Greasy beer batter?

[Dan L]

I have a recipe for beer batter that I like. It has beer , flour, an egg and is a mix you dip the fish in and then I fry it in a grand daddy fryer. Sometimes it turns out great and other times the batter seems greasy. Is there something I am missing when preparing the batter that might cause the fish to turn out greasy? Thanks

[JollyT]

A lot of times greasiness is caused by the oil cooling too much while cooking, or not being hot enough in the first place. Make sure the oil is up to temp. Add the items to be fried, but don't crowd them. Too many will cool the oil down too much. Draining on a wire rack instead of paper towels will help too.

[BAIT956]

JollyT is absolutely right. All his points are very important.

I prefer to have the oil @ 375 for deep frying fish. Get a thermometer to make sure.

Do not add a second batch of fish until the oil has returned to 375.

It also helps to use smaller filets. If I have large filets, I cut them lengthwise to ensure they heat quickly. You are looking for the heat of the oil to seal the batter on the fish. You do not want the oil to soak into the fish.

Make sure that your batter is sticking well. Use more egg if you need to. If you can shake all the batter off before putting the filet into the oil, it's not sticking good enough. Ease the filet into the oil so the batter does not fall off.

Another possible problem could arise if you reuse the oil too many times. For optimum results use fresh oil. A few times usually is ok, but even if clean, (strained) the oil will degrade with each heating.

This should solve your problem.

If all else fails, get more beer until you don't notice. Happy Frying!

[widetrack]

Also, make sure your batter is cold, not room temp.

It will help keeping the batter on the fish better.

[irvingdog]

I absolutely love my old electric frying pan/oven thing. It has non-stick sides and a dome lid. You can thermostatically control the oil temp. to 375 with no problem. Like everyone has said, temp control is critical!

I bet you could find one in a garage sale without looking to hard......

[Phred52]

One more batter tip, Don't batter your fillets too far in advance. The batter will tend to get soggy.

[Jim Almquist]

one more thing is to dry your fillets off and then give them a quick dusting of flour so that the batter sticks a little bit better