I haven't fried fish in years (not a fisherman here) but growing up doing catering with my dad and his catering buddies, we laid the fish out and lightly salted (to bring out moisture), then had a stainless steel tray with seasoned cornmeal, dredge the fish thru and into 350-360° peanut oil about 4-6" deep until the fish floated, remove and put in stainless steel service tray lined with paper towels. After we did 2-3 batches of fish, the rotated in french fries that helped clean the oil, more fish, more french fries ... we also tossed in a batch hush puppies after we started getting enough fish & fries to start serving. Never used egg, milk or mustard.

Truth.

Here is the mix I prefer. The original blue is good in a pinch, but since I switched to this people seem to like it better.

3 minutes at 375 deep fried. Perfect everytime. I buy the big tubs of Louisiana Fish Fry at Sams. Louisiana Shrimp Fry in a bag for shrimp.

I’d sit and eat til my belly hurt! That’s a great looking batch of fried stuff.

That's what I'm talking about! Right on the money.

Man oh man, that's wonderfulness right there!!!

Everyone has their favorite.

I like zatarans crispy southern with lemon for batter. roll damp fillets in the seasoning and fry no wash needed. I fry till they are crisp on the outside. You do not want to try to fry thick pieces of fish, i usually keep them 1/2 inch or less.

Thin pieces are my preference.

I likem’ thick. thick & crispy baby (in smaller pieces).

Try this and see how you like it. Yes more oil a gallon is good. Heat to 375. Use a thermometer to check and control heat. I and my family prefer a very light crust. Take filets and dry with paper towels to get most of the moisture off the surface. Use straight yellow corn meal, no flour and coat fish shaking off any loose corn meal just before you place in oil. The coating will be very light and dry. Place in oil one at a time not to over crowd the pot. Keep fish loose and don't over load driving your oil temp to get too low. Make sure you recharge your oil back up to 375 before loading the next batch. Cook until golden yellow, depends on thickness of fish. Abt 3-6 minutes. Remove and place in basket with paper towels. Season after frying to your taste and preferred seasoning, or eat plain. Most premixes are too salty to me. The blue Louisiana use to be what I used most, but now just plain corn meal. Just my own frying experience and preferences.

Ok thanks for all the pointers..I need to get good at this..I butcher my own deer and cold smoke snack sticks, etc...but damn I mess up some fried fish lol. Any ideas why my temp was shooting up right after adding fish to oil? Seems to be the opposite of what's supposed to happen.

The only time I’ve seen that is if you’re running your oil way too hot OR make sure your thermometer stays no more than half way down into the oil. If it’s set too deep, or gets bumped/moved while you are handling fish, it will read hot fast if the probe gets too close to the pot. I pull mine out and stick it back in to avoid this.

It’s easy to make a mistake on something like this when you are also cooking fries, hush puppies, tending to food on the pit, and keeping track of your kids and their potty needs.


Thermometer control is what I think. Happened to me several times. One bump and the probe touches the pot and reads high fast.

Also, are you using stainless steel pots to fry in?

I have done this, and they are a nightmare to control if you’re frying fish outside. Those pots have been in the barn for 7-8 yrs now since I last tried them.

If you don’t have one already, do yourself a favor and go to Academy and spend $40 on a 3 gallon Outdoor Gourmet CAST IRON POT. Bring the temp up slow, get it there, and it will hold the heat/temp very well. I have two of these and use them all the time for frying and all sorts of other things.

A good cast iron pot ($40) will last forever if you take care of it, and will be your friend frying outside.

I no longer deep fry at home since I'm cooking for just one. I gave all my deep fry equipment to New Gulf several years ago.

Yes it's a light stainless pot. Probably doesn't maintain temp too well.

+1

A long, long time ago my Grandma used salt, black pepper and corn meal. None of this store bought stuff. Cooked the fish in a cast iron pot over a wood fire. When the fish floated to the top of the grease or whatever she was using out it came. Fried potatoes at the same time. Homemade cole slaw and a big glass of tea and I was set for the evening.

Same way my momma did it.

Some of my fondest memories when I was growing up in Arkansas are of trot lining the bar pits were the White river flows into the Mississippi River. Loved having big fish fries. We used a big wash kittle.

I've caught lots of gafftops while saltwater fishing but never tried them.

Ive eaten some that was great using the fry till it floats method and ive eaten alot that needed a trip back to the grease. I dont know what the difference is, im guessing thickness of the fillets, but just because it floats doesnt mean its done in my book.

I used to season my own cornmeal too before any of the commercial stuff was available, there are several brands I like though so haven’t seasoned my own in a long time.

I don’t salt fish, 98% of the fish I eat are saltwater fish and they are salty enough already.

When I fry fish I don’t time it or pull it when it floats either. When it floats it’s close, but I go by color. Yes thickness does matter.

I kinda watch it and sneak test pieces. Also my steak method.

You should have, they are 10X better than any fresh water catfish IMO. Gafftop are the feral pigs of saltwater, they are delicious but a lot of folks frown on them because they don't want to clean them.