Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand?

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (Michael Hoffman)

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 23:24:12 GMT

Yep. Mild, tender and tasteless.

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (Twinwillow)

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 23:11:54 GMT

Yup! I'll stick with my (top feeding) farm raised catfish. Mild, tender, and tasty.
Y'all can keep eating the mud suckers.

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (phatphil)

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 17:44:35 GMT

check out this local restaurant we use to frequent before moving

www.catfishdeweys.com shows alot about farm raised

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (chickenplucker)

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 14:14:04 GMT

very typical sadly !!!!!

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (joerogo)

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 13:39:49 GMT

Be careful what you wish for...http://www.timesleader.com/news/Catfish_wars_heat_up_over_inspection_feud_03-27-2011.html?searchterm=catfish

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (Twinwillow)

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 23:51:04 GMT

I had to do it. Went out for a catfish fry up tonight. That should hold me for a week or so.

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (chickenplucker)

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 18:26:04 GMT

this thread has me craving catfish of any denomination tonight....

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (chewingthefat)

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 18:19:13 GMT

Michael Hoffman

chewingthefat

Michael Hoffman

The nice thing about farmed catfish is that you never have to worry about it having any flavor.

Michael, I have to disagree, I realize you are old school when it comes to hunting, fishing and preparing the bounty, but we got a lot of fishermen around these parts, what with the Potomac and Monocacy rivers so nearby. I sell a lot of our Catfish platters, never had a mushy or tasteless complaint. Farm raised Catfish is Costco's 2nd largest selling fish after farm raised talapia, no growth hormones in either.

I don't know anthing about the mushy thing. But I'll bet that the only flavor in your farm-raised catfish is flavor imparted by your prep and cooking. And that's not a bad thing.

Hmmmm, now that you mention it...

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (Michael Hoffman)

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 17:40:27 GMT

chewingthefat

Michael Hoffman

The nice thing about farmed catfish is that you never have to worry about it having any flavor.

Michael, I have to disagree, I realize you are old school when it comes to hunting, fishing and preparing the bounty, but we got a lot of fishermen around these parts, what with the Potomac and Monocacy rivers so nearby. I sell a lot of our Catfish platters, never had a mushy or tasteless complaint. Farm raised Catfish is Costco's 2nd largest selling fish after farm raised talapia, no growth hormones in either.

I don't know anthing about the mushy thing. But I'll bet that the only flavor in your farm-raised catfish is flavor imparted by your prep and cooking. And that's not a bad thing.

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (chewingthefat)

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 17:01:36 GMT

Michael Hoffman

The nice thing about farmed catfish is that you never have to worry about it having any flavor.

Michael, I have to disagree, I realize you are old school when it comes to hunting, fishing and preparing the bounty, but we got a lot of fishermen around these parts, what with the Potomac and Monocacy rivers so nearby. I sell a lot of our Catfish platters, never had a mushy or tasteless complaint. Farm raised Catfish is Costco's 2nd largest selling fish after farm raised talapia, no growth hormones in either.

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (Sundancer7)

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 15:39:37 GMT

I cannot speak to whether the farm raised catfish is mushy although I am certain that 99% of the catfish I have consumed is farm raised. Personally, I have never experienced that.

I visited the largest area in Mississippi (Belzoni) where farm raised catfish is king. They have several thousand acres of ponds. I visited the museum in the town dedicated to catfish and one thing that caught my eye. They teach the catfish not to be bottom feeders which give them that gamey taste? They feed them food that floats on the top of the water and if they want to eat, they go to the top which they soon do. They also harvest them when they are less than two pounds.

If you are interested, here is a nice article about catfish farming.
http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/articles/217/catfish-farming-in-mississippi

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (Michael Hoffman)

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 14:24:42 GMT

The nice thing about farmed catfish is that you never have to worry about it having any flavor.

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (joerogo)

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 13:22:38 GMT

MiamiDon

Foodbme

chickenplucker

Farm raised gets my vote. They eat much better than wild catfish!!!!

Yep, They get to eat all those growth hormones & other chemicals that make them grow faster.

That sounds awful. Can you cite a source for the allegation that farmed catfish sold in the USA are being fed growth hormones?

Hey Don, Another reason to read labels and BUY AMERICAN when it comes to your food, especially produce, fish and seafood.

