Thread: REQ: Beer Batter

Jill wrote:

> Anyone got a good recipe for beer batter for fish? Thanks.

2 cups rice flour
1 tablespoon salt
1-2 bottles full-flavored beer[1]

Mix together rice flour and salt. Add beer: The amount of beer you add will
vary; just keep adding and whisking until you get a medium-thin batter. Use
batter promptly.

Prior to dipping fish fillets in batter, season them with whatever spices
you're going to use. (I use cayenne and garlic powder.)

Bob
[1] I like Pyramid Wheat Ale, but I doubt that it's available in your
benighted South Carolina Mosquito Mecca.

Bob Terwilliger wrote:
>
> Jill wrote:
>
> > Anyone got a good recipe for beer batter for fish? Thanks.
>
> 2 cups rice flour
> 1 tablespoon salt
> 1-2 bottles full-flavored beer[1]
>
> Mix together rice flour and salt. Add beer: The amount of beer you add will
> vary; just keep adding and whisking until you get a medium-thin batter. Use
> batter promptly.

You can also add in a tsp of baking soda for extra lightness of crust. Stir
in all ingredients quickly and don't over-stir. You want to keep the Co2 in
the batter. And as Bob said, "use batter promptly."

Gary

Ps - regular flour will do ok too.

On Jan 15, 2:48*am, "jmcquown" <j_mcqu...@comcast.net> wrote:
> Anyone got a good recipe for beer batter for fish? *Thanks.
>
If you don't keep rice flour in the pantry regular all purpose flour
will work fine. Season it with s & p and garlic powder. It'll be a
tad heavier but you mix it to your desired consistency anyway. -aem

Jill wrote:

>Anyone got a good recipe for beer batter
> for fish? Thanks.

I haven't deep fried fish in a very long time, as hubby and I are both
having to watch our cholesterol

I have never used a recipe....I just dump a can of beer in a bowl and
add enough Bisquick Baking mix to make right consistency...enough to
adhere to the chunks of fish, but not too thick, so you are eating
mostly the coating. I add generous dashes of lemon pepper marinade and
dip the fish in the batter, letting some drip off and set them off to
the side on waxed paper to "dry" some as I finish coating all of the
fish.

NOTE: Can also use Krustez Bake & Fry Mix instead of the Bisquick, but I
prefer Bisquick myself.

I don't like commercial tartar sauce, so I mix together mayo, a little
hot dog relish, generous splashes of Worcestershire sauce and some
minced onion...sometimes I soak the dried minced onion for a short time
and drain, if don't feel like cutting up a fresh onion. Our family
prefers this to dip the fish into. Is the way my dad always made it, but
don't have any exact measurements, but do use more of a ratio of mayo to
the relish.

Judy

On 15/01/2012 10:48, jmcquown wrote:
> Anyone got a good recipe for beer batter for fish? Thanks.

I used to use a recipe similar to the one Bob posted, but having tried
this one the other day, I am a convert! I love the Bikers anyway,
though, so I might be biased...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/be...eredfish_93119

Specifically these bits:

For the batter
75g cornflour
200g plain flour
1 tsp fine sea salt
330ml real ale
2 tbsp white wine vinegar

For the batter, mix the cornflour, plain flour and salt together in a
large bowl. Make a well in the centre of the mixture and whisk in the
ale and vinegar. Beat with a large metal whisk to make a smooth batter
with the consistency of double cream.

Oddly, the online recipe doesn't say this, but the guys did when I was
watching the program: set the batter aside for half an hour in a warm
place before using. The vinegar and corn starch (corn flour) are
supposed to make it extra crispy.

Anyway... I liked it.

-Jen

On Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:42:44 +0000, "Jen P." <[email protected]>
wrote:

> 75g cornflour

aka: cornstarch - or is it something else? I've seen the term
cornflour used when it means cornmeal ground so fine, it has the
consistency of wheat flour.
--

Ham and eggs.
A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.

