I’ve used JR Mads, regular corn meal, bisquick batter, and several other store bought fish breadings. They all taste great but my fish always seems to be mushy inside. I normally use a Fry Daddy with Canola oil to fix them. Any ideas why they don’t come out firm and flakey? Cooking too long maybe? I haven’t figured out the trick yet. Love fried crappie so will try new methods if there are better ones out there. Thanks!

Wife and I really like Slap yo Mama breading and one that I will tell you about on a PM. I soak my crappie in beer for about 30 minutes to an hour. Wife takes those out and sets them on a wire rack to fully dry before she starts the breading process. I think that my be your problem regardless of what breading you are using.

Ours always turns out cripsy and great. Try that next time out.

I’ll try some of that breading. I had these soaking in water overnight. But they weren’t dry before they went into the dry mix. If they’re dry how does the breading stick? I just can’t get them flaky inside.

Ok, my bad. She takes them right out of the beer and then breads them. Then she places them on the wire rack to dry before I cook them in the oil. Sorry about that. I would not soak them overnight. I literally soak for 30 min to an hour. That is all they need.

Sorry about that. My wife just corrected me !!

I would check the temperature in the fry daddy with a thermometer, the oil needs to be 350 when your u put the 1st piece in. Don't over load the fryer, try 6 pieces and see if it's crisp when it comes out.

I have two of the bigger fryers "Presto 06006Kitchen Kettle multi cooker/steamers" from Walmart, they are $47.59. We fry a lot of fish for big gatherings and they come out fine.

I soak fillets in milk a little while before breaking in Louisiana Fish Fry (blue label). Bread them one at a time and straight into the peanut oil.

Cook for 8 minutes and take them out.

I cook a lot of crappie and have for almost 20 years.

Your oil is not hot enough and the fish is absorbing the grease which makes it mushy. Get your oil hot hot hot like 375 hot. Let oil get back to set temp for each batch.

^^ This.

You can get an infra red thermometer to check oil temp from Academy. Not that expensive. Fry Daddys have a thermostat that cuts off about 340. The grease needs to be 375-385 before you start. Soaking fish in water allows the meat to absorb too much liquid. Excess moisture needs to be squeezed out of the meat.

Peanut oil at 375 does the trick for us.

Presto claims the Fry Daddy heats to 375 but I’m having my doubts if it thermostats off at 340. I’ll check it with a thermometer next time. IR thermometer is a good idea. Fry Daddy might get relegated to the non-critical frying, crappie being critical. Lol. I have a 3 liter single fryer from Cabelas that goes to 375. I’ll try that one and check its temp too. Sams has 35 lbs of peanut oil for $35. That’s about 4.5 gallons. A 3 liter fry would run about $6 vs about $4 for canola oil. But it sounds like peanut oil is the way to go. Lots of good info on here.

Spiderman, your Kitchen Kettle is only $26 and change at Walmart right now. Must be on sale. Good time to grab a backup.

BINGO!!! +1

I do mine in safflower oil in a cast iron. Turns out great every time and dang sure stays the right temp.

What they said. 375 minimum temp. I use peanut oil, Aunt Jemima self rising white corn meal with some Lawry's seasoning. Spot on every time.

I put my fillets in a bowl and pack them with ice all day. Add a little lemon juice. Place in the fridge.

Gets them nice and firm.

Then whip up an egg wash. Keep the egg wash kind of thick. You want it to stick to the fillet.

Take the fillets throw them in the egg wash one at a time.

If you go to the baking isle at your local grocery store get a box of Kellogg's Corn Flake Crumbs.
Dump into a Gallon Ziploc Bag.

Take the fillet out of the egg wash and place in the bag of Kellogg Corn Flake Crumbs. Shake and Coat the fillet.

Remove and let dry on a plate with a paper towel.

Fry when ready.

I like it better than corn meal or bread crumbs.

You can season the fish before or after to each persons individual preferences.

Eat and enjoy.

I agree with what everyone said about keeping the oil hot. One other thing that can produce mushy fish is if they get warm before they go in the oil. I keep mine on ice from the time they come off the stringer from the cooler to rinsing fillets always on ice if the air temp is over 55. I bumped into the issue of mushy fish about 25 some ought years ago cleaning fish in the back yard just rinsing fish with the hose and dropping them in a bowl of water. I now drop those fillets in ice water and will clean in the kitchen if the temps outdoors are pretty hot.

I also use peanut oil but not sure how much that has do with anything because I have even baked 'em using one recipe that calls for ranch dressing and smashed up "bugle" chips.

This is a very common issue with an easy solution. The fish needs to be frozen in water then thawed out for it to be flaky when cooked.

Anytime I know I am going to cook fresh crappie that have not been frozen I know the consistency of the fish will be like mashed potatoes inside, still crunchy batter on outside but the fish itself will be mushy. This has nothing to do with type of batter, oil, or temperature.

I also try to fry fish that have been frozen first, they will have a firm, flaky consistency always.

Trust me, you will notice a difference.