Food Thread
- Thread starter Fryowa
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HawkleberryFinn
Well-Known Member
Those look good. Can your old pal Hawkleberry have a taste?
Fryowa
Administrator
As long as you don’t mind corn tortillas. I don’t do flour.
HawkleberryFinn
Well-Known Member
Ole Hawkleberry eats it all.
tweeterhawk
Well-Known Member
Awesome. Have had many fish tacos around the country and our favorite is at a stand in Tucson (which also does great ceviche tostadas.) Do you ever add picante sauce?We have a music and funnies thread, it’s the off season, let’s do a food thread.
Had an hour to kill after work so I went in search of some Iowa-sourced fish tacos.
These look great!
Fryowa
Administrator
I haven’t but wouldn’t be opposed to trying it.
We eat so much fish in my house that I’d go nuts just frying it like most people do. I’m the summer there’s lots of tacos and po’ boys.
Denverhawk1
Well-Known Member
Looks good Fry. When the weekend comes I’ll post some Traeger magic.
tweeterhawk
Well-Known Member
What do you do on a Traeger that you wouldn’t or can’t do on a gas or charcoal grill? How is the food different? Our local ACE carries them and I’m thinking about getting one. People I’ve spoken to love theirs.
What pellets do you like the best?
Fryowa
Administrator
I don’t have one, but the idea is that you have a smoker and a grill in one unit. You can get way lower temps and longer cook/smoke times.
As for anything creamy, chicken salad, or any cream sauce, yogurt is an excellent and healthier substitute for mayo.
A recipe I have yet to try, maybe someday is to take a walleye or pike fillet (bigger white fish) and roll it up and cook in a lobster cream sauce. When I do it I will let you all know how it goes.
As for a trager, meh. Not worth the $ imho.
Sure you can set it and walk away, but you can with electric too. I do it with charcoal (never briquettes ,only chunkcharcoal). Plus you are not burning whatever binding agents they use in pellets. But it takes way longer. You have to get it going, let it burn down to about 50% (good coals), then adjust temp, then fill it up with charcoal again, let burn for another 15 minutes and adjust temp again.
One trick to try and speed the process is, after you run it wide open to get it going, and after you turn the heat down and are getting ready to fill it up with charcoal, carefully (steam) pour some water over the smoker.
Not a butt load, but enough to cool it a little.
(Trick I figured out one day while smoking in the rain) it brings the heat down faster and your charcoal doesn't all burn up before you get your temp set. Also just spray a little water on the charcoal, but then you have a ash everywhere and it's harder to get the temp up then down.
Happy cooking/grilling/smoking my friends.
A recipe I have yet to try, maybe someday is to take a walleye or pike fillet (bigger white fish) and roll it up and cook in a lobster cream sauce. When I do it I will let you all know how it goes.
As for a trager, meh. Not worth the $ imho.
Sure you can set it and walk away, but you can with electric too. I do it with charcoal (never briquettes ,only chunkcharcoal). Plus you are not burning whatever binding agents they use in pellets. But it takes way longer. You have to get it going, let it burn down to about 50% (good coals), then adjust temp, then fill it up with charcoal again, let burn for another 15 minutes and adjust temp again.
One trick to try and speed the process is, after you run it wide open to get it going, and after you turn the heat down and are getting ready to fill it up with charcoal, carefully (steam) pour some water over the smoker.
Not a butt load, but enough to cool it a little.
(Trick I figured out one day while smoking in the rain) it brings the heat down faster and your charcoal doesn't all burn up before you get your temp set. Also just spray a little water on the charcoal, but then you have a ash everywhere and it's harder to get the temp up then down.
Happy cooking/grilling/smoking my friends.
hawkdrummer1
Well-Known Member
I'm a pretty skilled chef...but home frying has always been tough to get just right. It's all about the equipment IMHO...a commercial fryer helps. What's your fryer setup?
