Favorite Fish Batters

[WalleyeSlayer21]

Share your favorite shore lunch ideas along with the batter you use with recipe or where to find it. Thanks

[holmsvc]

Dry fillets, shake in Cajun Shore Lunch, and deep fry at 375 or a little hotter.

[Mid-Lake Rock]

Sturdiwheat 10,000 Lakes Coating is my personal favorite. I follow the directions on the package.

I also liked the Mr. Walleye coating, but can't find it anymore.

[leech~~]

Sturdiwheat 10,000 Lakes Coating is my personal favorite. I follow the directions on the package.

I also liked the Mr. Walleye coating, but can't find it anymore.

You can find Gary Roach's fish batter at Fleet farm. I use it a lot.

[Crow Hunter]

McCormick's Cajun is my favorite.

[Fowlmouth]

[B-man715]

Frying fish is an art

Anybody can fill in a coloring book, but few can paint a masterpiece

Taste, texture and personal preference all play a role, but after 20 years I think I have found my favorite method.

The dry Shorelunch stuff is terrible (for my palate), as are a lot of others.

This is again all in my opinion, and here is what I do.

My favorite is McCormicks brand beer batter, mixed on the runny side, warmed up close to room temperature.

A little salt and pepper on semi dry fish fingers.

An inch or more of oil or Crisco in a cast iron pan, heated between 315-325 degrees, no more. Dropping down to 300 when the fingers are placed is fine.

Getting over 325 (for too long) will over-brown the batter, impart a burnt flavor, and lock in unwanted moisture.

Cook low and slow in small batches, or in a continuous rotation until they are light golden brown, just like the picture on the box. They will start to float and you will see steam escaping. When the color is right, they are done perfectly

Never timed it, I just go by temp and appearance, but it takes a little longer than you are used too.

For years I cooked beer battered fish too hot (350) and too thick (of batter), resulting in over browned peices that held a ton of moisture (which is mistaken for oily fish). The key is to remove just the right amount.

When done right, I believe it is the best fish in the world. Great to eat alone, with tartar sauce (Heinz is my favorite), in fish tacos, and great to munch on even cold.

For the absolute best finished product, place the fish on cookie cooling racks instead of paper towels.

My other favorite is much more fool proof. Just sprinkle on some Lawreys seasoned salt and toss in flour. After tossing, let the pieces rest until all of the flour on the outside has become moistened. Then drop into hot (375-400 max) oil for a few minutes. The flour doesn't brown nearly as easy as beer batter, and more readily allows moisture to escape. The finished product is lighter in color, but tastes amazing for how simple it is.

If you drop the pieces in that still have dry flour, some falls off and starts to burn in the bottom of the oil, which can change the taste and color of the next batches.

There are other ways and other batters, but after many years and hundreds of batches of fish, these are my tried and true.

Hope this helps

[highlife4me]

B-Man hit the nail on the head. Cooking fish is an art. I can cook just about anything and everything and have it turn out pretty darn good, but I can't fry fish worth a lick. My wife on the other hand can hardly find her way around the kitchen most of the time but she makes the best fish I ever had. I knew there was a reason I married her.

[eyeguy 54]

me likey shore lunch. I mix cajon,original and flour 1/3 each. everybody always loves it or are they just being nice?. lol I pan fry in canola oil and a little butter. making fried fish is a piece a cake. many ways to do it.

[bak2MN]

We like the Zatarans. little spice is nice!

[OnAFly]

I've had Zatarans on trout. It's a nice change of pace. For white fleshed fish, Shorelunch original has been our go-to. It just makes good fish

[Finns]

Put fish in bowl with beer.

Mix following in zip lock bag;

1 cup flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup Cavenders All Purpose Greek Seasoning

More or less as per fish amount.

Shake off moisture from fish, shake fish in mix and deep fry!

Not a 'batter' but yummy!

[dfv87]

I start with Shorelunch as a base.

Mix in about same amount of flower.

Garlic salt

Lemon pepper

Italian seasoning (Optional)

Old Bay seasoning

Onion Powder

Tastefully Simple Spinach and Herb Seasoning.

mix well

use as a dry breading and fry (I prefer a deep fryer vs pan)

Oil should be seasoned with onions and or bacon if you can. In a pinch I use a dab of butter with each basket to help brown the fish better.

Season with salt after frying

[ESSGuy]

Dip fish in milk, then dust with shore lunch. Then dip in egg mixture then coat with Panko. The Panko gives it a nice crunch.

[Todd Caswell]

I have a buddy that owns a few Kentucky Fried Chickens, hands down there is no better batter than KFC, it works on everything... When I run out of KFC Batter Id'e rather bake than fry...

[Fowlmouth]

Sounds like you're onto something Todd, that does sound good. KFC should sell the batter in stores.

[WalleyeSlayer21]

I have a buddy that owns a few Kentucky Fried Chickens, hands down there is no better batter than KFC, it works on everything... When I run out of KFC Batter Id'e rather bake than fry...

Do you have the Batter recipe?

[candiru]

There is a breading called "Kentucky Kernel Seasoned Flour" that is a knock off of KFC. (similar flavor) I have not tried it on fish but have used it on pheasant. I believe Wal-Mart carries it, or check in the flour/baking section of your grocery store.

[minnesotathorn]

[

Do you have the Batter recipe?

[delcecchi]

There are a bunch of copycat recipes out there in books and on the net. There isn't anything exotic, although one "secret" ingredient is MSG.

[Pherris]

As mentioned the real secret is in the cooking. With that said here are a few of the coating mixes I have found to be tasty.

1/2 shore lunch and 1/2 potato buds.

Ground up creamy butter garlic ritz crackers.

1/2 Cajun shore lunch 1/4 saltines 1/4 cheez it's ground in the food processor.

1/2 taco Doritos 1/2 flour. (We make fish tacos with this one)

Now I'm hungry 😃

[MattL]

1/2 taco Doritos 1/2 flour. (We make fish tacos with this one)

I usually stick with shore lunch, but stumbled upon this one time when I was running low in the fish house. I think I mixed like 1/2 shore lunch and 1/2 crumbled up doritos and it was actually pretty tasty.

[OnAFly]

I've done crumbled garlic-rosemary triscuits before. Works great and gives a nice crunch too.

[Fowlmouth]

Even putting ritz crackers or saltines in a ziplok bag and taking a rolling pin to it is great on fish

[11fish1]

Chef Robert's is really good. I get it at Fleet Farm.