Filleted Sunfish or scaled and gutted?

[fishergurl]

I remember back in the day, the only way we ate sunfish was if they were scaled and then cooked. Nowadays, its always filleted. I want to cook some sunfish up just scaled and gutted. Can anyone share some tips on how to gut them and scale them, and also the best way to fry them up?

[Gordie]

You can have the best of both worlds if you scale then fillet leaving the skin on the sunfish .

This what I do 95% of the time on all my panfish.

If you want to scale and gut panfish start with scaleing them then I cut the head off behind the gills.

Then split the belly and remove entrails.

Remove dorsel fin and then anal fin in front of the anal fin after it is removed make a cut on each side of the bone and brake out. This makes it easier to open up and clean the stomach area.

rinse this area out really good mom used to clean it with a old tooth brush but I just use my thumb.

I leave the tail on these fish and fry them up with it on as they taste like potato chips.

Roll in flour with salt and pepper to taste then into the frying pan with grease at 350 degrees.

My mom used to add careway seed to the flour also for a different taste.

[Walleyehooker]

A older metal ice scoop works great for scaleing out on the lake. Step on their head and a couple swipes on each side and scales are gone. Like Gordie said cut off the head and split up the belly and take out the guts. Shake in seasoned flour or a light mix like Fryn magic and fry in oil or butter. I dont like to eat the skin but it seems to keep the meat moist and doesnt suck up as much oil.

[reinhard1]

i think we had this topic last year, but it's always a good one. i do fillet the majority of my fish but there are days i leave them whole. stream trout i leave whole. when i was a kid we ate walley whole. those were tough to scrape the scales off. anyone remember the old scaling spoons? the ones with the "teeth" on the end by the scoop. i dont see them anymore. used to sell them at every bait shop.

crappies are the easiest to scale for me. i clean them pretty much like Gordie does above. ya, those tails are crispy. i throw scalled crappies and gills in fish soup. the bones come off easy after cooking. nothing better than a small brookie fresh cought from a cold stream. just salt and pepper and a four dusting and fried in crisco or better yet butter. my family preffers fillets so thats the main way, but i do slip in whole fish here and there. good luck.

[BLACKJACK]

I used to love it when my mom would fry up sunfish 'whole', then just munch off the fins, split the fish starting at the backbone, pull out the backbone and bones by where the fins were, and you had too nice fish halves to eat, salty fried on the outside, nice fish flavor on the inside. By the time you fry up a totally filleted out sunfish, they're so small, all you end up tasting is the fried part.

My wife doesn't like me to fry fish, so on sunfish I scale them, then fillet them, so you end up with fillets with the skin on. Then I broil them, with some seasonings, either Lemon Pepper or McCormick Herb and Garlic, and a little melted butter brushed on. Did some crappies and sunfish the other night this way, I noticed that the 'skin on' sunfish held together better, may try to scale a few crappies next time and see how they work.

I was thinking about this 'whole' sunfish vrs 'filleted' sunfish discussion the other night when I was cleaning fish, I left a few sunfish whole, will try them on the broiler to see how they turn out.

You can still buy those scalers, I see them at the local Runnings Fleet, I think the metal ones work better than the plastic ones.

[rjmiller47]

When scaling fish i use a teaspoon for pan fish, a tablespoon for larger fish i'm going to smoke. Scales roll right up and off thr spoon. I enjoy 1/3 flour, 1/3 corn meal and 1/3 panko bread crumbs to dust em' and fry em. They end up with a nice crunch. I also put salt. pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and some oregeno in the flour to season. Enjoy!!!

[BLACKJACK]

Never did answer your original question, I clean a little different than Gordie.

Start by scaling fish, easier to hold onto with the head on. Take extra care along the edges, by the fins, you eat what you leave on. Then cut the head off, angling forward so you leave as much meat as possible along the top of the head, then I slice off the bottom of the fish from the front, cut off past the vent. I don't worry about the top or bottom fins, once you have the fish fried/cooked they pull right off. Then scoop out the guts and clean out under water. Fairly easy. Scaling is a mess though, they fly all over, do it in your garage or shop.

Good luck!!

[Gordie]

Ive found the best tool for scaling panfish is a spoon not the big suop style spoon but a regular spoon. if held at the right angle the scales dont not goes flying every where either another trick is not to let the fish freeze that seems to lock the scales in a bit tighter also.

I have scaled a lot of fish and was told along time ago that there is a light film of oil between the skin and the meat that really give the fish the best flavor and when fillet from the skin the oil stays with the skin.

The guy that told me this scaled everything he caught except northerns. He said he even scaled walleyes and I also remember scaling perch when I was younger.

I have also use automatic scalers but I seem to always revert back to the old fasion way of it.

[hockeybc69]

As a kid growing up, we ate nothing but scaled fillets/whole fish.

I havent had one that way in 30 years I bet.... I have never had a craving to try it again.... I should..... it wasnt bad from what I recall.

