Frustrated Fryer!!

I had my fish fry yesterday for the 4th! Last year was my first and it didn't go well as I used only electric fryers. (everyone waiting for fish that was soggy) This year, my wife (what a catch) bought me a two-burner gas fryer from Academy Sports. It has two large rectangular pans with two baskets for one and one large basket for the other. I couldn't wait to use it. I should have done a trial run, but I figured i knew what i was doing. It took forever for the oil to heat up to cooking temp, then the food cooled it down to 200-250 and it took forever again to heat back up!! Everyone was waiting for fish again this year, but it was good once it was cooked. In hindsight, i know i should have started earlier and possibly used smaller "batches", but geez does anyone have any pointers?? Is nearly an hour normal for two gallons of peanut oil to reach 375?? :confused:

Thanks in advance.

You might be able to replace your burner with a cast iron one, which generally put out more BTUs.

Yes, peanut oil takes a while to heat up. When I fry, I take my temps up to 425 before adding fish and for 8 quarts, I don't put more than 4-5 pieces of fish in at a time. The temp will drop to about the perfect temp to fry 365-380ish.

Keep your burner at full bore the whole time. I keep all my fish nearby and when the last batch comes out, I let the oil come back up to temp and then pop the earlier fish back in for a couple of minutes to raise the temp back to a nice hot.

Its important to keep your fish cool before frying, but its ok to let it come close to room temperature just prior to cooking, As long as its been stored properly. Taking it straight from the frige and popping it into the oil is a good way to ensure it will take longer to cook than it should, especially if you like a nice deep golden color on your fish.

One other thing, and don't tell a soul I told you, as its a trade secret... If you have a small dutch oven, made of cast iron, sink this in the cold oil before you start heating. This will help moderate the temp of the oil. Those dinky thin aluminum pots sold with the fish fryers are a joke. Replace it with a nice cast iron one, or hit up your local restaurant supply for a heavy aluminum one. Short of that, use the dutch oven trick and Happy Frying!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fishtaco

Taking it straight from the frige and popping it into the oil is a good way to ensure it will take longer to cook than it should, especially if you like a nice deep golden color on your fish.

---

Well, that helps. I was going straight from the cooler, to the batter, to the grease. I also felt concerned with conserving gas by turning the burners down. thanks

[QUOTE=Fishtaco;838576]Those dinky thin aluminum pots sold with the fish fryers are a joke. [QUOTE]

Also....Mine were aluminum.....:( Great tips

That's what I like about this forum. I really learned something from this series of posts.

I gotta get me one of those heavy dutch ovens. :D

aj

Yes most use to much oil in the pot and that takes a long time to heat up.

you only need enough oil to float a few fillets of fish at a time. cut your fish in one inch strips so they cook evenly on all sides and dont crowed your pot
only put 8 or nine strips in at a time it only takes seconds to cook at 375 degrees. not minutes. once the fish floats it is done.

batter your fish ahead and put in bottom of fridge till time to fry them up.

go to cooking recipes on this site see mu crispy crappie recipes and you will never have soggy crappie again.

if the temp starts going down as you add fillets stop adding till it heats back up.
keep oil between 400 and 375 and they will not get soggy.

do your burners burn like a gas stove in a house or do they sound like a jet engine?

i used the aluminum frying pot to put the ashes from my chrcoal grill in,,,lol. get a 9 qt cast iron pot it does alot better. and holds heat alot better you'll like it.
my propane fryer is 20 yrs old it's like 1 of those turkey fryers you see today but about a foot taller. don't give up you'll find the little secrets of the fryer

X2 on the cast iron they retain heat much better than aluminum cookers.

I have a big SS fish cooker It take 4 gallons of oil to use.But the more oil in a big one like this allows me to control the temps easy.
I have cooked for 75+ on it lots of times. Thats fish,Hush puppy's and fries. I also have my fish out and laying on paper towels.
Used to cook fish for a living in restaurants. So that helps but after you get the hang of it. Cooking fish is so easy a caveman can do it.
Pete

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BigSandyRookie

I also felt concerned with conserving gas by turning the burners down. thanks

---

No offense,but I think thay might of been your problem.If you kept the burners down it would only take longer to heat/re-heat.

