Deep frying.. squid/fish, etc.

[The Quadfather]

I am sitting here multi-tasking. I've got some squid deep frying on the stove, I've got Rockfish filets ready to batter up and go in the fryer, etc. But I've never done any deep frying really. I am not a rookie to cooking by any means, but I've got some questions.
There is no reason I should need to go out and buy a "Fry Daddy" My setup is a soup pot on the stove, and I found one of those little wire fry baskets... the type that you can lay down into your soup pots, and drop your fried goods into the wire basket. Fry away.... and then lift it out, and the oil falls away.
I didn't have time to hook up a fancy batter recipe, so I've got my "Krusteaz" batter with a couple duck eggs thrown in for the glue factor.

My question is: I've battered up.. dropped into the oil,, cooked about 7 minutes. The unkown is my oil temp. I don't have a hand held thermometer just yet. It can't be that dependant on temp, I am thinking. When I drop the goop in.. it immediatly comes to a nice hard oil/boil, etc.
My issue is... I know it's just Krusteaz tonight,, but after 7 minutes my squid tubes tasete/feel done, but the batter goo just falls off of them at the bottom of the basket, like Elmerz glue. Is this really just an issue about not having a truely good batter?? Or have I not cooked at a specific temperature?? for long enough..?
Any thoughts? I will pick up a thermometer tomorrow. Tonight it is just Man Cave eating, doesn't have to come out right. But I'd like to get it dialed in so that the batter comes out actually on the food. If anyone has a good home made batter recipe... please bring it on. I've got Hush Puppies ready to go soon.
Racfish, Bodo,, what do ya thinks?

Oh, and I'm using Canola oil.
Edit: My Krusteaz goo is about the consistancy of Yoplait yogurt. Wondering if I should make it thicker so it is almost dough like.. or add more egg, etc.?

[goodtimesfishing]

Temp is critical but not what is causing batter to fall off. If batter is falling off it could be that your squid/shrimp are wet prior to dipping in batter.....needs to be dry or it will all fall off when it is in the grease. As far as temp sounds like you are hot enough by the way you describe the grease boil. Main thing is to not do to much at a time or the grease/oil cools down and you end up with greesy deep fry. If the temp is correct and you don't try and cook to much at one time, your deep fried food should not be greasy, if greasy, temp is too low or your cooking too much at one time. Use a candy thermometer (can pick up at grocery store in utencils section)to keep an eye on temp to determine how many pieces you can cook at a time.....the bigger the pan the more you can cook at a time without lowering temp too much.

[goodtimesfishing]

Also, are you mixing the egg in the batter?? I think you want to dip shrimp in mixed egg then into the flour mixture or you can mix the flour mixture with a little beer or water to a batter consistany(this gives a thicker crust.

[Bodofish]

I am sitting here multi-tasking. I've got some squid deep frying on the stove, I've got Rockfish filets ready to batter up and go in the fryer, etc. But I've never done any deep frying really. I am not a rookie to cooking by any means, but I've got some questions.
There is no reason I should need to go out and buy a "Fry Daddy" My setup is a soup pot on the stove, and I found one of those little wire fry baskets... the type that you can lay down into your soup pots, and drop your fried goods into the wire basket. Fry away.... and then lift it out, and the oil falls away.
I didn't have time to hook up a fancy batter recipe, so I've got my "Krusteaz" batter with a couple duck eggs thrown in for the glue factor.

My question is: I've battered up.. dropped into the oil,, cooked about 7 minutes. The unkown is my oil temp. I don't have a hand held thermometer just yet. It can't be that dependant on temp, I am thinking. When I drop the goop in.. it immediatly comes to a nice hard oil/boil, etc.
My issue is... I know it's just Krusteaz tonight,, but after 7 minutes my squid tubes tasete/feel done, but the batter goo just falls off of them at the bottom of the basket, like Elmerz glue. Is this really just an issue about not having a truely good batter?? Or have I not cooked at a specific temperature?? for long enough..?
Any thoughts? I will pick up a thermometer tomorrow. Tonight it is just Man Cave eating, doesn't have to come out right. But I'd like to get it dialed in so that the batter comes out actually on the food. If anyone has a good home made batter recipe... please bring it on. I've got Hush Puppies ready to go soon.
Racfish, Bodo,, what do ya thinks?

Oh, and I'm using Canola oil.
Edit: My Krusteaz goo is about the consistancy of Yoplait yogurt. Wondering if I should make it thicker so it is almost dough like.. or add more egg, etc.?

I think Goodtimes nailed it. Temp and dry the little buggers off first. For a batter I like it about like runny pancake batter, thiner is better or you get a big doughy wad. I prefer Panko or bread crumbs after an egg dip, Krusty's or Bisquick works too but it's easy to burn if you don't keep a close eye.

[natetreat]

1 cup of beer and one cup of flour with a bit of old bay sprinkled in. Dip when dry with a wet batter, that'll keep it sticking, and don't put too much in at once. I fry on the stove, and the heat dissipates quickly from the oil, that's what makes for sloppy batter, when I fry with my fryer at my pops place it keeps the heat better. My wife still won't let me get a deep fryer, or else everything we ate would be deep fried! Keeping the oil hot is the biggy, I use a big cast iron dutch oven for deep frying rather than an aluminum pot. One without the legs of course, the one with legs I use when I'm on the fire. But don't deep fry on a fire, that's a recipe for disaster. Trust me.

