue the tradition.

Several dangers can mount from deep-frying a turkey, though. More than 4,000 fires occur on Thanksgiving across the country, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.

Therefore, in order to ensure a safe holiday season, we’re showing how to safely deep-fry a turkey.

In order to reinforce the safety issues, we teamed up with Florissant Valley Fire Protection District to give step-by-step safety tips.

Here are a few tips for deep-frying a turkey.

• Make sure that the turkey is completely thawed out before frying. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) advises 24 hours for every four to five pounds.
• Remember to remove the neck, giblets and timer in the turkey before frying.
• When preparing the turkey, you can season it or buy a flavor-injector system sold in grocery stores such as Schnucks and Dierbergs.
• When taking the turkey out of the fryer, make sure the temperature reaches the recommended temperature of 165˚F, as recommended by the USDA.
• Always refer back to your manufacturer’s manual for all questions, concerns and instructions.

Have a wonderful—and safe—holiday season.