Holding Hush Puppies

[Midcenturymodern]

Hello all! I am going to do a small shrimp boil dinner for some friends. Would like to serve hush puppies as a side, but don't want to be in the kitchen frying them at the last minute. Can I fry them in advance and hold them in a warm oven until dinner? How would you go about that--oven temp, longest length of time to hold, does the recipe need to be changed if I'm going to hold them, etc. Huspuppies were always a staple at my house when I was growing up, but they were always fried and served immediately.

Thank you in advance for your help

 

[caseydog]

Good question. I wish I had a good answer. I've never had a lot of luck keeping deep fried food warm without it going a bit soggy. I'll be watching to see what others have to say.

BTW, welcome to the forum.

CD

 

[Midcenturymodern]

Thank you, for the welcome!

 

[msmofet]

I have never done this. So I am just throwing this out there trying to help. This is what I would probably try. Maybe someone else will have a better suggestion. I would say put a cooling rack in a sheet pan. Place in a low oven. Use a thermometer to get your oil the right temp (350F). Fry, drain on paper then place the hush puppies on the rack in the oven. If you have convection that is good for circulation so bottom of hush puppies won't get soggy.

Hope this helps.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[medtran49]

Having spent a good bit of the night at a party frying conch fritters for others in my late 20s, I would say use a scoop so you'll know exactly how long it will take, have them all portioned out, and fry in a good size pot so it won't take too long. They won't really hold well, just like all other fried food, so have them ready to go in big batches and get done fast. I didn't drink all night since I was frying and was exhausted by the end of the party being on my feet constantly. Had a couple of shots of something (don't remember what, been too long) and was ready to go for several more hours, and was able to drive home just fine, an hour trip more or less, though companion not so much as he had to roll down the window on the way home.

And I'll say this was a work thing that a coworker had gotten in trouble for a few weeks earlier by having an accident in the parking lot of a bar we were all at a few weeks before so everybody made double sure I was okay to drive even way back then.

 

[RPCookin]

I keep my Hush Puppies in the closet.

And welcome to DC.

 

[Midcenturymodern]

Happy Coincidence!

Thanks everyone for your replies about holding hushpuppies. Let me tell you what happened today.
I was out and about running errands. About lunch time I was close to one of my favorite seafood places so I stopped in, had a beautiful shrimp salad for lunch and ordered 6 deviled crabs to go. (Do you ever do that? Order something to go that you know will freeze, bring it home, freeze, then later you have a ready made dinner from one of your favorite restaurants). Anyway, back on topic. My house was on the way to my next errand so I swung by and put the to go box with the deviled crab in the frig without looking in it. Several hours later after I got home I took the to go box out to individually wrap the devil crabs and put them in the freezer. There completely wrapped in a couple layers of paper towel were three hushpuppies--stone cold by now. I decided to experiment. The WELL DRAINED and cold hushpuppies were placed on a cookie sheet and warmed at 250 for 30 minutes. Guess What? They were good! Still crispy and not greasy on the outside, done, soft and not greasy or over cooked on inside. The lesson I did learn--the bottom was slightly over browned--not burned, just a bit over brown, so the lesson is to turn them a couple of times while they are reheating.

 

[Midcenturymodern]

LOL

Rpcooking--rotf!

 

[Just Cooking]

I decided to experiment. The WELL DRAINED and cold hushpuppies were placed on a cookie sheet and warmed at 250 for 30 minutes. Guess What? They were good! Still crispy and not greasy on the outside, done, soft and not greasy or over cooked on inside.

I make a lot of breaded foods.. Chicken, pork, seafood, etc.. I have never hesitated to reheat, uncovered in a low oven and have never been disappointed with the results...


Ross

 

[Andy M.]

. . . Still crispy and not greasy on the outside, done, soft and not greasy or over cooked on inside. The lesson I did learn--the bottom was slightly over browned--not burned, just a bit over brown, so the lesson is to turn them a couple of times while they are reheating.

That's great.

You can minimize the brown spot on the bottom by using a wire rack in the pan to reheat them.

 

[Roll_Bones]

I have this issue as well. Fried chicken being the last time I tried to hold the chicken pieces hot.
I have started to just allow them to cool and eat them at whatever temp they are when I get to them.
I read an article or recipe and I'm not sure where, but the author guaranteed crispy fried food by using his breading technique.
Cannot remember it completely, but I'm pretty sure he used processed (ground up in a food processor), rice in his dredging mix.