ELYRIA, Ohio (WJW) — Whether you like your Thanksgiving turkey oven-roasted, smoked or deep fried, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it – specifically in regards to safety.

With Thanksgiving just days away, the Elyria Fire Department held a turkey fryer demonstration Monday where they showed what would happen if a turkey is not fried properly. Spoiler alert — lots of fire.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, Thanksgiving is the leading day of the year for home fires involving cooking equipment.

The National Turkey Foundation recommends thawing a frozen turkey in the refrigerator 24 hours for every 5 lbs of weight.

The fire department says that when turkeys aren’t thawed properly or contain too much water, they’ll combust when making contact with hot oil.

Here are some other turkey-prepping tips from the International Association of Fire Fighters:

• Don’t overfill the fryer with oil. The overflow spillage will cause a dangerous fireball.
• Choose a smaller turkey; about 8-10lbs
• Don’t stuff your turkey
• Use the right amount of oil
• Use the fryer outdoors, off the deck, away from structures and in dry weather
• Have a grease – Class B – fire extinguisher handy

If you’re preparing a Thanksgiving meal, hopefully you’ve been stocking up on ingredients; otherwise you might need to improvise. Supply chain issues could lead to shortages of some Thanksgiving staples and make almost all of them more expensive.

Not cooking? Here’s FOX 8’s list of what’s open on Thanksgiving and who’s offering meals to-go.