# Problems with fish batter??????????



## chefbk (Mar 3, 2002)

I've been working at a seafood restaurant for about 7 months, and it's been awhile since I've worked with"battered" fish & chips. This is a sig dish and we sell a TON OF THEM!! The problem is this: we are currently using drakes wet batter made with water, first the fish(pollack) is dusted in seasoned flour, then the batter, then fried at 360 degrees. The fish AND home made onion rings are coming out crispy and then sogging within minutes. The coating looks almost marbeled(lighter and darker areas) I need a crispy batter!!
I thought of upgrading oil(we use just clear oil), I want to upgrade to canola.
Then I thought perhaps tempura???? Can someone? Anyone?? Help me out?
I have twenty years experience and I am stumped and this is first priority with the owner!!!! Thanks,
BK


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## toddlove8845 (Jul 29, 2005)

Add a little oil to your batter. I guarantee it you it will work.


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## spritzer (Oct 30, 2005)

hey i worked for abit as a line chef on the deep fryer in a restaurant here in perth, we used canola oil at +- 170 degrees celcius (338 f ) the batter we used was our own, just self raising flour and water ( or beer for the beer batter )fish went in seasoned flour first then the batter, then fried, allways came out golden and crunchy course if you left it for 10mins it would go soggy 
cheers
spritz


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## ma facon (Dec 16, 2004)

Use 1/2 flour and 1/2 corn starch with a pinch of baking soda and salt add water to desired consistency. Very crisp and it holds well. Also sub rice flour for all purpose and it will be even crispier. Let us know what you think.:chef:


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## paul (Nov 4, 2005)

Wow. Twenty years of experience. I only have twenty months.

Anyways, I learned this from a taxi driver in Spain: buy a bucket of KFC, strip off the skin, "glue" the skin on to your fish (or onions, if you wish) with some egg yolks, and voila! I call the dish _Colonel Fish_


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## chefphilhahn (Nov 9, 2005)

Dip your fish in ice water first, then flour then batter. Use a tempura batter to really bring out a nice full looking, crisp, flavor filled battered fish. Your Tempura batter should call for 1 Gallon of ice cold water to 5 lbs of tempura batter.
Hope that helps
let me know how it works.


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## ozarkrose (Apr 4, 2005)

Does it have to be a batter? I live in a humid enviroment and have found dry, wet, dry (crumbs) to stay nice the longest, and you can prep ahead for peak times, but it's a lot of hand work ... leaves alot of time for "shooting the breeze" ....


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## chefbk (Mar 3, 2002)

Thanks for all the help. I solved the problem! I upgraded the fish in quality and began cooking it in canola oil. It's been working great!
BK


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

You will have to watch your batter throughout the night. Dipping raw fish in it will slowly thin it out as the fish will add more moisture as the night goes on. Keep an eye on your batter and thicken it as neccessary.


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## capecodder (Aug 25, 2001)

My god, dump the batter and fry fish the New England way.

Soak 10-20 minutes in milk, coat with 1/2 AP flour and 1/2 FINE ground corn meal. Fry at 350. If you need a slightly heavier coating add 1 egg to every 2 c of milk.

Lighter and thinner than tempura. Works for all seafood - shrimp, oysters, soft shell clams, squid and scallops. 2 milllion clam shacks can't be wrong.

Batter is disgusting.


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

Have to disagree CapeCodder. I love both styles, batter and breading. Each can be horrible if done improperly, but each can also be sublime if done correctly. A properly executed beer batter can be wonderful.


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## capecodder (Aug 25, 2001)

Pete, A lot of people think the colonists left England and sailed to the New World to escape religous persecution or seek their fortunes. While a few may have had that in mind, most did so to escape English-style battered fish. 

In fact, one of the tenants in the Mayflower compact was "Henceforth seafood should be floured not battered." The tenant was removed from many later copies of the Mayflower Compact by the evil, now deceased, Lord Arthur Treacher. Originals with the tenant can be found in any seafood shop form northern Connecticut to Maine.

Wendy's ubiquitous commercial line. "Where's the beef?" is a takeoff on the Puritan "Where's the fish?" uprising when confronted with a mound of fish and chips in 1618 London that contained no discernible seafood at all. King George, when told of the general upset, stopped his dilly-dallying momentarily to utter, "Let them eat batter!"

You can look it up!


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

LOL!!!!!!!:lol: :lol: :lol: 

Have another one CapeCodder!:beer: :beer: :beer:


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## david weber (May 18, 2012)

Cape Codder, breading is my preferred method too. The light breading used is similar to yours except for the milk, buttermilk or whipping cream are preferred. For a heavier breading, flour, egg batter, Japanese breadcrumbs, repeated with another dip in egg batter and then a final coating with bread crumbs. As for shrimp tempura batter is my preference.


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