Rising early to prepare his annual avian masterpieces, Kevin Wall chucked the first batch of five turkeys into his 120-quart aluminum cooker at 6:20 a.m. on Tuesday and closed it with a clang. At noon, he was still hard at work, stirring the frying pot with a mini wooden oar.

A veteran cooker from his college days, Wall runs Kevin H. Wall Insurance Services LLC and has cooked the birds annually for the past seven years at his business as a thank-you to clients and friends. This year Wall deep-fried 32 turkeys that ranged in weight from 12 pounds to 14 pounds, a handful of chickens and a few pork loins as well.

“Everybody’s been really pleased with it,” said Wall. “It’s part of their yearly tradition.”

The cookout almost didn’t come to pass. A few days after last year’s event Wall’s prized cooking pot was taken from the back porch of his business on Westmore Road and was never seen again.

He recalled how oil had created a type of characteristic patina on the outside of the pot and reminded him of all the good times he shared with friends as he cooked with it. Feeling down, he wasn’t sure if he would host the event again.

“It was kind of sad,” said Wall. “I had it out of college.”

Three weeks ago Wall decided to give the event a green light and invest in another pot that uses half the amount of propane. On Tuesday he smiled through a cloud of steam as he opened the top to check the temperature of the current batch.

“We were hemming and hawing both ways, but it’s something we’ve always done,” said Wall. “It’s always a chore but I enjoy it.”