Fish batter

[Grip&Rip]

What's everyone's favorite kind of batter mix  for cooking fish

[wyoutdoors]

Met an older gentleman out on the ice today and he shared an interesting technique he uses when deep frying perch with me. When he mixes his batter he adds vinegar (to taste obv) to mix the seasoned flour with. Said they have the taste of vinegar potato chips. I've never tried this but I love Salt & Vinegar Chips!

- wyoutdoors 

[er-e-is]

Egg wash and Italian seasoned bread crumbs.

[missoulafish]

Cajun mixes are real tasty:) I also add a little extra corn meal and spice.

[wyoutdoors]

Egg wash and Italian seasoned bread crumbs.

A standard by any measure er-e-is! A few dash's of Cholula Hot Sauce or something similar added can't be beaten either. Zatarin's Seasones Fish Fri is a good "off the self" mix too.

- wyoutdoors 

[Rebelss]

Cholula!!!! Just pulled out my bottle of it tonite!!! 

50% flat beer, 50% flour, seasoned salt,  with cracked black pepper and 3-4 good shakes of Cholula. A hearty sprinkle of smoked chipotle chili powder helps, too. 

[wyoutdoors]

Cholula!!!! Just pulled out my bottle of it tonite!!! 

50% flat beer, 50% flour, seasoned salt,  with cracked black pepper and 3-4 good shakes of Cholula. A hearty sprinkle of smoked chipotle chili powder helps, too. 

I go through quite a bit of the stuff and add it to almost everything. But one question obviously remains the elephant in the room, and I must ask for all the MEN in here, why in the world would you have FLAT beer around? 

- wyoutdoors 

[Idahogator]

Not many things I haven't put some Zatarain's Creole on. YUM !     


Have found flat beer the morning after, ha.       

[Boowee]

Soak the fillets in some buttermilk (hour or less),dredge in half cornmeal half flour and some Tony's Seasoning then bathe it in some hot oil!!!

[Rebelss]

I go through quite a bit of the stuff and add it to almost everything. But one question obviously remains the elephant in the room, and I must ask for all the MEN in here, why in the world would you have FLAT beer around? 

- wyoutdoors 

Sssshh....Because a WOMAN came up with the recipe. 

[Idahogator]

Soak the fillets in some butter milk (hour or less),dredge in half cornmeal half flour and some Tony's Seasoning then bathe it in some hot oil!!!

Is that Tony Chachere's ?    There are several, do you have a  favorite, Boowee ?     

[Boowee]

I go through quite a bit of the stuff and add it to almost everything. But one question obviously remains the elephant in the room, and I must ask for all the MEN in here, why in the world would you have FLAT beer around? 
 

- wyoutdoors 

[Boowee]

Yeah sorry Idahogator, Tony Chachere's is my go to.

[Idahogator]

I've always gone with the original, but the "More Spice" sounds good, and they have that 7 pound/gallon.    Man o man, that would last, jeez,  until next March, ha.


       Tony's

[Boowee]

You sure?  7 pounds doesn't sound like it would make it much past mid January. 

[Idahogator]

I get better mileage with a little cornmeal and flour. LOL

[er-e-is]

You can't go wrong with a basic Tempura batter mix either.

[appleye]

Soak in butter milk and dredge in pancake batter mix, (dry), season to taste! Salt it the second it's out of the fryer.

[rbmchief]

soaked in buttermilk then dipped in the BPS spicy stuff, good stuff!

[Jigmup]

Kentucky Kernel seasoned flour with a little corn meal mixed in.
Drakes If I can't find Kentucky Kernel.

[Matt R.]

I dredge mine in corn, then deep fry in WD 40.

[Jigmup]

I dredge mine in corn, then deep fry in WD 40.

I want to party with you!

[FinsandGrins]

My favorite is garlic salt onion slat and a little Cajun rub. slice up an onion, wrap the fish and onion in tin foil and put it on the grill till done.

[koloskier]

Soak in buttermilk, then Shorelunch with cracked black pepper and cayenne pepper. Into the oil.

[da man cave shack]

I like crushed corn flakes mixed in with shore lunch and then deep fried to get extra crispy. Yummy

[missoulafish]

Tony Chachere was always my go to as well but then it seemed like it got scarce for a while up here. Thankfully he's come out of hiding!!

[POk3s]

I dredge mine in corn, then deep fry in WD 40.

....then stick fork in to fizz and let out any excess air.


I go with the spicy fish batter if I want to switch it up. But I rarely switch from a gallon sized bag filled with italian bread crumbs. Then add a generous amount of garlic salt and black pepper. Throw filets in bag, shake it up and fryyyyyy.

[Houligan]

Try this one,

1 Cup Buttermilk pancake mix
OldBay Seasoning (To taste, usually 1/4 - 1/2 tsp.)
Pepper (To taste)
*****Salt (OldBay Seasoning has salt in it, be careful with adding extra salt)*****
Mix all dry ingredients first
1 Heavy Dark Beer

Usually 1 cup of the mix is fine for about 2-3 pounds of fillets. Depending on how big the fillets are and how thick you like your batter. Play with what works for you.  Add as much beer as the package directions call for liquid. If thicker less beer, if thinner more beer. If you like your batter thicker you just have more of the beer to finish while cooking. 

If you wash, soak or marinate your fish make sure it is dry prior to dipping in the batter or the batter does not stick. Drying with a paper towel or letting drain does not hurt anything. The fish has already absorbed any flavors, acids and fats you want.

Always make sure your oil is up to the proper temperature before adding the fish to it. Otherwise low temp oil will make the coating oily because it soaks in at lower temps. To high and it will smoke which means you are burning the oil. The oil at proper temperature is to do nothing more then transfer the heat uniformly to the fillet for cooking.

When mixing your batter, NEVER OVER MIX!!! I know its tempting to to whip the dog meat out of it, but STOP! Add the recommended amount of beer, fold it over a few times to see if you have enough and add more if needed then fold it over a few times. Repeat until reaching the consistency you want. Small lumps will soak up the moisture and will not hurt a thing. When you over mix (Flour) it becomes heated and releases the gluten that changes the final outcome. i.e. Less crispy and heavy/doughy... 

Let the batter stand for up to five minutes before proceeding. It will rise.

Usually I try to stay away from fried foods but this stuff is gooood!

Try premixing the dry ingredients and storing in a Tupperware until needed. I think it lets the OldBay Season flavor soak into the dry mix.

Give'er a whirl!
Cheers!
Houligan

[drb15146]

I like Milk Soak>Egg wash>Panko for Lakers, but Hooligans Beer/Pancake combo will be the first I try this year!

[Badger2087]

Fryin' Magic, Louisiana Fish Fry, and good ol' Shore Lunch are my favorite off the shelf types.