It’s still a little early to start talking about turkey fryer safety. There’s still a week before most families’ birds even come out of the freezer. But this is no ordinary video: most frying guides don’t feature William Shatner being consumed by a massive computer-generated fireball.

Until now. We have State Farm to thank for this short educational film.

Our tipster at State Farm tells us that Bill was wonderful to work with, and actually fried a turkey for the crew so they could try it for the first time.

As an insurance company, State Farm has a vested interest in you not setting your house on fire. While this video features a propane fryer, our lab-coated colleagues at Consumer Reports take safety even further, recommending a few years ago that you not even bother with propane and go electric. You don’t get to mix the fun of backyard barbeque with the gluttony of Thanksgiving, but a giant fireball isn’t all that fun either.

UPDATE: Thanks to reader Shane, who pointed out that the real reason why this is an important cause to Shatner: he created his own turkey inferno back in 2009.


William Shatner & State Farm® present “Eat, Fry, Love,” a turkey fryer fire cautionary tale [YouTube]
Turkey Fryer Safety slideshow [State Farm]

PREVIOUSLY:
Deep Fry Your Turkey Without Turning Into A Human Torch
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