Best investment is a fryer thermometer-get the oil to 365-370 and keep it there.

I can cook a 5 pound bag of french fries or about 20-25 crappie filets at one time. Look about 1/2 way down the page and you'll see me setup. Get the grease to about 375 before you throw something in and keep it wide open the whole time. They'll be fine.
http://www.crappie.com/crappie/missi...ures-camp.html

Thanks for all the input. I will definitely look into cast iron and cut down on the amount i try to cook at once. Also, the frozen french fries killed the other pot ( i was doing fish in one and hushpuppies and fries in the other)!! I thought about trying fresh potatoes but i heard they are soggy.

Some great tips here, these points I consider most important

#1 cast iron dutch oven
# 2 3/4 gallons peanut oil ( oil only needs to be 3-4 inches deep)
#3 360 or so on the thermometer
#4 set the fish out to warm a little
#5 don't over crowd the pan , six or seven fillets at a time
will cook faster and not cool off the oil,
#6 recheck temp between batches , once you get the
burner set for the right amount of oil , you can
cook multiple batches with no adjustment, but
must follow rule # 5

Cooking too long/too cool will result in tough fish.

MO

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BigSandyRookie

Thanks for all the input. I will definitely look into cast iron and cut down on the amount i try to cook at once. Also, the frozen french fries killed the other pot ( i was doing fish in one and hushpuppies and fries in the other)!! I thought about trying fresh potatoes but i heard they are soggy.

---

Fresh potatoes cut into fries have a lot of moisture in them and its hard to get rid of it all in one cooking to get them nice and crispy, or even to prevent them from getting soggy.

The trick is to par boil them in oil for a minute or so, then take them out and let them drain and cool a minute or three. Then back into the oil for the real cooking. They will come out nice and crispy.

Also,cut homemade f.f. about 3 days prior and soak in "lightly"salted water.Rinse and change the water a few times a day...works for potatoe chips also.

I had the oppurtunity to check out a Cajun Fryer by RV Works in action recently and I think it is the best fryer on the market hands down. A little pricey but well worth it, when you consider all benefits and oil costs.

DonDon where did you get stir fry pan?????
I've been looking, found some on ebay, but they want $35.00
for shipping. Thanks Gary

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 704gary

DonDon where did you get stir fry pan?????
I've been looking, found some on ebay, but they want $35.00
for shipping. Thanks Gary

---

Amazon has them, free shipping on a lot of them.

Amazon.com: wok

Like 40-50 bucks total after shipping. Course they want 75 bucks for the stand BUT I cheated. I use a 8 inch Springform cake pan. LOL Works great

I purchased a 6 gallon cajun fryer and it is the greatest.
It heats the oil fast, 2 baskets, and once you get the oil
hot you can just about turn the flame off.
It is well worth the money. Bought mine at Grizzly Jig, lot cheaper than BPS

1. A cast iron dutch oven will cost a bit, but they last years and years. I am using my grandma's skillet that she got as a wedding present back before dirt was invented.
2. I use a breading instead of batter. Seems to use less oil.
3. Keep the fillets in in an ice bath. Then shake off the excess water before dropping into the breading. Cold fish fry better for me than room/outside ambient ones do.
4. Like was said, you can't do a whole lot at one time.
5. If you do get the oil too hot, or it starts turning brown, take a whole tater, cut it into pieces and drop them in the oil. This will clean up you oil and almost take away all burnt smell as well. Take the taters out before your next batch. I normally do this between doing the hushpups and the fish.