On Jan 15, 10:47*am, jhaff...@webtv.net (Judy Haffner) wrote:
> Jill wrote:
> >Anyone got a good recipe for beer batter
> > for fish? Thanks.
>
> I haven't deep fried fish in a very long time, as hubby and I are both
> having to watch our cholesterol
>
> I have never used a recipe....I just dump a can of beer in a bowl and
> add enough Bisquick Baking mix to make right consistency...enough to
> adhere to the chunks of fish, but not too thick, so you are eating
> mostly the coating. I add generous dashes of lemon pepper marinade and
> dip the fish in the batter, letting some drip off and set them off to
> the side on waxed paper to "dry" some as I finish coating all of the
> fish.
>
> NOTE: Can also use Krustez Bake & Fry Mix instead of the Bisquick, but I
> prefer Bisquick myself.
>
> I don't like commercial tartar sauce, so I mix together mayo, a little
> hot dog relish, generous splashes of Worcestershire sauce and some
> minced onion...sometimes I soak the dried minced onion for a short time
> and drain, if don't feel like cutting up a fresh onion. Our family
> prefers this to dip the fish into. Is the way my dad always made it, but
> don't have any exact measurements, but do use more of a ratio of mayo to
> the relish.
>
> Judy

and that's the kind of cupcake you are!

On Jan 16, 11:42*am, sf <s...@geemail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:42:44 +0000, "Jen P." <jp337sp...@cam.ac.uk>
> wrote:
>
> > 75g cornflour
>
> aka: cornstarch - or is it something else? *I've seen the term
> cornflour used when it means cornmeal ground so fine, it has the
> consistency of wheat flour.
> --
>
> Ham and eggs.
> A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.

I believe she's talking cornstarch. When I was doing prep, beer batter
was something we made daily, and we used cornstarch in it.

On Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:00:28 -0800 (PST), merryb <[email protected]>
wrote:

> On Jan 16, 11:42*am, sf <s...@geemail.com> wrote:
> > On Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:42:44 +0000, "Jen P." <jp337sp...@cam.ac.uk>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > 75g cornflour
> >
> > aka: cornstarch - or is it something else? *I've seen the term
> > cornflour used when it means cornmeal ground so fine, it has the
> > consistency of wheat flour.
> > --
> >
> > Ham and eggs.
> > A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.
>
> I believe she's talking cornstarch. When I was doing prep, beer batter
> was something we made daily, and we used cornstarch in it.

Thanks merryb!
--

Ham and eggs.
A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.

sf wrote:
> "Jen P." <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> 75g cornflour
>
> aka: cornstarch - or is it something else? I've seen the term
> cornflour used when it means cornmeal ground so fine, it has the
> consistency of wheat flour.

Most foods, meat or vegetable, I perfer to deep fry without any breading
at all. To me it tastes better and it's lower carb. Fish tends to be
too soft to drop in hot oil directly.

I like to soak fish in beer for 30 minutes or so then dust it with
coarse corn meal then drop it in the oil. If you've done fried catfish
with a milk soak it's the same process with one different ingredient.

On Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:32:17 +0000 (UTC), Doug Freyburger
<[email protected]> wrote:

> sf wrote:
> > "Jen P." <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> >> 75g cornflour
> >
> > aka: cornstarch - or is it something else? I've seen the term
> > cornflour used when it means cornmeal ground so fine, it has the
> > consistency of wheat flour.
>
> Most foods, meat or vegetable, I perfer to deep fry without any breading
> at all. To me it tastes better and it's lower carb. Fish tends to be
> too soft to drop in hot oil directly.
>
> I like to soak fish in beer for 30 minutes or so then dust it with
> coarse corn meal then drop it in the oil. If you've done fried catfish
> with a milk soak it's the same process with one different ingredient.

I am not a fryer and don't come from a family that fries food, so I
always seem like a big idiot when it comes to those things.... because
I am. Is this done in a cast iron fry pan or it a fry daddy type
thing? Do you strain and store the oil or throw it out after using?
--

Ham and eggs.
A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.

