Name: Hurricane Bay Fried Catfish
Prep time: 8 h 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 8 h 35 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Southern
Ingredients: 8 to 10 catfish fillets (Great Value frozen skinless, thawed); 2 cups buttermilk; 1 tablespoon kosher salt; 1 tablespoon black pepper; 1 tablespoon smoked paprika; 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper; 1 cup yellow cornmeal (Pearl Milling Company); 1 cup all-purpose flour; 1 cup cornstarch; 4 teaspoons onion powder; 4 teaspoons garlic powder; 2 tablespoons Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning; 4 gallons peanut oil (Member's Mark 35 lb jug); Lemon wedges, Crystal hot sauce, dill pickles, white bread, and hushpuppies for serving

Yields 8 fillets

Prep + Brine 8 hr 15 min

Cook 20 min

Oil Temp 350°F

Difficulty Easy

Catfish night is the easiest entertainment a backyard owns. You don't need a chef. You need oil at 350 and a fryer that stays there.

Hurricane Bay's 4-gallon propane setup runs hotter, longer, and steadier than the indoor Dutch oven your grandma swore by. The crust stays crackling. The fillets come out white and flaky every single time. Below is the catfish recipe we run on the HB-4, adapted from Chef Greg Collier's Garden & Gun version, with one Sam's Club shopping list and zero guesswork.

Take it to the store. Take it to the cookout.

Printable PDF: full recipe + Walmart shopping checklist on one page.

Download Recipe + Shopping List (PDF)

★ The Frying Oil

Member's Mark 35 lb Peanut Oil

Sam's Club / Walmart's house bulk peanut oil, sized exactly right for the HB-4's 4-gallon capacity with a quart to spare for top-offs across the homestand. One jug, one homestand. Strain and reuse 4 to 6 fries before swapping.

Buy at Sam's Club

HB-4 oil capacity4 gallons

Heat-up from cold12–14 min

Recovery between baskets~90 sec

Reuse cycles4–6 fries

Ingredients

8–10 catfish fillets, thawed Walmart: Great Value Frozen Skinless Catfish Fillets, 2 lb bag
2 cups buttermilk Great Value Cultured Buttermilk, 1 qt
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp black pepper
1 Tbsp smoked paprika McCormick
2 tsp cayenne pepper McCormick
1 cup yellow cornmeal Pearl Milling Company Yellow Corn Meal, 80 oz
1 cup all-purpose flour Great Value or Gold Medal, 5 lb
1 cup cornstarch Argo or Great Value, 16 oz
4 tsp onion powder
4 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp Creole seasoning Tony Chachere's Original, 17 oz
4 gallons peanut oil Member's Mark 35 lb jug (Sam's Club)
To serve: Crystal hot sauce, lemon wedges, dill pickles, white bread, hushpuppies

Method

Brine the fillets the night before

In a deep dish, whisk together the buttermilk, salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, and cayenne. Submerge the catfish fillets fully, cover, and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. The acid pulls any pond flavor from farm-raised fillets and tenderizes the edges.
Mix the breading

In a wide dish, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, cornstarch, onion powder, garlic powder, and Tony Chachere's. The cornstarch is the secret. It's what keeps the crust shattering crisp when the fillet hits the plate.
Fire the Hurricane Bay HB-4

Pour 4 gallons of Member's Mark peanut oil into the HB-4 to the MAX FILL line. Light the burner and bring the oil to 350°F. Give it 12 to 14 minutes from a 70°F cold start. Verify with the front-mounted thermometer.
Dredge

Lift each fillet from the buttermilk one at a time. Let the excess drip off. Press the fillet into the breading on both sides, coating heavy. Shake off the loose crumbs and set on a tray. Don't rinse, don't pat dry.
Fry, half a basket at a time

Lower 8 to 10 fillets into the basket without crowding. They should float free with oil contact on all sides. The oil will drop to about 330°F on contact; that's normal. The 90,000 BTU burner climbs back fast. Fry 4 to 5 minutes until the crust is dark gold and the fillets float high.
Drain on a wire rack

Lift the basket, drain over the fryer for 30 seconds, then transfer the fillets to a wire rack set over a sheet pan. Skip paper towels. Towels make the bottom of the crust soggy.
Recover and run the next basket

Let the oil climb back to 350°F before the next drop. Roughly 90 seconds with the HB-4's 4-gallon volume. The big oil mass is exactly why this fryer holds temp better than a kitchen Dutch oven.
Serve hot

Plate with lemon wedges, Crystal hot sauce, dill pickles, white bread, and hushpuppies. The bread is not optional. It's how you scoop the crust crumbles off the plate.

★ Hurricane Bay HB-4 Notes

Tuning the recipe to the unit.

Oil volume4 gallons of peanut oil to the MAX FILL line. One Member's Mark 35 lb jug from Sam's Club is the right buy.
Target temperature350°F. The HB-4's 90,000 BTU burner brings cold oil to 350°F in 12 to 14 minutes from a 70°F start.
Recovery between basketsAbout 90 seconds for the HB-4 to recover after a half-basket drop. Wait for the gauge before the next fry.
Basket capacity8 to 10 fillets at standard 7-9 oz Great Value size. Don't cram 12 in. Fillets need oil contact on all faces or the crust steams.
Batter thicknessA coating you can see but not feel as a paste. A light pat after dredging is enough.
Oil reuseStrain through cheesecloth back into the jug after cool-down. Peanut oil holds up for 4 to 6 fish fries before it darkens past usability.

Recipe inspired by Chef Greg Collier's "Spiced-Up Fried Catfish" in Garden & Gun. We've adapted his three-flour breading and overnight buttermilk brine for the Hurricane Bay HB-4's 4-gallon outdoor capacity. The original is the gold standard. Read it for context, then run yours on the rig that holds temperature.

Hurricane Bay Fried Catfish.

Take it to the store. Take it to the cookout.

Member's Mark 35 lb Peanut Oil

Method

Brine the fillets the night before

Mix the breading

Fire the Hurricane Bay HB-4

Dredge

Fry, half a basket at a time

Drain on a wire rack

Recover and run the next basket

Serve hot

Cook this on the unit it was tuned for.