• Do you soak your fish before frying?

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    bigcrappiemax
    07-03-2009, 11:51 AM
    Does everyone here soak their fishes overnight in saltwater? That's the way my daddy always did it, and I've always done it just because. So is this something that's widely done, or are we the only ones jacking up our fish like this?

    If you don't use saltwater, do you soak them at all, and if you do, what do you soak them in?

    Billbob
    07-03-2009, 11:53 AM
    do you soak a stake

    bigcrappiemax
    07-03-2009, 12:29 PM
    We soak anything that we kill with the intention of eating. Like deer, rabbit, and quail. I don't know of anything else. But I do imagine we'd probably soak beef if we were to kill it ourselves. Pork too come to think of it. We used to salt cure the pork when I was a kid, but that was a in a smoke house.

    Release to the Grease...
    07-03-2009, 03:20 PM
    BCM, I do that too, that's how I was taught also. I've heard of people soaking it in milk also, especially venison.

    Billbob, I do soak "Stakes," got a lot of them soaking in Sardis right now, ask Stan

    Bluegilll
    07-03-2009, 03:24 PM
    I only soak dry land fish (morels) & vension myself in saltwater.
    Ive heard of milk & buttermilk also (havent tried it).
    I dont soak none of my fish tho.

    Speck
    07-03-2009, 03:31 PM
    I know a guy who soaks his fillets in lemon juice before freezing them. It pulls alot of slime out of the fish. You can see it floating on top of the juice. He says that he just don't want to eat the slime.

    Bluegilll
    07-03-2009, 03:35 PM
    I know a guy who soaks his fillets in lemon juice before freezing them. It pulls alot of slime out of the fish. You can see it floating on top of the juice. He says that he just don't want to eat the slime.

    I like to throw a capful of lemon juice in the skillet in the last 30-45 seconds of fryin.Talkin about givin them a good taste.The lemon juice will sizzle & make the fish flop right out into your plate :D

    feelay
    07-03-2009, 07:00 PM
    I only soak in hot grease. Be carefull soaking anything in lemon juice, the acid will cook the meat. You can actually " cook " your fish in citric juice, it's a dish called ceviche.

    oldwhiskers
    07-03-2009, 07:45 PM
    I have always soaked mine overnight also, forget who told me about it but I think it was to pull any blood out.

    Grumpy
    07-03-2009, 09:02 PM
    NEVER. Just wash them off real good in cold water and dip in cornmeal with salt and black pepper added and then drop into the deep fryer.

    bigcrappiemax
    07-04-2009, 08:43 PM
    I've had people tell me about soaking them in milk. I was just wondering if this soaking was something that everybody did. Jennifer and I were fixing up some one night and we started talking about it. I've been camping and ate fish that I caught that day with no soaking. Don't remember nothing being wrong with them fishes. I do it now just because that's the way the Old Man does it.

    creekslick
    07-04-2009, 08:56 PM
    NEVER. Just wash them off real good in cold water and dip in cornmeal with salt and black pepper added and then drop into the deep fryer.

    I'm with Grumpy, just soak them in cooking oil.:D

    gabowman
    07-04-2009, 09:24 PM
    I have soaked certain kinds of fish in salt water before. I only do this if blood is in the meat. Used to do the same with rabbits, squirrels, ducks, quail that were shot to remove the blood clots in the meat. Crappie dont have the blood in the meat so I only put them in a pan of cold water and put in the fridge until I plan on cooking 'em the next day or so.

    Psmith
    07-05-2009, 06:00 PM
    I soak mine in salt water if I'm not eating them right away. I dip them in a mixture of buttermilk and mustard then cornmeal when I cook them too. I always soak my steak before I cook that too in Dales and Montreal steak

    luvjign
    07-05-2009, 07:24 PM
    I have soaked certain kinds of fish in salt water before. I only do this if blood is in the meat. Used to do the same with rabbits, squirrels, ducks, quail that were shot to remove the blood clots in the meat. Crappie dont have the blood in the meat so I only put them in a pan of cold water and put in the fridge until I plan on cooking 'em the next day or so.Exactly. There's nothing in a crappie fillet that needs to be removed, or "drawn out". It's one of the purest fish that can be eaten without a strong fishy taste. Soak lake catfish in salt? Maybe so,......but crappie?....No, just rinse and cook......or freeze.

    jimfish
    07-05-2009, 07:41 PM
    Exactly. There's nothing in a crappie fillet that needs to be removed, or "drawn out". It's one of the purest fish that can be eaten without a strong fishy taste. Soak lake catfish in salt? Maybe so,......but crappie?....No, just rinse and cook......or freeze.

    I second that, no sense soaking crappie,clean,wash and put it in the pan.

    fishing buddy
    07-05-2009, 08:04 PM
    The only thing I soak crappie fillets in is OIL

    DonDon
    07-06-2009, 08:38 AM
    Milk and Hot Sauce for maybe 30 minutes. . Then seasong the fish lightly but add ALOT of seasonings to my cornmeal mix.
    I like a thicker crust on mine, just me I guess. Don't really matter what ya do to them cause the'll be fine anyway ya cook them

    jimmydee1
    07-06-2009, 09:14 AM
    DonDon, you da man with the hot sauce. I'll freeze crappie in bags with shot sauce and lemmon water after they sit for several hours. Folks think the hot sauce will be too hot for a weak gut, but it really just adds a little flavor to it. Nice for a change of pace.

    My granddad would soak his fish in milk. Said it got the 'fishy' taste out of it, but he got most of his crappie from river bar pits and oxbows. They might have had that 'river' taste to them. He would put his river cats in a feeder tank of water and let a little trickel run in it for a couple days. Said it cleaned the river taste out of them. I don't ever remember crappie having a strong fishy taste, so I don't soak in anything except hot oil.

    pstone
    07-06-2009, 10:27 AM
    The few I clean and freeze, I'll soak em over night in a pan of water IF I don't have any bags, and don't feel like going to get any....Otherwise they go strait to the freezer...I can't tell any difference in taste....

    DonDon
    07-06-2009, 10:45 AM
    Heck, the ARE FISH. LOL I just do that for flavor and more crush. That hot sauce just punches up the flavor aboit. Any of you guys tried the John Boy and Billy Hotsauce? MAN, that stuff is good

    bigcrappiemax
    07-06-2009, 10:57 AM
    All this here talk about hot sauce is making me want to try that. I'll be giving my fishes a bath in some of that to see what it tastes like. Other than Dondon's hushpuppy recipe he gave me (which were mighty fine Dondon!), my fish suppers ain't never tasted like nothing but a fish supper for the past 37 years. I don't mind a little change (as long as I don't have to change in the process) and I love me some flavors!

    DonDon
    07-06-2009, 11:38 AM
    and Get Emerils recipe for Tater salad with bacon and ranch dressing in it. WOWWWW, that stuffs awesome. When you get ready to fry some fish next time. Take 2 cups corn meal, 1/2 cup of flour, add in Salt, Black Pepper, dash of red pepper, dash of Italian seasonings and a dash of Garlic powder to your flour/cornmeal mix. How I do mine and they're awesome

    DonDon
    07-06-2009, 11:40 AM
    You can do Fried Chicken the same way. Soak it over night in Milk or Budda milk is even mo betta, and Hot sauce. MMMMMMM

    Sharkman
    08-23-2018, 06:46 AM
    Always in saltwater, especially white bass.

    Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=87936)

    mcdye
    08-23-2018, 07:07 AM
    We have never soaked Crappie or other inland fish. Venison we soak in water with meat tenderizing season, to take out the game taste.

    blueball
    08-23-2018, 08:56 AM
    I soak in salt water,but my cousu said i shouldnt.He says the salt will dry the meat ou and make it firmer.

    View Full Version : Soaking fish.


    Comments 4 Comments
    1. SpeckledSlab's Avatar
      SpeckledSlab -
      We have never found the need to soak any freshwater species. Now days we rarely fry, instead we broil with seasonings and panko coating. Sometimes bake or smoke.
    1. Ketchn's Avatar
      Ketchn -
      I don’t soak crappie in anything but a bowl of water to keep them wet in the fridge overnight .
    1. pesce's Avatar
      pesce -
      I tried soaking crappie, just rinse clean and put some seasoned meal, i brined some crappie and smoked them with hickory mixed with alder, just don't over smoke them dry.
    1. Barnacle Bill's Avatar
      Barnacle Bill -
      Only salt water fish.
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