I think in my head its just so much easier to fillet....

[deerminator]

I always leave the skin on. I think it enhances the flavor and you lose less meat. But to each their own.

I have a friend that is the ultimate fisherman. He came up to our place once and after he caught his limit of sunfish, I filleted them all the next morning while he was sleeping. We had left them overnight in the garage in the heat of summer at his insistence that they would be fine. Anyway, I packed them all up into baggies in the freezer and when he found out I had left the skin on, he was absolutely disgusted! After leaving them to marinate in the lukewarm water in the heat of the garage all night, the thought of the skin on the fish grossed him out. LOL.

He thawed them out when he got home and skinned them all before cooking. Another good story, if he's reading this, is when he catches fish and gifts them to his grandpa, he freezes them whole (guts, scales and everything intact) and delivers them to be thawed out and cleaned. We have a good time giving him a hard time over what a terrible thing that is to do to a grandpa.

[mainbutter]

You can have the best of both worlds if you scale then fillet leaving the skin on the sunfish .

This what I do 95% of the time on all my panfish.

same!

[The Grebe]

Put enough water in the sink to submerge the fish in. Get yourself a regular old fork, grab the panfish in the gill covers and using the fork tines, scrape the fish from tail to gill area. The water keeps the scales from popping all over and keeps them pretty much contained.

Make sure you take a couple of swipes on the top behind the dorsal fin and do the same on the bottom behind that fin...you can use the side of the fork for those areas. Make sure you scrape it good around the fishes butt and forward to the pectoral fins, or whatever those little buggers on the sides are called?

Notch out the butt and slit open the stomach, butt to those front fins, you'll know when to stop, don't cut through breast area. Lay the fish on it's side and make a cut at an angle from behind the head down to where you stopped behind those front fins....flip it over and do the same thing on the other side, twist the head off and alot of the insides come out with it. Use your thumb to push out the rest.

Wash it out, clean it off and go to the next one. Takes much longer to explain it then it does to do it. The finished product is ready for the pan.

[fishergurl]

Thanks for all the advice! I am trying it out tonight. One other question thou. Is it ok to freeze them, and if so, how long before I should fry up?

[reinhard1]

after you have cleaned them, put them in a bag with a seal and cover the fish with water and seal. they can be kept properly sealed this way for 8 to 12 months. make sure the fish is completly covered with water before sealing and freezing. good luck.

[The Grebe]

There are a couple of thoughts on this...the one about freezing them in water and the other about just making sure you get most of the air out of the packaging before you freeze them.

I like the second method myself, put em in a zip lock, zip it up so there is just a small opening, drain excess water out, force most of the air out and seal it up. If you don't feel comfortable doing it that way and don't have a vacume packer, use a straw to get the air out. Watch out so the fishes fins don't puncture the bag, or all your effort is for nothing. The designated freezer bags are usually a little stouter, so you should be okay. If you don't fell comfortable with the above method, try the other.

Most of the time, the fish aren't in the freezer for a really long time anyways....you have to make room for some new arrivals so you don't go over the limit.

[fishergurl]

Just got done scaling and gutting 23 sunfish, and filleting 13 Crappies from yesterday. Took 3 hours! Glad I am done. So Fish fry with the sunfish Sunday. Another question, do you dip the fish in egg and your batter just as you would a regular fillet? And do they take a bit longer to fry up than a regular fillet? Thanks for everyones advice.

[reinhard1]

i have used at times:

sprinkle with salt and pepper and dust in flour

dredge in frying magic or Andy's regular or cajun.

it does take a little longer than a fillet. wait until you get a nice brown outside. try frying in butter for more flavor. try frying a couple first to test your timing and then go from there. when the flesh is nice and flaky you will know they are done. good luck.

[Walleyehooker]

When doing in a fry pan with little oil or butter I just like to dust with seasoned flour or fryn magic or shore lunch etc. Any thicker batter like egg or beer batter tend to stick and burn if not done in deeper oil where they can float.

[The Grebe]

RH 1 and WH have good intel...for me, I just season up some flour, (whatever kind of seasoning you are partial to) put it in a plastic bread bag and then shake the fish up in the flour.

When you take em out, shake em upside down to get excess flour out of inside, or you will get a glop thats like a big unappetizing doughball once the fish is cooked.

If you fry the fish in plain butter, it is really easy to burn things up and set off the smoke detectors before the cooking gets done and it's not conducive to multiple batches. I have found that a mixture, with shortening as it's base works better for me. You can also fry em in peanut oil, they are pretty good that way also.

[c0untryf1sh3r]

My uncle deeps frys them in his turkey fryer. He scales and guts them the tosses them in some flour with a little salt and pepper and throws them in the fryer. I thought it was a little odd at first but I was surprised at how good they were.

[reinhard1]

i should have mentioned that if you mix some oil with your butter the butter wont burn. thanks for the reminder. good luck.