There are few things as delicious as deep-fried fish – it’s light, crispy, and great with a little bit of lemon. However, it can also be awfully soggy and heavy if not fried the right way. The secret lies in the temperature at which you deep fry your fish. If you want perfect fish, you’ll want to use the best deep fryer temperature for fish.
For perfectly fried fish, you are going to want to use a deep pot, proper oil, tongs, a thermometer, and somewhere to drain the fish. The ideal temperature to fry fish is 360 degrees Fahrenheit. Any lower, and you risk too much oil saturation. Any higher and your fish could burn. Read on as we discuss it further.
What You Will Need to Fry Fish
Let’s take a look at what exactly you will need to find the best deep fryer temperature for fish.
Oil
When you fry fish, you will be better off using natural oil that is refined. The choices are numerous: canola, soybean, sunflower, light olive oil, safflower, peanut, and grapeseed. All of these are wonderful for frying fish and seafood. Be sure to never heat up your oil until it starts to smoke. At that point, it will not be usable anymore and will smell really bad. That’s why unrefined oils aren’t a good idea for frying.
Pot
If you don’t plan on using the best deep fryer, you should use a deep and heavy pot when deep frying. You should use at least 3 inches of oil and a maximum of 3 inches of space left above the oil line. For your own safety, never fill the pot completely with oil. If you’re frying a lot of food you’ll (obviously) want to use a bigger pot.
Thermometer
While there are many ways in which you can determine if the oil is good for frying, one way stands out as the best. Using an oil thermometer is the easiest and most accurate way of knowing when the oil is hot enough. Never use a normal thermometer. On average, 360 degrees Fahrenheit (182.22 degrees Celsius) is ideal. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can use bread cubes, chopsticks, or a pinch of flour to check the heat.
Some extra tips for making the best-fried fish
Before you start to fry the fish, turn your oven to the lowest setting. When you have fried your first batch of fish, you can place the fish in the oven on a rack. This will keep the fish warm while also draining the oil. Just be sure to place a sheet or baking pan under the rack to catch the oil. You can store all the fried fish in this manner until you’re done frying everything.
Overcrowding = bad idea
It’s not a good idea to overcrowd your pot and put in a lot of food when frying. This will cool the oil drastically and cause the food to soak in the cooling oil. That will give you overly oily food that doesn’t taste good. Instead, fry in small batches and don’t cover more than half the area of the pot.
Draining the fish
Once your fish is nicely fried (golden-brown) on both sides, you can remove it from the oil. You should keep in mind that fried fish (all fried food, actually) can be delicate. Be gentle when you remove it. A slotted spoon, skimmer, or spider will work just fine for this purpose.
Before you remove the fish, make sure you have allocated a place where the fish will drain. You can use brown paper bags, paper plates, or paper towels and place the fish on it. Place the paper towels (or whatever you use) on a cookie sheet or baking pan. If you allow the fish to drain oil this way, it will be nice and crispy.
Temperature
Always keep a close eye on the temperature as you fry the fish. Make sure that the temperature is adjusted properly. Too low temperatures (thus cold oil) will result in heavy and uncooked fish. On the other hand, oil that is too hot will burn the fish or cause it to be overdone and dry. It’s even possible that the outside would be nice and crispy but the inside still cold and uncooked.
Batter
For the best results and a nice, crispy fish, you want to use a batter to coat the food in. For the best batter, mix milk, flour, eggs, cornmeal, and other ingredients you’d like. There are many recipes for batters to be found on the internet.
You can really play around with the batter and flavor it to your taste. You will simply dip the fish in the batter and make sure it is covered thoroughly. When placing the fish into the oil, be very careful. The oil could splash and cause injury.
Time
It is recommended that you time your fish while frying – a timer would be very useful. You should start timing the second the fish makes contact with the oil. Wait about 2 minutes and check the color of the fish, as well as the temperature of the oil.
If the oil’s temperature has dropped, it could take a little longer to fry the fish perfectly golden-brown. At most, fish should take between 3 and 5 minutes to fry. You should flip the fish only once to prevent it from breaking apart.
Conclusion
Frying fish may seem like something best left to restaurants or fast food outlets, but you can make healthy and delicious fried fish at home. If you adhere to the tips and advice you’ve found here, you will fry your fish perfectly every time.
Coat with your favorite spices in the batter and fry until golden, and served warm; your fried fish will be a treat to everyone. As long as you mind the deep fryer temperature for fish, you should be just fine in frying even thick portions of fish.