'Chemo the Clown[_2_ Wrote:
> ;1704522']On Jan 15, 10:47*am, jhaff...@webtv.net (Judy Haffner)
> wrote:-
> Jill wrote:-
> Anyone got a good recipe for beer batter
> for fish? Thanks.-
>
> I haven't deep fried fish in a very long time, as hubby and I are both
> having to watch our cholesterol
>
> I have never used a recipe....I just dump a can of beer in a bowl and
> add enough Bisquick Baking mix to make right consistency...enough to
> adhere to the chunks of fish, but not too thick, so you are eating
> mostly the coating. I add generous dashes of lemon pepper marinade and
> dip the fish in the batter, letting some drip off and set them off to
> the side on waxed paper to "dry" some as I finish coating all of the
> fish.
>
> NOTE: Can also use Krustez Bake & Fry Mix instead of the Bisquick, but
> I
> prefer Bisquick myself.
>
> I don't like commercial tartar sauce, so I mix together mayo, a little
> hot dog relish, generous splashes of Worcestershire sauce and some
> minced onion...sometimes I soak the dried minced onion for a short
> time
> and drain, if don't feel like cutting up a fresh onion. Our family
> prefers this to dip the fish into. Is the way my dad always made it,
> but
> don't have any exact measurements, but do use more of a ratio of mayo
> to
> the relish.
>
> Judy-
>
> and that's the kind of cupcake you are!

I live for dark beers, especially stouts and other dark ales.

I still prefer light cheap chit, like Pabst, for this purpose. Just my
$.02.




--
Gorio

sf wrote:
> Doug Freyburger <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Most foods, meat or vegetable, I perfer to deep fry without any breading
>> at all. To me it tastes better and it's lower carb. Fish tends to be
>> too soft to drop in hot oil directly.

Brocolli florets can be cooked other ways than deep frying in the fondue
pot. Who knew? ;^)

> I am not a fryer and don't come from a family that fries food, so I
> always seem like a big idiot when it comes to those things.... because
> I am. Is this done in a cast iron fry pan or it a fry daddy type
> thing?

There's a spectrum and there are frying styles all along it.

Very shallow surfaces and a small amount of oil is for stir frying,
sauteeing or frying on the griddle.

The deep cast iron pan is even labelled "chicken fryer". It's for what
I call shallow frying. An inch or so of hot oil.

A deep vat of hot oil is for deep frying. Some folks think all deep
fried food is or should be breaded. I don't. I think most food types
are better without any batter.

> Do you strain and store the oil or throw it out after using?

Depending on the amount of oil involved, how often we deep fry and how
old the oil is. Small enough amount of oil and it's not worth saving.
A lot of oil from the fondue pot usually gets strained and put to other
uses but it it's been almost a year since we last used the fondue pot
maybe it's not worth keeping the oil this time. Different time,
different answer.

Sqwertz wrote:
> Doug Freyburger wrote:
>
>> A deep vat of hot oil is for deep frying. Some folks think all deep
>> fried food is or should be breaded. I don't. I think most food types
>> are better without any batter.
>
> Don't lump batters and breadings together. Some things are better with
> a batter, some with a breading, and some with just a dusting of flour.

Okay, I'll go one step farther then - In my very biased opinion most
fried foods are better dusted than battered. In my very biased opinion
most fried foods are also even better dusted with salt and/or herbs not
with anything starchy. Even softer foods like fish fillets work better
than most seem to think when deep fried without any stachy coating.

> But I can't think of many things that are better without any sort of
> bound breading or batter except for the obvious like egg/spring/lumpia
> rolls and french fries.

I prefer chicken pieces that way. Also carefully dried brocolli
florets. As I try more types I see more and more food types that I
think are better fried unadorned than coated. I wonder if folks don't
even try frying foods with no coating. Very many folks do seem to think
that deep fried automatically means dipped in batter or dredged in a
starchy coating.

> I can't think of anything that can be fried plain and be better than
> baking/broiling when you consider the expense, mess, smell, and
> greasiness of deep frying.

I also note that most of the greasiness of deep fried food comes from
the fact that it's battered or coated in the first place. Don't coat
and keep the oil as hot as you can without smoking and the greasiness
goes away.

The expense, mess and smell are all reduced by equipment purchases up
front. Baking/broiling is very expensive when you consider the price of
the oven.