[The Quadfather]

But don't deep fry on a fire, that's a recipe for disaster. Trust me.

Ya, tell me about potential disaster.. I got my wire basket stuck to the inside of the pot of oil. Oil was at full temp. I was sort of trying to "Bust it loose" I finally stepped away. All I could think about was 400 degree hot oil going all over me, just for a few squid.
Alright.. the consensus seems to be to make sure my food is dry before battering. Also I turned the heat up. I have another cooking option where I can use a gas stove and cast iron. Will try that next. Thanks guys!

[Augwen]

When I am deep frying I will bread (with whatever) the oysters or fish before I even start the oil to heating. I let them set on wax paper for about 15 minutes. The end product seems to come out better and I do not lose my breading.

[MotoBoat]

Quad, I too have "winged" it during the few times I've attempted Kay-jone cooking.

Batter seems to thick. End product is better if on the "thin" side.
Use egg wash, no egg in the batter. Or mix as Nate described if a wet batter is used. I have done both. Wet worked best.

At 400 degrees, your temp is on the high side. But only if that temp is maintained. Too hot a oil, and the oil can self ignite ("FLAME" point!!). I had this happen, and the end result was to run outside with the flaming pan.

Each item entering the oil will cool the oil. So a thermometer is crucial, as the burner knob is adjusted to compensate the temp up and down to maintain 350 to 375 degrees. Too cool a oil, the batter gets greasier as it cooks. Instead of searing the batter. The difference is a end product of kinda crunchy and kinda oily/soggy batter, and not quite cooked inside VS nothin but crunchy on the outside, inside done right.

Here are some online tips. I used, when deep fat frying:

To start, choose your cooking oil carefully. Oils with high 'smoke points', in other words, those which do not break down at deep frying temperatures, are best. Peanut oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, and canola oil are some good choices.

Choose a deep, very heavy skillet to fry with. Add oil to the cold pan, leaving a headspace, or space at the top of the pan, of at least two inches. This allows a safety margin when the oil bubbles up as the food is added.

Make sure that the food you're going to fry is dry. Letting it sit on paper towels, or coating it in flour or bread crumbs is a good way to ensure this. Let the coated food sit on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes so the coating dries and sets.
Begin heating the oil over medium high heat. If you have a deep fat frying thermometer, use it! The best temperature is 350 to 375 degrees F.


Here is that link to the reel repair we had discussed:
http://www.washingtonlakes.com/forum/vi ... ir#p160931

[racfish]

Im not a real big frying person.Two tricks I learned in frying is to mix a tablespoon of a light oil in the fish. Then roll it in the dry batter mix or flour mixture. Then I refrigerate the fish to almost freezing. Then I drop it in the fryer. That was Spuds and Ivars trick to a crispy outside and moist inside fish. Most fish just isnt oily enough to hold the batter on. It seems that frying squid for seven minutes is a long time. I would think half the amount of time. Personally I like my squid boiled for 30 seconds in a hot water then I marinate it in lemon juice lots of fresh garlic and a good virgin olive oil. Try cooling the fish before frying. Also the oil wash should keep your breading on.

[MotoBoat]

Im not a real big frying person.Two tricks I learned in frying is to mix a tablespoon of a light oil in the fish. Then roll it in the dry batter mix or flour mixture. Then I refrigerate the fish to almost freezing. Then I drop it in the fryer. That was Spuds and Ivars trick to a crispy outside and moist inside fish. Most fish just isnt oily enough to hold the batter on. It seems that frying squid for seven minutes is a long time. I would think half the amount of time. Personally I like my squid boiled for 30 seconds in a hot water then I marinate it in lemon juice lots of fresh garlic and a good virgin olive oil. Try cooling the fish before frying. Also the oil wash should keep your breading on.

Racfish, no disrespect. But after reading all the posts. Including researching, adding and reading my post. Your adding oil to the surface of the fish, before flouring. Then back into some oil after cooling.

Thanks for the tip, but that is double oiled, and I feel a artery clogging. All of a sudden I have a visual of old man Sanford covering his heart with one hand. And telling the audience, he will soon visit his departed Wife...Elizabeth?(Sanford and son, the Tv show of the 70's)

[goodtimesfishing]

I don't know about oil before batter....should be dry before batter. I am with motoboat on this one, to much oil.....sanford and son...how funny.

[MarkFromSea]

Hint... I like my squid less chewy, before cooking I'll soak my squid over night in a bunch of water, in the fridge. Bonus, looks like you have twice the squid and you do have some super tender calamari.

[racfish]

First of all I use a light Canola oil so it will do less damage to the waist and arteries. Second the amount of oil I use is miniscule compared to your deep fryers which I never use. I dont like my fish saturated in oil period. The oil is for keeping the flour or batter on the fish. Soaking squid in milk overnight helps too. Im not a big fried food person. I struggle with my weight 24/7/365 so I keep away from fried stuff. I love fried foods but I dont want my arteries to clog either. Some oils are better then others. Exotic oils are the worse.

[MarkFromSea]

I haven't tried soaking squid in milk over night. Does that tenderize, puff them up also? I've never tried the water soaking with store bought squid, always fresh caught... I don't know if it would make a difference. We just pan fry in about a 1/4" veg or corn oil, keeping it simple.

[racfish]

Speaking of Squid. I think I'll try some jigging this weekend. It should be a good time to start. I'll check the tides and head out. Does Seacrest let people on their pier at night still?