+3 on the cajun fryer.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 704gary

DonDon where did you get stir fry pan?????
I've been looking, found some on ebay, but they want $35.00
for shipping. Thanks Gary

---

theres a strip mall of asian markets and stores and restaurants in charlotte that caters to the asian folks. its called the asian corner. all kind of oriental foods, spices and cooking stuff. they have woks there from small to pans looks like they about 3 ft across and prices are reasonable. they also have the cookers that will accept the curved bottom woks. theres also a restaurant supply house in the mall that has just about every kind of cooking pot or pan and equipment you could ever want. im talking a bout good heavy duty stuff and not the thin aluminum junk that comes with most fish cookers. theres two grocery type stores and both have fish markets. one has all kinds of fish and shrimp iced down and so does the other, plus they have big tanks you can get live fish, crabs, eels, catfish etc live and have em dressed. the mall is at the intersection of sugar creek and tyvola rds.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BigSandyRookie

I had my fish fry yesterday for the 4th! Last year was my first and it didn't go well as I used only electric fryers. (everyone waiting for fish that was soggy) This year, my wife (what a catch) bought me a two-burner gas fryer from Academy Sports. It has two large rectangular pans with two baskets for one and one large basket for the other. I couldn't wait to use it. I should have done a trial run, but I figured i knew what i was doing. It took forever for the oil to heat up to cooking temp, then the food cooled it down to 200-250 and it took forever again to heat back up!! Everyone was waiting for fish again this year, but it was good once it was cooked. In hindsight, i know i should have started earlier and possibly used smaller "batches", but geez does anyone have any pointers?? Is nearly an hour normal for two gallons of peanut oil to reach 375?? :confused:

Thanks in advance.

---

sounds to me like your cooker dont have HP burners. if it dont, then heating the oil will take a long time. it shouldnt take but about 10 minutes for two gallons of oil to go from cold to 375 on a cooker with hp burners. also using a cooking thermometer will help a ton. you wanna make sure the oil is ready before you drop anything in it.

A big THANKS rango

I bought a 11 qt. cast iron dutch oven from this site. $35.00, now that is a good price. They are out of stock right now but keep checking back, they will have then if you are interested. Here is the site. Cooking Utensils

Bought me a 9 qt. cast iron, pre-seasoned, frying pot, with basket today. Cost $29 at Academy Sports. I am looking forward to using it the 29th. My church is having a wild game supper and I am signed up to cook fish. Do I need to do anything prep-wise if is "pre-seasoned"?

Not for frying fish. You're all set.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Fishtaco

Not for frying fish. You're all set.

---

cool. thanks. I'll let you know how it goes.

My Mother Never Would Wash Her Cast Iron Pan Or Dutch Oven In Soap Water Don't Know Why But She Was One Hell Of A Cook. Had Something To Do With Seasoning She Used Some Kind Of Stuff To Clean It ???? Any Body Else Know About That. We Just Cooked 16 Pounds Of Crappie Last Sunday And All Went Well Remember To Adjust The Air On Your Cast Iron Burner To Burn Hot Not Lazy Yellow Flame Hot Blue Flame

The best way I know to make fish soggy no matter how they are cooked, is to cover them tightly after cooking. The hot fish will cause foil/lids to condensate and the result is soggy crappie. The longer they sit under the cover, the soggier they get. This is why restauarants use heat lamps. If you need to keep flies, or bugs away, make yourself, or buy a cover made from screen wire and don't pile em too high.

I didnt catch up on all the posts in this thread so I may be repeating something already said, but it sounds like your cooker is under powered, either too small a burner or too weak a regulator. If it were me I'd start with getting an adjustable pressure regulator. Once you turn the pressure up if the flame wont stay on the burner and keeps going out then your burner is just too small. That's my 2 cents...:o

Just back from the wild game supper. The cooker was fine. I used one 9 qt. cast iron pot and an aluminum one. Both worked, but I had to keep the gas roaring on the aluminum side. I cooked fries, catfish, then venison..all good. I'm ready for the next fish fry now!!

Yes there are different type of burners. I have a larger about 8 inch diameter burner that takes hours to heat the oil. I have a smaller diameter burner that sounds louder that must be controlled by a valve. The smaller one makes cooking so much easier. Adjusting the air on the larger burner will not make any difference as it is a lower btu burner and is not suitable for this purpose.

I had this happen to me one time while I was trying to fry a turkey. Oil was taking too long to heat up but I figured out why. It turns out that I turned the needle valve for the burner on before I opened the valve on the gas tank. For some reason, the burner will not generate much BTU when that happens. So I turned both valves off, turned the valve at the tank on first then the needle valve for the burner, I got a flame like a jet engine!