Not that my qualifications need to overcome your stance. Our mutual
biases differ. Variety is the spice of life. There is strength in
diversity.

On Tuesday, January 17, 2012 2:40:04 PM UTC-6, Sqwertz wrote:

> But something like broccoli would be an oil sponge. All the oil held
> by the dense surfaces of thousands of tiny flower buds... And I
> wouldn't even consider battering broccoli (but I have seen Broccoli
> Bitesd in the freezer section - untried my me)

I've had broccoli deep fried in a tempura batter and it wasn't overly oily at all.

George L

George L wrote:
> Sqwertz wrote:
>
>> But something like broccoli would be an oil sponge. All the oil held
>> by the dense surfaces of thousands of tiny flower buds...

That's an assertion. Have you ever tried backing it up by experiment?
I have done that experiment. Put a brocolli floret in the end of my
fondue fork and dunk it in the oil. Let it cook until the bubbles
reduce. Remove it from the oil and let it sit for any oil to drip out.
Eat it and enjoy the exquisite flavor and crunchy texture.

Bad idea to try it with brocolli florets that are not carefully dried.
I've done that experiement as well. And used a couple of buckets of
pinesol to do the resulting clean up! ;^)

I've also done the experiment with cauliflower. Okay but completely
unimpressive. The tighter structure means it just cooks okay without
getting crispy. No better than steamed cauliflower but with a lot more
clean up work. When having a fondue dinner I'll cook my cauliflower
that way because the oil is already there and the clean up is already
going to happen, but it's nowhere near as good as brocolli florets
cooked in the fondue oil.

>> And I
>> wouldn't even consider battering broccoli (but I have seen Broccoli
>> Bitesd in the freezer section - untried my me)
>
> I've had broccoli deep fried in a tempura batter and it wasn't overly oily at all.

So have I. I've also had tempura that's greasy. Higher oil temperature
leads to almost no oil in the food I think. As the heat comes in it
boils the water and the steam pushes the oil out. Something like that.
It's also necessary to remove the food from the oil before the bubbling
dies down drastically.

Tempura brocolli florets are nice. Try them deep fried without the
batter some time and see how much better they are without the batter.

George L wrote:
>
> On Tuesday, January 17, 2012 2:40:04 PM UTC-6, Sqwertz wrote:
>
> > But something like broccoli would be an oil sponge. All the oil held
> > by the dense surfaces of thousands of tiny flower buds... And I
> > wouldn't even consider battering broccoli (but I have seen Broccoli
> > Bitesd in the freezer section - untried my me)
>
> I've had broccoli deep fried in a tempura batter and it wasn't overly oily at all.

I used to go to a Shoney's restaurant nearby. Sadly, no longer here. In
their buffet occasionally, they served deep fried sweet potato chunks in a
tempura batter. I loved those so much.

Gary

On 16/01/2012 21:00, merryb wrote:
> On Jan 16, 11:42 am, sf wrote:
>> On Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:42:44 +0000, "Jen P." wrote:
>>> 75g cornflour
>>
>> aka: cornstarch - or is it something else? I've seen the term
>> cornflour used when it means cornmeal ground so fine, it has the
>> consistency of wheat flour.
>
> I believe she's talking cornstarch. When I was doing prep, beer batter
> was something we made daily, and we used cornstarch in it.

Sorry - yes! Corn starch; I didn't even think to translate when I pasted
it. I mean, duh. Obviously everyone can just read my mind, right?

"jmcquown" <[email protected]> wrote in news:9nfp8cF1ddU1
@mid.individual.net:

> Anyone got a good recipe for beer batter for fish? Thanks.
>
> Jill


Hmmmmmmm.......... I'll try and find mine........ it's plain flour,
salt/pepper, whisk egg whites to stiff peaks, egg yolks mixed in with 1/2
beer and milk, then mix that in the flour. Let sit for 5 mins, then add the
whites, and a couple tablespoons of oil, lightly turn it in.

Makes *YUMMY* crispy and tasty batter.

I'll see if I can find the exact recipe.


Peter
Tasmania
Australia