Fish Fry

colo_junk

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Haven't fried a lot of fish in my day. Wondering for those that do what your set up looks like and what oil you use.
 
I'm cheap, so I use vegetable or canola oil and Andy's. I mix Cajun and yellow to cut down on the spice.
 
peanut oil is the way to go. Lard and Tallow works too but gives it different flavor. As far as the fish goes... depends on the fish. You can make a good breading with cornmeal a small amount of flour and some paprika, black pepper, garlic powder onion powder and seasoning salt all mixed together. use an egg wash on the fish if you want or just dampen them enough to get the breading to stick. Here lately I season my fish first then use cornmeal so the seasoning is just on the fish instead of mixed in the breading.
if you want a crunchier type of fish you can make a batter pretty easily too and just dunk them in that and fry them up. I test the oil by dropping a few grains of my breading or a small dollop of batter in it to see if it immediately starts to sizzle. thumbnail_IMG_9550.jpg
 
I'm a canola oil guy for fish
flour - egg wash - crushed saltines with your favorite salt/spices - hot oil
 
Peanut oil is great. Canola works fine, too. More important than type of oil is the oil temperature. Get that oil to 375 before you drop the fish in. Don’t let it get above 400.

Mix a package of Shore Lunch Original, Chef Roberts, and two sleeves of Salteens (crushed finely). Rinse the fillets, pat them dry, and bread them in the mix. Skip the milk, egg, and all that nonsense. Fry until golden brown, salt and pepper to taste.

The bigger and heavier the pan you fry them in the better. It makes controlling oil temperature easier. I like a cast iron Dutch oven with a strainer that fits into it.
 
Biggest trick is controlling the temperature so you don't smoke the oil.
365 is ideal, much above 380 is too hot.

Cooked a big batch of crappie night before last. I've got an LP camp stove in the barn and use a small dutch oven with a wire spoon to remove the fish.
Just shake up the damp fillets in Andys breading, shake loose dust off the fillets, then drop in proper temp peanut oil. When they float good they're done.

Don't forget some homemade hush puppies with sweet corn in them, some good homemade cole slaw and some tarter and cocktail sauce.
 
I mix krusteez pancake batter very thin and add some additional seasonings. Fry in canola oil. Always seams to be a hit.
 
Had a buddy from work give me some halibut he caught a few weeks ago in alaska and fried some last night in vegtable oil. Peanut oil is preferred, didnt have any. I change up breadings from homemade to store bought, like variety. Last night was goldendipt cajun. Still getting a ton of tomatoes so made a salad with those. So good im having the same meal tonight.


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We used canola oil, vegetable oil, and corn oil for years cooking at 375 degrees. It’s fine, but I switched to coconut oil two years ago and we love it. Its smoke point is at 360, but that has been hot enough. 2-3 minutes at 360 for panfish and about 4 minutes for larger fillets. Tastes and smells cleaner. Another tip. Soak your fillets in cold water and 2 tablespoons white vinegar for about 20-30 minutes before breading. Rinse again before breading.

We just cook in a pot on the stove. As far as breading, if you’re breading the fish hours ahead of time, pat the moisture off the fish well with paper towels first. If you’re cooking shortly after breading, leave the fillets with more moisture so the breading can adhere quicker.
 
Dreaming of one of these some day. Worst part of a fish fry is the put up and take down.
 

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