How to cook frozen Battered Fish in air fryer
Two things an air fryer does well is frozen foods, as well as battered foods which will cook faster but produce the perfect crispy coating.
Cook up to two frozen Battered Fish fillets in an air fryer with the basket lined in parchment paper, for two important reasons. Frozen battered fish will be prone to tearing of the batter coating; and splitting the defrosted fish. Flip the fish over halfway while sat on the paper - and also decanting the fish the same way.
DIRECTIONS:
Air frying battered foods is what air fryers do best I think, so it should make easy work of your frozen fish, coated in a flavoured batter coating.
Cook frozen battered fish early on with ease but understand the fish itself, plus the once hard batter, will get harder to handle as it proceeds to defrost as it cooks.
Air fry up to 2 frozen battered white fish fillets like Cod or Haddock - and in my case it was Basa fillets - by copying the temperature of the oven instructions featured on the back of the box, while reducing the time by 5-7 minutes.
How long to cook frozen battered fish in air fryer should take no longer than 18 minutes.
Air fried frozen battered fish will air fry faster than the oven so its important to cook them at a reduced time to avoid drying out what will probably be a thin fish fillet.
I thought I managed to air fry both fillets without tearing the batter or splitting the fish apart on this occasion - but unfortunately there was plenty of tearing on the soggy underside.
To reduce the possibility of tearing the batter coating, and thus risk drying out the white fish protected under the batter; use the parchment paper the fish fillets should be air fried on, as way to flip the fillets over with your hands.
Utilizing utensils like tongs or a spatula will inadvertently tear the batter off the fish, thus doing it by hand will help to keep the crispy batter in tact - with its appearance looking more appetizing - than if the batter was falling off the fish.
Removing the battered fish will be hard because they will be prone to splitting and tearing, so again lift the fillets out as they remain sat on the parchment paper.
I cooked two frozen battered fish for this air fryer demonstration with use of Young's Gastro Tempura Battered 2 Crispy Lemon & Herb Basa Fillets, weighing 155g each.
NOTE: Cook your frozen battered fish according to the suggested oven cooking temperature, reducing the oven cooking time by up to 5-7 minutes.
Prepare 2 frozen Battered fish
With the battered fish being frozen, preparation is focused on lining the air fryer basket, rather than the need to do anything with the battered fish fillets.
- STEP 1: Preheat: 5 Minutes - Quickly preheat your air fryer as it will help to crisp the batter coating, thus avoid air frying to a soggy texture
- STEP 2: Line Basket in length of parchment paper - Add a length of parchment paper to the bottom of the basket, which will be used to catch batter grease; while at the same time - the lining will be used to flip the fish and decanter them
- STEP 3: Sit Battered Fish directly on lining - Sit frozen fish fillets side by side as demonstrated in picture, to make it easy on you to flip and decanter fish fillets
- STEP 4: Close basket to set temp/timer - Close your basket so you can dial in the time and temperature, and press START to begin cooking
NOTE: Add an extra length of parchment paper if you wish as it will make it easier for you when it comes to flipping the fish over halfway; as well as removing the fillets as they remain sat on top of the parchment paper.
How to air fry 2 frozen Battered white fish
I'm giving my two frozen battered Basa fish 18 minutes exactly to cook, which is 7 minutes less than the oven cooking instructions. The temperature is exactly as suggested for oven cooking - which is a high temperature to ensure a crispy coating.
- STEP 1: Set temp: 390°F / 200°C; time: 18 Min. - Temperature is set for oven instructions; reducing the time by a full 7 minutes for air frying
- STEP 2: Gently flip fish over halfway - NO utensils required to flip fish over; flipping is achieved by using the parchment paper to turn over fish by both hands
- STEP 3: Cook until full time; avoid burning batter crust - Cook until the full 18 minutes are up - flip over 9 min. in - while checking for signs of the batter burning
- STEP 4: Decanter battered fish on paper - Once again no tools are required; grab edges of the parchment paper by hand to pull fish out of basket
NOTE: It will be possible to air fry frozen battered fish for its entirety with no tools whatsoever, whereas the parchment paper will act as a way to flip the fish and decanter.
Difficulty flipping defrosting batter
When it comes to air frying any kind of frozen battered fish in an air fryer, worst case scenario, the batter will peel off as you flip the fish over.
It is possible to avoid this by lining the air fryer basket in a length of parchment paper, which will be used to flip the frozen battered fish over halfway through cooking. NO tools or utensils will be needed which are often responsible for tearing the batter.
Early on in the air frying stage it will feel like you've got past the worst, yet its only when the battered fish has thoroughly defrosted as it air fry's, will you see spots of batter coating begin to tear - often with no fault of your own as shown in the picture above.
You should try to avoid splitting the battered coating however because the white flaky fish underneath will risk drying out due to exposure to the heating element.
To flip what will now be defrosted frozen battered fish in an air fryer, do so by grabbing one side of the parchment paper, to flip the fish with your hands.
If the fish is a little too hot and you risk burning your hands on the basket, then use the help of a silicone spatula.
Summary
What can I say about my experience of air frying two typical size frozen battered white fish, which are usually sold in a box.
Well, it is an easy task to air fry both battered fish fillets which are easy to handle frozen, then it gets a little more difficult as they soften up.
Be sure to preheat your air fryer for 5 minutes to help crisp up the batter as quickly as possible.
Slow cooking frozen battered fish at a low heat will keep the batter soft with no texture at all.
Okay, once the air fryer has been preheated, line the bottom of the basket in a length of parchment paper to sit the fish on. Parchment paper will of cause help keep your basket clean, while at the same time assist you in two crucial ways.
Set the temperature t 390°F / 200°C with what will always be a reduced cooking time. In my case, I set the time to 18 minutes which is vastly reduced from 25 minutes for oven.
Halfway through air frying the battered fish must be carefully flipped over, while avoid tearing apart the now defrosted soft batter coating. Flip both fish fillets over by folding one side of the parchment paper which will flip the fish over with no tools needed.
In addition, you must decanter the battered fish without tearing the batter coating again, thus the fish can be pulled out of the basket as they remain sat on the parchment paper.
Share this article:
