The Best All Purpose Deep Fry Batter

Corilayn's Note:

We dont deep-fry a lot but when we do..we do a WHACK of stuff. I've tried numerous recipes and this by far is the cheapest, tastiest and works with everything. Fish and onion rings are phenomenol. Spices are to your own taste and can be adjusted to whatever taste you want. Believe me...I've added everything from curry to southwestern tastes, this 'basic' recipe is just a guideline to the spices and taste you are looking for. ENJOY, it's awesome.

• Total Time: 20 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 6

Yield: 15.0 pieces ...

• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 (12 ounce) can beer
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons Mrs. Dash table blend seasoning
• 1 cup extra flour (for dredging)

Directions:

1. Mix all dry ingredients, except the extra flour, whisk together.
2. Add beer and only mix lightly.
3. DO NOT over mix. If there are flour lumps just squish with the back of a spoon.
4. You want the mix to be blended but not overmixed as it will not 'puff up' when deep-frying.
5. For fish,shrimp, and 'meaty or wet' items I usually towel dry them and dredge them in the additional flour.
6. Then dip and cover in mixture. Let the excess drip off and when putting any item in the deep fryer -- use tongs.and dip whatever you are deep frying in the oil for about 10 seconds, then release.
7. This prevents the food from sticking to the bottom of the fryer. (Took us a while to learn that technique).
8. When it comes to fish or something long or big -- I just put the first inch or 2 in and let it bubble for a few seconds so that I know it won't sink to the bottom and stick. (I truly hated that with deep frying).

Reviews

[informative]

I adjusted this based on comments I received (little salty little over-seasoned etc). Reduced salt to only 1 Tsp Salt instead of Tablespoon. Some people love salt and can always add more afterward. I reduced the seasoning salt to 1 Tablespoon instead of 2. I added an extra 1/4 cup flour to the batter (thicker sticks better) and skipped the dredging. Added an egg to the batter. Waited 5-10 minutes after mixing to allow batter to rise and puff up a bit.

[Mark & Stacy]

Easy to make, very tasty, good consistancy. Used season salt instead of Mrs. Dash. We used it for pork tenderloins, but I don't think it was the right batter for them. However, it should be an excellent batter for fish or onion rings!

[Missie*]

Outstanding! Used this for fish and was impressed. I, like Corilayn, rarely deep-fry anything but this was so good I will probably find myself using this method more often than I should.