About Fryer & Feast

Mike M. is the hands-on owner behind Iron Mako Media. He started Fryer & Feast after working out the hard way what a first-time holiday host actually needs to buy — and what they can skip. Every pick here is researched against what is currently sold, what owners report, and what the published safety guidance says.

Every article, review and buying guide on this site carries the same byline: Mike M.. There is no rotating cast of contributors and no “editorial team” standing in for a person. If something here is wrong, one identifiable human is responsible for it.

Fryer & Feast is published by Iron Mako Media.

One reader, specifically: the person who has ended up hosting the holiday meal for the first time, who is quietly worried about getting it wrong, and who wants somebody to just tell them what to buy.

That shapes everything. We lead with a recommendation rather than a survey. We define the jargon the first time it appears. We put the safety information where you will actually read it rather than in a footnote. And where the honest answer is “you do not need that”, that is what we say — a carving set is genuinely optional if you already own a sharp knife.

• Turkey fryers — electric, propane and oil-less, plus the safety rules that genuinely matter
• Roaster ovens — the appliance that frees your oven on the day you need it most
• Prep and serving — brining, thermometers, carving, warming and getting food to the table hot
• Fall and Thanksgiving table decor — decor that still leaves room for the food
• New Year’s Eve — the second hosting night of the season
• First-time hosting guides — the timeline, the kit, and what you can skip

This is the part most sites in this category leave out, so we will be direct about it.

• We do not run a test kitchen. We have not bench-tested every product on this site and we will not pretend otherwise. What the picks actually rest on is set out on how we pick.
• We hold no culinary credentials. No chef training, no certifications, no awards. What we have is hands-on experience of hosting, which is exactly the thing this site is about.
• We do not publish prices. Retail prices change daily and a stale number is a small lie. Buy links send you to the retailer to see the live price.
• We do not publish star ratings or customer reviews. The scores you see on roundups are our own editorial rubric, explained on how we pick. They are not aggregated customer ratings and we never present them as such.
• The photography on this site is licensed stock. It illustrates the category; it is never presented as our own product photography or as evidence of testing.

Fryer & Feast is an Amazon Associates participant. When you buy through a link here we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It is disclosed above the first buy link on every page that carries one, and it has never determined which product we recommend. The full version is in our affiliate disclosure and our editorial policy.

Corrections come first — if we have a number wrong, we want to know and we will fix it and say that we did. Email mike@blackironathletics.com or use the contact form.

Fryer & Feast is a publisher, not a retailer. We do not sell products, hold stock, or handle orders, returns or warranties. For anything to do with a purchase, contact the retailer you bought from. Our contact address is mike@blackironathletics.com.