Fryowa
Administrator
I don't have anything commercial, just lots of trial and error experience over the years. I try to deep fry outdoors if possible, so I have a "turkey fryer" burner. They come with aluminum pots which are worthless for frying because they allow temps to fluctuate too much. The only time I use it is for boiling corn, crawfish, etc. For frying I use a Lodge cast iron Dutch oven and Canola oil---dead simple. Using stuff like peanut or coconut oil is a huge waste of money and I've never met anyone who could tell the difference in the food when I asked.
Cast iron is slower to heat, but once it's hot it stays hot. Here's where most people go wrong when frying with wet batter...
1) Not drying whatever you're cooking. taking wet fish or chicken and dipping it in the batter, then the oil will get soggy results every single time. Get it bone dry with paper towels first, the batter has all the liquid you need.
2) This is huge--letting the temps fall. Wet batters typically fry at 375* So people get their oil up to 375 and dump a bunch of chicken or fish in there that just came out of the fridge. About 60 seconds later you have 325* oil and nasty breading when you're done. It's even worse with aluminum or thin stainless pots. Get your oil close to 400 and then start frying. You'll see the temp drop to the range you want to cook in, just make sure you watch it and don't let it skyrocket after you take your goodies out.
On most outdoor burners there's a regulator between the propane tank and the burner itself. What I did was through using it a couple times found the spot on the dial where it would maintain 375 while I had fish in it cooking, and marked it with a Sharpie so I can repeat it. Keep in mind that when you do that it will go way past 375 with nothing in it so make sure you're ready to cook once it gets to temp and turn it down between batches if it's going to be a few minutes. If I'm frying in the house I use the same method on the stove, no deep fryer or anything. Just that cast iron.
tl;dr, frying problems are 99% of the time due to low temps, not equipment.
Also, keep in mind that electric home fryers that you buy, no matter how expensive, will not go beyond 375* because of safety Nazis. So, the $500 deep fryer you just bought that looks like an F1 car will not even get up to the temp you want (no matter what the dial or display says, use a thermometer), so it's useless from the start. It will get close to 375 and then as soon as you put anything in it it's back down to soggy, nasty food temps.
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Have done the exact same thing with the exact same set up, (same results) except I used a candy thermometer to verify the starting temp. It will drop quite aways!!
Excellent advise.
hawkdrummer1
Well-Known Member
Bingo.
1. Outdoors is huge. Gets pretty thick inside (and more dangerous)
2. Holding that high heat (or compensating upward) is critical
3. Dry the food before breading.
Well done Fryowa
1. Outdoors is huge. Gets pretty thick inside (and more dangerous)
2. Holding that high heat (or compensating upward) is critical
3. Dry the food before breading.
Well done Fryowa
Fryowa
Administrator
Here's what I use, there are definitely more expensive options out there but this has served me well for years..
Chard fryer Those guards on the side are a huge, pointless pain in the ass and were the first thing to go. If it's on level, solid ground/concrete they aren't even remotely necessary.
Lodge Dutch oven Don't get the "camp" models, they all have legs on the bottom meant for standing it up in a campfire.
$110 for a frying/boiling setup that has more BTUs than you will ever need, and I've left the burner outside through several rain storms/general abuse for years without a hiccup. The other thing to consider is that there's no electric elements to burn out, circuit boards to fail, latches, buttons, or any other moving parts. Just make sure if you're boiling to use the aluminum pot, obviously.
EstronHawkKing
Well-Known Member
Last night I boiled some pasta, then stirred it in with crab meat, shrimp, diced tomatoes, a little butter and Italian seasoning. Fantastic!
Yes sir.
The other thing is smoke point (olive oil and peanut oil have higher than 400 degrees or so).
But I did a dozen or so wings at a time. That drops the temp big time.
So outside is the best.
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MelroseHawkins
Well-Known Member
We have a music and funnies thread, it’s the off season, let’s do a food thread.
Had an hour to kill after work so I went in search of some Iowa-sourced fish tacos.
Nicely done!
