More fish

sakorick · February 10, 2019, 07:35:29 AM

We got into the Channel Cat yesterday.....11 of them 4 to 6 pounds + 23 Crappie and Bluegill. No fishing today...it's snowing again.

gitano · February 10, 2019, 06:03:42 PM

Crappie and catfish. Two of my very favorite things to eat!

Paul

sakorick · February 11, 2019, 06:06:16 AM

The Minnesota collection doesn't like Catfish......good for me!!

gitano · February 11, 2019, 08:05:34 AM

Some people claim (rightly so on occasion), that catfish taste "muddy". They blame the taste on them being "bottom feeders". Both assumptions are wrong. 1st, catfish aren't "bottom feeders". In fact, they're not particularly fond of "dead" stuff, but will eat just about anything IF live critters aren't available. I have kept catfish (and many other fish) in aquaria (I am a fisheries scientist after all), and catfish are more voracious predators than largemouth bass, and just as voracious as pike. 2nd, the "muddy" taste is actually caused by a molecule (geosmin), produced by the bacteria in the body of water in which the catfish are caught. It's not a issue that is confined to catfish. One of the lakes near me has the bacteria, and the rainbow trout from that lake taste terrible because of it. Furthermore, humans are particularly sensitive to tasting geosmin, and, as a rule, do NOT like the taste. By the way, the "earthy" taste of beets is caused by geosmin.

As you noted, more catfish for you!

Paul

Jamie.270 · February 11, 2019, 08:24:23 AM

Quote from: gitano;152464Some people claim (rightly so on occasion), that catfish taste "muddy". They blame the taste on them being "bottom feeders". Both assumptions are wrong. 1st, catfish aren't "bottom feeders". In fact, they're not particularly fond of "dead" stuff, but will eat just about anything IF live critters aren't available. I have kept catfish (and many other fish) in aquaria (I am a fisheries scientist after all), and catfish are more voracious predators than largemouth bass, and just as voracious as pike. 2nd, the "muddy" taste is actually caused by a molecule (geosmin), produced by the bacteria in the body of water in which the catfish are caught. It's not a issue that is confined to catfish. One of the lakes near me has the bacteria, and the rainbow trout from that lake taste terrible because of it. Furthermore, humans are particularly sensitive to tasting geosmin, and, as a rule, do NOT like the taste. By the way, the "earthy" taste of beets is caused by geosmin.

As you noted, more catfish for you!

Paul

I have found that an overnight soak in buttermilk will take care of most, if not all of that muddy taste in catfish.
Nothing like a little lactic acid to get rid of that earthy smell/flavor.

I'll never forget my disappointment over the muddy flavor of Rogue River summer steelhead. I came home with a limit my first time out thinking they'd be delicious, and ended up brining and smoking most of them trying to kill the muddiness.

gitano · February 11, 2019, 09:01:05 AM

QuoteI'll never forget my disappointment over the muddy flavor of Rogue River summer steelhead. I came home with a limit my first time out thinking they'd be delicious, and ended up brining and smoking most of them trying to kill the muddiness.

I had a similar experience with rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss, land-locked steelheads), from the lake I mentioned above. My fishin' buddy, Jim, (that kept EVERY FISH HE CAUGHT), wouldn't keep rainbows from Lake Lucille. He just said he didn't like the taste of them. I had caught a nice 4-pounder, and was looking forward to eating it. (He didn't tell me they tasted "muddy", just that he "didn't like" the taste.) When I took the first bite, I knew exactly what was 'up'. I was very disappointed. I've heard of using both buttermilk and vinegar to get rid of the muddy taste, but never tried either. Many recipe books call for soaking shark meat in buttermilk overnight to remove the urea in it. I've had shark that wasn't soaked in buttermilk, and didn't notice a taste of urea.

Paul

Jamie.270 · February 11, 2019, 10:54:48 AM

The buttermilk trick does work on catfish.

In my late teens I was invited to a friend's house for a Coot (Fulica americana, otherwise know as "mud hen") dinner. I went with much trepidation, suspecting I may have to choke some down out of politeness.

But his mother, who was Danish (came over on a boat) was doing the cooking and he assured me they'd be delicious.
He was right too.

She explained in her thickly accented English that they had been soaked in buttermilk for 24 hrs with a change-out of the buttermilk after the first 12 hours (overnight).
They were better tasting than any mallard I had ever eaten.
So, after that I started soaking my catfish, and never have a problem with it anymore.

Of course this all started in a place where there aren't any true catfish, just bullheads. And yes, they tend to taste muddy as well. We caught them by the bucketful in the major irrigation canals around the Klamath basin when I was a kid. They always tasted muddy.

But after the coot dinner at Nel's house, I went back and caught a few just to try the buttermilk trick.
It worked. My mom was even more delighted than I was.

sakorick · February 11, 2019, 11:28:39 AM

John and I carefully remove the red meat on the inside of the fillets. These fish do not taste muddy at all. They are white, sweet and wonderful.

gitano · February 11, 2019, 02:39:10 PM

That " red meat" is "fast-twitch" muscle. All teleosts (the "boney fishes") have it to one degree or another. It's a very large proportion of a tuna's muscle mass. Tuna also have a sophisticated heat exchanger system that allows them to dissipate the heat they generate as they 'torpedo' around the ocean.

Paul