Now that we caught some crappie how do you cook them?

[Moose1am]

Well I need some information on how to deep fry crappie. I have seen this done once before and eaten deep fried crappie several times and it convinced me to give it a try. Being on a limited budget (aren't we all?) I decided to start out slowly and went to Wal-Mart and got a small deep fryer. I opted for the 15 dollar PRESTO FryDaddy electric deep fryer. I liked the small size as I am single again and cook for one person most of the time. I have been frying my crappie in a skillet but they didn't seem to taste as good and I wanted to be able to cook more filets at one time. This deep fryer that I purchased can hold 4 cups of oil.

Now my question is this. What type of cooking oil is used in these fryers. It said not to use OLIVE OIL so that is out. Maybe that is why my fried fish didn't taste so good as I used Olive Oil in the skillet in the past.

I still have some filets in the fridge that need to be cooked. I picked up some seasoning and am going to cook them tonight for dinner.

Wish me luck.

I also was looking at those vaccume sealing machines from Foodsaver and Black&Decker but they were pretty expensive. They went from 40 bucks up to 130 bucks for the larger one and the freezer bag rolls were selling for about 10 dollars for an 8" by 22ft role. and one gallon freezer bags ( quantity of 15) were selling for ten bucks. I thought that was pretty expensive myself.

I know that in the past on the old board we discussed the freezer bag thing.

The smallest food saver thing was only 8" wide and sold for right at under 40 bucks. Maybe if Wal-mart reduces the prices some I may get some before next summer.

Speaking of fixing crappie filets and storing them... you guys should see Cane Poles layout in his summer home. He has a big cabinet and countertop space dedicated to wrapping up his fish filets. LOL I thought that was pretty neat. Cane Pole you should take some pictures of that setup and post them in here. He had rolls ready to go with celephone and aluminum foil in huge wide rolls right there on the counter top ready to use.

[Roberta]

Though I usually do my frying in two inches of oil in a cast iron pan. Highly recommend putting the Frydaddy outside for your frying so the entire kitchen doesn't get coated with grease. Use corn, canola or peanut oil. Olive oil breaks down when used at that high of a heat for more than the couple o fminutes it takes to saute.. Save your oil in a canning jar or coffee can to be strained and reused.

I have an old Tilia Foodsaver. I think I brought up the issue of bag cost on the old forum. Anyway, I can't justify the cost of the bags, so once my last two rolls of 11" material is gone, I'll probably give this thing to Goodwill. I ran out of the small stuff this spring. At least you do get a fair amount of material with the machine (or at least I did). Check Big Lots for vacuum savers, too. - Roberta

[fatboy]

Well Moose, my wife got one two years ago for Christmas, foodsaver that is. Not impressed at all with it and the rolls are expensive as hell. Not on a limited budget here, no need in having a budget if your gonna fish, but, those things are not worth the time of day. She uses nothing but canola oil. Seems to work ok. I don't mind the taste. Bought a five gallon carton for Thanksgiving to deep fry turkey with and saved it for around the house. (Even I have trouble throwing out once used oil if it hasn't had fish in it). May i suggest Jerry's Recipe section on his site. Lots and lots of ideas there. Just my opinion. Talked to Canepole a little bit ago and he is busy as ever. Was talking to him about what i need and don't need in a GPS because i consider him an expert in the field.

[Barnacle Bill]

Anyone remember the name of the thread about the food savers? I'd like to read that one.

[labill]

Anyone remember the name of the thread about the food savers? I'd like to read that one.

IBN......Try the Main Forum, page 20, under the thread "Food Saver Vacuum Bags"........7 posts down.

[Barnacle Bill]

IBN......Try the Main Forum, page 20, under the thread "Food Saver Vacuum Bags"........7 posts down.

Thanks Labill

[ncnat]

IBN......Try the Main Forum, page 20, under the thread "Food Saver Vacuum Bags"........7 posts down.

Bill, How long did it take you to find that? LOL

[Jerry Blake]

Hey Moose:

Use a candy/deep fry thermometer and try to keep the oil between 360 and 370. That Fry Daddy will have a hard time maintaining the temperature if you put too many pieces in at a time. If the temps get too low the crappie will be greasy. I like canola oil. I save my oil too and strain it through a paper towel in a sieve after it has cooled. I usually cut the fillets into nuggets to separate the thinner tail piece from the thicker part.

[Moose1am]

I should have picked up one of those high temp candy thermometers. I saw a few at the end of the Isle where I got the Fry Daddy. The Fry daddy is reather small and I can see how the oil temp would drop if there were too many filets in there at one time. That must be what I did wrong as they were rather oily even though I drained them well. Next time I will not put so many filets in there at the same time. I need to spread them out. I was trying to cook up 15 fish or 13 crappie filets and that was just too darn many. I did them in two batches and I should have use three batches or four bathes instead. I will try to pick up one of those thermometers next time I am out shopping. I ended up with more filets that even I could eat tonight. Guess what I am having for lunch tomorrow? lol

I purchased some of that Cranola oil and found another bottle in the house. The new one is pure Canola Oil while the one that I had already opened was a combination of Canola oil and soybean oil. I wonder if the Soybean oil is ok to use? Think I will stick with the pure Canola oil next time.

Saving the oil is a good idea. I was wondering how to filter it. The FryDaddy has a plastic lid that seals the top of the fryer so that you can save the oil for a few days in the refrigerator. Not sure how long it will keep in the Frig and if I will reuse it next time. Depends on if I want fish again in the next few days or week. I still have a few frozen bags of filet in the freezer from this last summer. According to the directions on the FoodSaver Box you can keep fish filets in the freezer for about 6 months without using the vaccume bags and three years if they are vacuume sealed. So I better start eating my frozen filets soon or they may get freezer burned.

Anyway thanks for the help. I never used a deep fryer before until today.

The filets looked nice and golden brown and they were cooked well enough. I let the cook for about 8 min as the directions said from 4 min to 8 min and I didn't want any live worms in the meat so I chose the longest time possible. LOL
I should never had talked to those prevet majors who took Parisotology class. But then again I can tell I don't have any tapeworms. LOL. I would not be so fat if I did.

Hey Moose:

Use a candy/deep fry thermometer and try to keep the oil between 360 and 370. That Fry Daddy will have a hard time maintaining the temperature if you put too many pieces in at a time. If the temps get too low the crappie will be greasy. I like canola oil. I save my oil too and strain it through a paper towel in a sieve after it has cooled. I usually cut the fillets into nuggets to separate the thinner tail piece from the thicker part.

[Ranger375]

Moose1am
Be sure to wait till the FryDaddy cools off before placing that plastic lid on it. Can get replacement lid but again they are not free.