The hushpuppy is one of those small tasty delights that everybody knows but nobody knows where it comes from. Its origins are more a matter of myths and legends than documented history. None the less, we all know them and a lot of us love them. So much are they loved that the idea of making extra hushpuppies to store and later reheat is common. You do have a few options when reheating hushpuppies. Because of the way they are made you have to follow a few guidelines. Let’s clearly define the hushpuppy.
Hushpuppies
A hushpuppy is a deep-fried round ball that is made of cornflour. They are usually savoury in flavour and can have flavour enhanced with cheese, bacon, pepper and herbs. They are a type of drop scone made from a batter mix that is dominated by or wholly comprised of cornmeal or maizemeal. The hushpuppy is of North American origin believed to have been made by native North Americans though the name is believed to have been coined by hunters who would make the treats while out in the woods and feed them to silence hunting dogs at night or when they needed to rest. Different origin stories also attribute the name to chefs and soldiers. Modern hushpuppy recipes have many ingredients and you will find they usually feature cornmeal, wheat flour, baking powder, salt and milk or buttermilk as well as eggs.
Storing Hushpuppies
As deep-fried, dough-based food hushpuppies are not easy to store. If you want to have the best reheating experience how you store the hushpuppies will help you very much. If you’re going to place hushpuppies in the fridge the best container to use is plastic. You can place the hushpuppies in a resealable bag or airtight container lined with paper towels. Make sure your hushpuppies have cooled completely before doing this. Your hushpuppies will keep for 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator. If you want to keep them for a little longer you can freeze hushpuppies. Place the hushpuppies on a baking sheet or tray making sure that they don’t touch each other. This will prevent your hushpuppies from getting stuck together in the freezing process. It will also give a much easier time when thawing. Place in the freezer for around 2 hours then move to an airtight container or resealable freezer bag lined with paper towels. Finally, label the container with the date of freezing. Your hushpuppies will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer.
Reheating Hushpuppies In The Oven
With hushpuppies when reheating you want to preserve the crispiness of the outside while making sure they heat through and through without becoming soggy. For this reason, the oven is going to be your go-to when it comes to reheating them. The good news is you can reheat hushpuppies in the oven whether frozen or just cooled. Though the frozen ones will involve an extra step.
When you’re dealing with frozen hushpuppies you will use the microwave to thaw them before placing them in the oven. Throwing frozen hushpuppies straight into the oven will not work because you get one of two effects. Either your hushpuppies will burn on the outside while still cold on the inside or you will get hushpuppies that are soggy inside as opposed to moist. Both are extremely undesirable outcomes. Take a few hushpuppies at a time and place them on a microwave-safe plate. Heat them for up to one minute in the microwave and remove. Replace and repeat until all the hushpuppies have gone through the process. This is done to help the hushpuppies along in the thawing process and get them oven ready. Now you can preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Place the hushpuppies on a baking sheet or tray preferably lined with foil and leave in the oven for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes turn them over and leave for another 3 minutes. If you’re unsure about the temperature being 70 degrees Celsius or don’t have a food thermometer leave the hushpuppies in the oven when you switch it off to allow it to warm them inside.
If you’ve got time and you have thawed your frozen hushpuppies in the refrigerator overnight or they are just coming straight from the fridge you can still use the oven just as you would with their frozen counterparts. Place your hushpuppies straight from the fridge and onto a baking sheet. Place in your oven that you have preheated to 200 degrees Celsius. Leave for 3 minutes then turn them over and let them bake for another 3 minutes. The reason you turn your hushpuppies is to prevent them from getting overly burnt or crispy on just one side. As always you want to achieve an internal temperature of 70 degrees Celsius. One thing to note about this is the times work best when you are using cold, or semi thawed, hushpuppies in a hot oven. So make sure the oven is hot and the hushpuppies are not warm. This may leave you with soggy hushpuppies or you may get really dry ones. Microwaves are unfortunately not recommended for reheating hushpuppies because of their reputations for making things soggy in short cook sessions, dry in long cook sessions and not evenly heating things.
Hushpuppies tend to be enjoyed as a side dish so you can pair your reheated hushpuppies with any of your favourite meals. Whether you stored them in the fridge or freezer, hushpuppies are one of those foods that are best heated in one way.
