Thread: where did i go wrong?????

okay, I have cooked fish before but heres the scenario for today.
Thawed fish wed, let soak till this afternoon, drained and patted dry, then placed in 50/50 mix milk egg mixture to soak bout 20 minutes. fire on grease, temp bout 375-380- fish go in. watching closely crust golden to darker brown, out of grease and into paper towel lines plastic bowl.
Of course chef's gotta try what he's serving, but not happy. fish meat looked "moist/oily" instead of the white flaky meat normally. almost like the meat was just a bit under-done.
everyone liked it, but I wasn't happy. im thinking grease too hot, outside done too fast before inside. Has anyone had this problem, or do you think im on the right track?
Last time I cooked fish I controlled temp bout 350 max

any info appreciated

Originally Posted by tommyboyrn

okay, I have cooked fish before but heres the scenario for today.
Thawed fish wed, let soak till this afternoon, drained and patted dry, then placed in 50/50 mix milk egg mixture to soak bout 20 minutes. fire on grease, temp bout 375-380- fish go in. watching closely crust golden to darker brown, out of grease and into paper towel lines plastic bowl.
Of course chef's gotta try what he's serving, but not happy. fish meat looked "moist/oily" instead of the white flaky meat normally. almost like the meat was just a bit under-done.
everyone liked it, but I wasn't happy. im thinking grease too hot, outside done too fast before inside. Has anyone had this problem, or do you think im on the right track?
Last time I cooked fish I controlled temp bout 350 max

any info appreciated

I think you are on the right track Tommy, I always try to keep my oil around 350 to 360 and fry um till the float

Not real sure but, I would not recomend letting your fish thaw and soak 3 days before you cook it.

Yep! Thats way to much soakin. Lightly flour, dip in milk&egg,dredge in breading then fry.

Eggs will cause your fillets/fish to brown, especially at high temps. If you
reduce to 325*+ it will allow the meat to cook evenly with the breading. And
soaking the fish makes the fillets swell up full of water. Ex Anyone ever notice
that when you put the fillets in a bowl full of water in the fridge the next
morning a part of the meat is out of the water and starting to dry? It's from
the fish expanding like a sponge with the water. To keep that fresh caught
taste, rinse your fish as little as possible, Never soak, and let it drain when
thawing. Fish will stay good in just a bag for 3 days in fridge, longer if you
keep it on ice and drain the "juices" from the bag daily. If freezing, the sooner
the better, immediately being the best. I prefer to freeze with water, others
don't. You don't get fat eating what you don't like.:D

I never soak fillets. Also, try to fry around 350*.

thanks guys for the info, this site is awesome.
appreciate it greatly

I don't soak crappie only other types of fish if they have a strong taste. Crappie are naturally sweet and mild.

I cook on 350 for 3 minutes or until it floats. Hardly ever go past 3 minutes unless its a really thick or whole fish. I use buttermilk as a wash or regular milk and occasionally hotsauce if I'm cooking for myself.

On an eggwash you want 1 egg per half cup of milk and dip em in before coating with batter.

Thats it, can't add much more cause I've cooked thousands of fish and never had much of a problem if the oil is dead on 350 and never crowd the fish in the pot.

Dredge your fillets thru some yellow mustard. Place in a brown bag full of your favorite fish breading and shake the chit out of it. place in 350 degree oil for 3 min or until fish float.

Try this. It is a deeelicious crunchy treat. Never soak it.

Well I tried again last night, and I let fillets thaw and no soak just lying in dish on paper towel, no rinse just dry battered fried at 360, but the batter wasn't crispy like resteraunts usually is and flesh was mushy making fillets flimsy. Its getting embarrasing. Am I leaving too much water in meat? And when I watched some guys at church fry fish, they didn't predip, they just took fillets and dry batteredf them, but when I did it, nothing worked right........please help