Cooking fish on the ice?

[Big Jeff]

So this year the group is requesting to eat our fish on the ice while up at red but no group wants them cooked in their shack so I am looking for ideas.

My current idea is setting up a portable with a small table a cook top stove with some fry pans and heater. That way the air temp will be warm enough not to kill the oil temps and everyone is happy its not in their sleeper house.

Other thought was one of the larger turkey style fryers but just outside as its a bit of a hazard when you have something over the top, dont want to roast a buddies portable.

Any one tried anything like this?

Cant wait we are leaving Friday AM!

[jjz]

Grill them skin side down on a portable grill or if bake them if anyone has a oven. Grilling is easy and makes least mess and needs least tending. Both elminate the troubles of frying.

Good Luck with that.

[Big Jeff]

I wish we had an oven as that would be my go to but not an option on this one.

[TruthWalleyes]

Pan fry them in butter. Flour them first if you want. Can use a Mr Heater/Cooker for that.

[ZachD]

You wont have a problem in a portable ive done it many times. Hell the mr heater cooker worked for me outside as well once you get that oil going even the cold air wont kill it much... But I would say it would be nicer to have a portable and cook them in there.

[ZachD]

Are we really to the point that our fish houses are too nice we can't cook fish in them? Not bashing you guys I am just saying In general.. I went fishing with a friend and we were not allowed to wear our boots in his house..

[Alagnak]

If nobody wants them cooked in their shacks I'd cook them for myself outside(and for any others you fish with that aren't complete sissies about cooking in their shacks like the others mentioned) and enjoy them and eat till you just about puke- without sharing. Or find some new fishing buddies WOW- I've never heard of anything like this unless a guy is allergic to fish. LOL

Seriously- it's not rocket science. Mr heater cooker/ turkey cooker/ good grill with cast iron pan on it to cook, metal garbage can lid with a wood fire with cast iron pan on the fire, etc. I do recommend cast iron if its outside because it will hold the heat better and won't drop in temp when you throw in a new batch of fish. And with a big flat/cast pan you don't need a gallon of oil like a deep fry turkey pot.

You're missing out until you've had a good fry on the ice.

[DrJuice1980]

Are you not allowed to pass gas in the house as well?? Ive grilled burgers in a fish house before, smelt it up a little but went away after a few uses. Its was -20 and I wasn't about to tend to them outside. Sometime you gotta do what you gotta do.

[Savage Brewer]

hot food while fishing??? whats that?

I always have sandwiches, snickers bars and beef jerky. No hot oil needed.

[outkast7222]

It's a fish house, just fry em up! The smell of fresh cooked fish should be a requirement for any house!

[TruthWalleyes]

I'm not a fan of frying up fish in a rental ice house if using a batter/oil...Usually the group has been drinking for hours. When your done, there's batter and oil on everything. Then there's the dredded cleanup before you leave the next morning. Plus, i might know of one guy who lost a bet and had to eat the breading that was caked on the fork...Not very good tasting!

I always bring a hub house to use as a crapper too. No need to have 6 guys [PoorWordUsage]'n in a bucket in a house...Also works great as a smoke shack if some in the group are sensitive to cigs.

But someone always sneaks into the house crapper 10 minutes before we're cleaned up and ready to leave, then it's hungover hustle to get everything out of the house! lol

[Big Jeff]

TruthWalleyes you have it pegged!

The issue is not the cooking of the fish its the mess that happens along with it and the drucnks that i have seen knock over tables and pots of beans and soup. I want to stay as far away from hot oil and drunks as possible.

I cant even imagin the bets placed on who would eat what deep fried...

Good luck on the ice and thanks for all the comments! I

[mnguy152]

grill it foil fish little olive oil then season to taste and flip after 5 min then cook for another 3 the check done

[B-man715]

Grill them skin side down on a portable grill or if bake them if anyone has a oven. Grilling is easy and makes least mess and needs least tending. Both elminate the troubles of frying.

Good Luck with that.

^^^^^^^This

A little cheapo gas grill from Menards and a couple one pounders out on the tailgate is hard to beat (If it is not -10 with a 20 mph wind )

I like to drizzle a little olive on both sides (skin and meat) then put a little lemon pepper on the meat side.

The key to cooking it this way is to get the skin side crispy and brown. It will usually slide right off the grill without sticking.

No Mess

Healthy (no oil)

Less time cleaning fish (leave skin and scales on)

And delicious of course!!!

[jjz]

Yah, good pointers. Seasoning salt is good to add with lemon pepper... This is what we do with our first catcth of splake and rainbows off larson on trout opener most years, but is great with any fish I have tried. Biggest plus is no skinning and no batter/oil mess.

good luck with whatever you do!

[Tom Batiuk]

I cook fish outside all the time. I use a deep cast iron fry pan and a camp chef stove. Once the cast iron is hot it cooks very very well even outside in colder temps. The camp chef has 25000 BTU burners. It puts lots of flame to the pans. I do potatoes and onions on the griddle that came with the stove as well. As for breading I do everything in ziplock bags to keep the mess down. I do use a fork instead of fingers to stay clean. My shore lunch box also contains a 1 quart pot for heating water to clean stuff up if necessary. My whole kit weighs less than 50 lbs and I can cook anything on the lake.

[MattL]

We've done the turkey fryer outside before and it works well. Last year we baked it in the oven and it was just as good with less clean up. Another option is to take your fillets into one of the resorts/restaurants and have them fry them up if they still do that (but of course that would involve driving off the lake, if that is what you are trying to avoid)

[MNCPRGUY]

Haven't used one myself but the fryin' saucer in a hub house seems like the ticket to me.

[mikerodger]

Frying saucer it's the only way to go

[Bryce]

Take the fillets to shore and have the restaurant cook em up for you. Zero clean up.