Bring in a toy, get your turkey deep-fried

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) — If you don’t have the time or the patience to cook a turkey for Thanksgiving, a family-owned restaurant in Lexington will do it for you – deep fried or smoked – but only if you bring in a toy or make a cash donation to the Lexington firefighters toy drive.

Frying up turkeys for the kids. That’s how the crew at Double H Barbeque off Versailles Road spends their turkey day.

“This is our third year doing it with the fire department. We fry your turkeys and we just ask that you bring in an unwrapped new toy or make a cash donation,” says Nan Hanley, co-owner of Double H Barbeque.

It’s for the Lexington Firefighters Toy Program. This is the 88th year the Lexington Fire Department has been able to give to families during the holiday season.

“The firemen have been really good to us and are good customers and it’s a great program so we were thrilled to get to work with them,” says Hanley.

But before getting involved with the firefighters toy program, frying dozens of turkeys each Thanksgiving was tradition for the Hanleys who opened the restaurant seven years ago.

“My husband and I did this at our house for probably 20 years and had Thanksgiving with just friends and people and started frying turkeys,” says Hanley.

They fried around 75 turkeys during Thanksgiving just for family and friends.

“And then once we opened the restaurant and talked to the fire department they said ‘Do you wanna try it?’ and we said ‘Sure, how hard can it be?’ and so we went from 75 to 350,” says Hanley.

Last year, Hanley says they filled the toy bins about five times each, raised about $3,000 in cash, and fried almost 400 turkeys.

They plan to top that this year.

You can either have them fry or smoke your turkey.

“The best ones that they’ve ever had,” says Hanley.

Before bringing your turkey it, it has to be under 18 pounds, fully thawed, with giblets taken out.

They start frying the turkeys the day before Thanksgiving to ensure they get them all done in time.

On Thursday, they’ll have 35 fryers set up in the restaurant’s parking lot, frying 35 turkeys an hour.

“Tomorrow, it’s like a Thanksgiving no ones ever seen so a lot of people just come hangout just to watch how you cook 350 turkeys in a day,” says Hanley.

The restaurant is taking turkeys until 6 p.m. Wednesday night and will take more Thursday morning.

For more information, call the restaurant at (859) 523-4227.