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Message
How do you prevent your food from getting soggy when frying in big batches?
Posted on 12/8/25 at 11:02 am
Posted on 12/8/25 at 11:02 am
I fried for a big group this weekend. We had chicken, fish, pickles, fries, and hush puppies.
The lowest my oven will go is 170°. I kept the food in there while I was finishing everything up and some of it started to get soggy.
I had the food in disposable aluminum pans lined with paper towels. Idk if that hurt anything.
The lowest my oven will go is 170°. I kept the food in there while I was finishing everything up and some of it started to get soggy.
I had the food in disposable aluminum pans lined with paper towels. Idk if that hurt anything.
10
Posted on 12/8/25 at 11:06 am to CrawfishElvis
quote:
I had the food in disposable aluminum pans lined with paper towels. Idk if that hurt anything.
This was likely your culprit. Gotta put that stuff on a rack and not paper towels.
Posted on 12/8/25 at 11:09 am to CrawfishElvis
My suggestion would be to put the finished product on cooling racks like you use for baked cookies to cool.
I will line a shallow baking sheet with newspaper, put the cooling rack in the pan and the food on the rack. That way it is not sitting on anything that can absorb any cooking oil and any oil can drain off the food.
I will line a shallow baking sheet with newspaper, put the cooling rack in the pan and the food on the rack. That way it is not sitting on anything that can absorb any cooking oil and any oil can drain off the food.
This post was edited on 12/8/25 at 1:54 pm
Posted on 12/8/25 at 11:45 am to CrawfishElvis
two primary methods
1. let items sit on things with good ventilation like racks so they dont soak in their own oil or collect humidity
2. Eat everything before the next batch.
1. let items sit on things with good ventilation like racks so they dont soak in their own oil or collect humidity
2. Eat everything before the next batch.
Posted on 12/8/25 at 12:06 pm to caro81
quote:
2. Eat everything before the next batch.
Yeah when we do a fry, we eat as we go. Granted, that’s probably less doable with a large group.
Posted on 12/8/25 at 12:13 pm to CrawfishElvis
1.) The rack idea already mentioned
2.) When you placed your stuff in the pans, did you REALLY let it drain?
3.) Make sure you are frying at a high enough temperature to truly “fry” and not absorb too much oil. In big batches, keep that temp up between loads.
2.) When you placed your stuff in the pans, did you REALLY let it drain?
3.) Make sure you are frying at a high enough temperature to truly “fry” and not absorb too much oil. In big batches, keep that temp up between loads.
Posted on 12/8/25 at 1:41 pm to CrawfishElvis
quote:
The lowest my oven will go is 170°. I kept the food in there while I was finishing everything up and some of it started to get soggy.
Would not use paper towels for this.
For fish, I lay a large brown paper sack (like from the grocery store) on it's side and put the fish on it then into the oven until it's time to eat.
For chicken, I just leave it on the plate--no paper towel, no brown paper sack. Fried chicken is good without keeping it warm.
Hush puppies--same as chicken, but also okay to thrown onto the sack in the oven with the fish.
For pickles, would serve as an appetizer when they are fresh out of the grease.
For fries, time them to be the last thing done and put them on the table right out of the grease.
Posted on 12/8/25 at 1:44 pm to CrawfishElvis
With that lineup, I would fry the hush puppies first. Knock them out and put in a low oven or cambro without anything covering it. Leave the oven door cracked open or cambro door slightly open if using one.
Next the fish - as someone else said, make sure you drain it well while in the fry basket. Tilt it so any oil on top of the fish drains off too.
I line the disposable pans with a layer of butcher paper and one layer of fish. No fish laying on top of each other. Then another layer of butcher paper and fish. Keep it all loose with plenty of airflow.
When you have enough fish fried to start people eating, fry a few batches of fries.
After that rotate between fish and fries based on how fast the food is moving.
Fish that sits for a while is never as good as right out of the fryer but I've had good luck with this method. I've served as many as 150 people this way.
Main thing is don't lay any fish on top of each other and have plenty of airflow.
They will stay hot for plenty of time to get them served.
Edit - found a pic. There are at least a couple of layers under this one.
Next the fish - as someone else said, make sure you drain it well while in the fry basket. Tilt it so any oil on top of the fish drains off too.
I line the disposable pans with a layer of butcher paper and one layer of fish. No fish laying on top of each other. Then another layer of butcher paper and fish. Keep it all loose with plenty of airflow.
When you have enough fish fried to start people eating, fry a few batches of fries.
After that rotate between fish and fries based on how fast the food is moving.
Fish that sits for a while is never as good as right out of the fryer but I've had good luck with this method. I've served as many as 150 people this way.
Main thing is don't lay any fish on top of each other and have plenty of airflow.
They will stay hot for plenty of time to get them served.
Edit - found a pic. There are at least a couple of layers under this one.
This post was edited on 12/8/25 at 2:19 pm
Posted on 12/8/25 at 2:18 pm to Professor Dawghair
A coarse cornmeal batter like that will hold up better than any other style regardless. A corn flour batter (typical La fish fry) or regular flour batter would likely still get a bit soggy laying on paper in that manner.
Posted on 12/8/25 at 2:22 pm to Y.A. Tittle
quote:
coarse cornmeal batter like that will hold up better
I agree with that. That batch is about 1/2 plain yellow corn meal and 1/2 Louisiana Fish fry.
Posted on 12/8/25 at 4:50 pm to CrawfishElvis
An alternative to using a wire rack is to thinly slice some sweet onions into rings. Pile the rings loosely across your pan or whatever. Dump out the fried goods atop the onions. It imparts just a hint of onion onto the fish, and some people enjoy the fresh onion.
Posted on 12/8/25 at 9:58 pm to CrawfishElvis
Cooling racks ontop of sheet pans. Have to have air circulation. That prevents sogginess.
Posted on 12/8/25 at 10:23 pm to CrawfishElvis
Holding fried food in the oven is the culprit. The heat of the oven steamed your fried food.
This post was edited on 12/8/25 at 10:27 pm
Posted on 12/9/25 at 9:20 am to wrlakers
quote:
For fish, I lay a large brown paper sack (like from the grocery store) on it's side and put the fish on it then into the oven until it's time to eat.
My grandfather fried fish for very large groups and people always wondered how he kept it crisp and hot. My grandmother used brown paper bags. Worked amazingly well.
I use racks and sheet pans, but my greedy guests pretty much eat as it gets done.
Posted on 12/9/25 at 12:24 pm to OTIS2
quote:which is why every commercial fry station uses a heat lamp
Holding fried food in the oven is the culprit. The heat of the oven steamed your fried food.
Posted on 12/9/25 at 7:57 pm to CrawfishElvis
Oven 170. Sheet pan with cooling rack on top. Don’t stack the fried food. Never use paper towels and crowd in an aluminum pan.
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