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (pnwchef)

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 12:45:09 GMT

Chewy, most of them are trying to take a bad thing and make it a bit better. You are a Restaurant Professional that is out to make something good, even better for your customers.................Hats off to you Chewy....PNWC

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (chewingthefat)

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 12:08:49 GMT

Foodbme

Farm raised Catfish have the taste and texture of mealy mush.
Filleted Catfish works best. The way to minimize the fishy taste of Natural Catfish is to soak them in Milk or Buttermilk for a while before frying them. The best way to cook catfish is to take them out of the soak, rinse them off, dip them in a milk/egg wash then dredge in flour or cornmeal and fry them. It don't get no better than that!

There is something wrong with having to soak a fisk in milk in order to get rid of an unpleasant taste...hence, farm raised!

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (mayor al)

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 01:48:56 GMT

Chickenplucker- Nah East Podunk is just to the EAST of Podunk ! They changed the name some time back. East Podunk used to be Podunk, and the current Podunk used to be West Podunk, since it was West of what used to be Podunk.

I won't begin to describe what changes the 'urban sprawl' has brought to the North and South Podunk communities !

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (Michael Hoffman)

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 22:47:50 GMT

Oh, a catfish is easy to clean, even if you don't want to pull the skin off. I prefer to just fillet them. But my preference in terms of taste and texture is the channel cat.

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (chickenplucker)

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 22:21:39 GMT

Pogo I have been too Podunk but wasnt aware there was an East Podunk!!!! Must have been the same place!!!!!!!

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (Pogo)

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 21:56:42 GMT

The "Flathead" or mudcat is the tastiest of the catfish family. No matter how large they are when you catch them. Blue Cats get rubbery if they are large fish. Hands down the wild caught is superior to the farm raised in both taste and texture. And contrary to general consensus they are easy to clean and filet. I'd much rather clean a catfish than a scaled fish. Just gotta know how to do it.

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (chickenplucker)

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:08:08 GMT

That summed it up!!!

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (Michael Hoffman)

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:56:39 GMT

Growth hormones are not used in U.S. farm raised catfish, but most of the farm raised catfish sold in the United States comes from Asia. The only Asian catfish allowed to be labeled as catfish come from China, and in China the fish are fed antibiotics. The other Asian catfish, mostly from Vietnam and not actual catfish but a similar species, are raised in river water which is oten contaminated with, among other things, human feces.

Me? I'll stick with channel cats I catch, thank you.

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (Twinwillow)

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:41:01 GMT

Those "growth hormones" don't seem to be working very well. The filets we get in Dallas both in the markets and the restaurants aren't very large.

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (chickenplucker)

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:30:14 GMT

Would like to see that source also. Hormones are not allowed in pork and poultry production.

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (MiamiDon)

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:14:46 GMT

Foodbme

chickenplucker

Farm raised gets my vote. They eat much better than wild catfish!!!!

Yep, They get to eat all those growth hormones & other chemicals that make them grow faster.

That sounds awful. Can you cite a source for the allegation that farmed catfish sold in the USA are being fed growth hormones?

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (Foodbme)

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:06:46 GMT

chickenplucker

Farm raised gets my vote. They eat much better than wild catfish!!!!

Yep, They get to eat all those growth hormones & other chemicals that make them grow faster.

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (chickenplucker)

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 13:10:24 GMT

Farm raised gets my vote. They eat much better than wild catfish!!!!

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (Michael Hoffman)

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 11:53:23 GMT

You can be certain that it's channel catfish, and that it's farm-raised if it's being sold commercially.

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (David_NYC)

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 10:06:44 GMT

The only catfish I still eat is the fish I buy at Redner's Markets in Middletown, NY or Northeast Pennsylvania. It is farm raised. Most of the catfish sold around here in supermarkets or fish markets is not labelled as to what type it is and even if labelled, I don't believe the labelling.

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (Michael Hoffman)

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 10:04:56 GMT

EdSails

Someday I would enjoy doing a comparison. Even on my trips to the South, I don't remember anyone with catfish on the menu saying it was wild caught. I would really enjoy tasting the difference.

Um, you have to catch them while fishing or noodling.

Re:Farm raised Catfish vs. Mother Natures brand? (brisketboy)

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 09:23:29 GMT

Catfish sushi, now there's an adventure whose time has come.