Campfire Beer Battered Catfish & French Fries
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Sweet, sweet summertime. The fishing season is in full swing. We are having such a fun time taking the boat out and seeing what we can catch, though as I have stated in previous posts, we are very much beginner fishers. So while we try our best to catch fish and cook them, we also are fully supportive of locally caught fish, which is where this catfish ended up coming from.
I love frying fish in the summer. It brings back memories of growing up and eating at fish fries, which I feel is such a Midwestern thing. Maybe it is a thing all over, but it’s almost like a weekly ritual here in the middle of US. This fish and chips dish is also quite popular in the UK, of course, but here it’s also served with a hearty selection of sides like coleslaw, cornbread, applesauce, green beans and bacon, and the list goes on.
I had such a fun time making this classic meal over the campfire! I hope that you enjoy giving it a try as well.
a few notes on frying over the fire:
Oh boy, did I learn a few things about deep frying over the campfire while making this meal! I have made this entire meal in the house either over my stovetop or in the electric deep fryer more times than I can count. This was actually my first try at making it over the fire, and while I had a few “oops” moments (like almost setting my dress on fire), it was a lot easier than I anticipated.
For starters, to make fried potatoes, there are a few preparatory steps involved to ensure that they fry perfectly. The potatoes are first soaked in cold water for at least 30 minutes, though several hours is ideal, and washed until the water runs clear. This removes the starch and sugars from the potatoes so that they fry nice and crisp. While this wasn’t impossible to do outdoors, I was curious how all of the prep would happen while I was also trying to manage a fire. It ended up working out just fine!
Just like in my previous campfire fish post, the most difficult part was managing the fire and adjusting the temperature while cooking. To fry potatoes, they must first be cooked in oil that is 300° F (149° C). Then, they are fried a second time in oil that is 375° F (190° C). How was I supposed to get around that?! Well, it took some artful stacking of logs and figuring out which sizes worked best for keeping a steady heat.
adjusting the heat of a fire:
To adjust the heat, I first had to build a moderate fire. I always build the fire first and let it burn for at least 20 to 30 minutes before cooking anything over it. It’s sort of like preheating an oven. Then, I place the grill or cook stand or whatever I am using where I need it in the fire, moving the logs and situating them so that I can continue to feed the fire around the stand. For this recipe, I used a cast iron cook stand to balance my dutch oven on.
To get the lower temperature, I fed the fire smaller branches and sticks to get the fire close to the bottom of the pot. By the time I was ready to fry, the fire was burning steadily. To increase the temperature, I began stacking larger sized logs around the base and feeding in more sticks. This increased the heat considerably and kept the temperature steady as the fire fed on the bigger logs.
It is quite the dance, managing the fire and preparing the food at the same time. Yet another learning curve, but it has made my food prep dance that I am more familiar with in the kitchen that much more fast and efficient.
Campfire French Fries
Ingredients
- 1 gallon (4 L) frying oil (use whichever kind you prefer, though canola or peanut oil work best. lard is also fine!)
- 5 to 6 medium firm red potatoes
- Flaky sea salt
- Freshly cracked pepper
Instructions
- Cut the potatoes into wedges or traditional fries. Submerge the slices potatoes in a bowl of cold water and let them sit for at least 30 minutes or longer. The longer the better, as this helps remove the starch and sugar from the potatoes making them easier to fry. If you are at home, place the bowl into the fridge. If you are camping, add ice to the bowl as needed.
- After soaking, drain the potatoes and rinse them off until the water runs clear. Then, pat all of the fries as dry as possible. Prepare a frying basket, frying about half of the potatoes at a time.
- If you are cooking over the fire:
- Pour the frying oil into a large cast iron dutch oven. Build up a moderate fire and place a cast iron cook stand at the center of the fire. Situate the pot of oil on the cook stand and begin to build the fire up underneath the pot. You want to try and center the heat as much as possible. Place a deep frying thermometer into the oil and build the temperature to 300° F (149° C). This may take some time!
- Once the oil has reached 300° F (149° C), place your fry basket filled with potatoes into the hot oil. Fry the potatoes for about 5 to 7 minutes or until they look softened. They should not be brown yet. Try your best to maintain the temperature so that it does not dip too low nor go too hot. When you add the potatoes, it will drop the temperature a bit!
- Remove the potatoes from the oil and place them into a bowl to cool. Then, fry the second set of potatoes the same way. By the time you are finished, the first set will be cool.
- Build the fire up so that the oil is heated to 375° F (190° C). This will take a bigger sized fire! Take the first set of fries and add them back into the oil, frying for another 5 to 7 minutes, or until the fries are golden brown and crispy. By frying them a second time in hotter oil, this ensures that they have a crispy, crunchy outer coating and a soft, chewy center. Place the set of fries into a clean bowl and fry the second set of fries.
- Toss the finished fries with salt and pepper to your taste. Serve fresh!
Campfire Beer Battered Catfish
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (188 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for coating the fish
- 1/2 cup (64 g) cornstarch
- 2 tsp (8 g) baking powder
- 3 tsp (18 g) kosher salt, divided
- 2 tsp black pepper, divided
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 12 oz beer
- 1 lb (454 g) catfish nuggets or small fillets
Instructions
- Before heading out to the fire, make up your batter. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, 2 teaspoons (12 g) of the salt, 1 teaspoon of the pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and oregano. Store this and bring with you to the campfire.
- Pour the frying oil into a large cast iron dutch oven. Build up a moderate fire and place a cast iron cook stand at the center of the fire. Situate the pot of oil on the cook stand and begin to build the fire up underneath the pot. You want to try and center the heat as much as possible. Place a deep frying thermometer into the oil and build the temperature to 375° F (190° C). This may take some time!
- While the oil is heating, add the beer to your dry mix. Stir until there are no longer any dry bits in the batter, about 2 minutes.
- Pat the catfish dry and season with the remaining salt and pepper. Then, dredge the catfish in a bit more flour.
- Dunk the catfish into the beer batter, coating it completely. This batter is really thick and foamy and it should stick easily to floured fish.
- Cook the coated fish in the hot oil for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side, flipping half way through cooking. Cook only about 4 to 5 pieces at a time. Cook the fish until the batter is a deep golden brown and the fish reaches an internal temperature of 145° F (63° C). The fish should flake easily when finished cooking.
- Serve the fish hot with tartar sauce and french fries!
This was such a fun meal to make! I sweat so much making this recipe, as it was around 90° F outside when I cooked it. I honestly can’t believe that I put up with the heat… But looking back I did not really notice it because I was so entrenched in the cooking process. I find that I am truly bothered by the heat when I am working on an outdoor task that I don’t love, like weeding the garden. Then I am counting down the minutes until I can be done! For this, I was completely involved that I only really noticed I was hot and sweaty when I was finally finished and came indoors. It was really entertaining, and I hope to do it again soon. I think cooking over the fire is so beautiful.
Enjoy!
xoxo Kayla
