This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. I dare you.). Gently turn the fish over. Let them sizzle nicely for a minute or so. Philip Wilkins / Getty Images. Knowing when to turn the fish is a little bit of a guessing game. Buy a fresh whole fish. That dry, intense grill heat does wonders for the skin, making it crisp and crackly. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Then I rub the whole thing down with oil, once again to help prevent sticking. Comments can take a minute to appear—please be patient! Don’t forget to eat the crispy tails, (never thought I’d say that), they are nutty and delicious! In the photo above, you'll notice that I set the fish at a 45° angle to the grill grate. ; You don't want to pull the fish away from the grates and have half the skin and meat stick to the grill. Thank you. I am going to grille a 3lb – 18″, Yellow Pike over charcoal this evening. But in terms of flavor, I have to say that grilled whole fish is my favorite. A general rule is a fish will need 10 minutes per inch of thickness. The ultimate homemade version of the classic green bean casserole, with fresh green beans, a rich mushroom sauce, and crispy fried shallots. Once you've preheated the grill, cleaned and oiled the grate, and prepped the fish, it's time to get cooking. Since whole fish are wrapped in foil before cooking, you don't have to worry about finding a fish with firm flesh. Third, you get crispy charred bits, which we all know and love. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Some HTML is OK: link, strong, em. You mentioned that you often cook yellow perch whole. This sounds awesome – I LOVE grilled fish! Look for a fresh fish with clear eyes and shiny scales with no bruises or discolored spots. That's because by the time the fish released from the grill, it was ready to turn, and I'm more concerned with perfectly cooked fish than with perfectly crosshatched fish. Get a hot fire and have your grill grates very clean. They said that this tends to draw out the moisture in the fish during the grilling process. Slice the fish several times perpendicular to the backbone — this opens the fish to heat better, so it cooks evenly. Next, it's just a matter of waiting for it to cook through. Tyler: Yep, says it right there in the recipe – scale, gut and remove the gills from the fish. Once I've determined that the fish is ready to roll, I position a spatula on the far side to catch it, then complete the turn. Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. Any suggestions for Crappie? Grill a bit longer than you think. The easier way would to put that whole fish in a large parcel of tin foil. I am an avid perch fisherman and we always filet them (even the small ones). Do you scale/gut/remove gills same as the cod recipe? Last, I like to prep my fish by taking it out of the refrigerator about 20 or 30 minutes before I cook it so that it can come to room temperature. Learn how your comment data is processed. Another decent option, especially for fish with thick or nasty skins, like triggerfish…. Comments? I find they add a little more protection to the fish and make it easier to grill. Most people try to turn a fish on the grill with a spatula, but that's asking for trouble: You have to slide the spatula under the fish, and if the fish is sticking at all, you're not going to find out until you've shredded the thing. Some comments may be held for manual review. Why grill whole fish? Grilling fish can be tricky because it tends to stick to the grill. I love my Weber, but I may lust your….whatever grill that is? It should come off the grates cleanly. Can you do any thing with these or toss? After pulling in a few nice sized Croakers over the weekend, we gave this a go. (And, now that I've shown you how to serve a cooked whole fish without hacking it to bits, there's nothing to fear at all!) I have cut my hand on rock cod dorsal fins before. Awesome fish. I find cabezone to be a marinate and grill fillet/chunk fish; boccacia/bombers are the best for fried; yelloweye/copper/vermillion/china are for baking and flaking into pasta etc. Size. I tend to leave the scales on (Dorade, Salmon) and have no problems. And the truth is, if you know the below tricks to grilling a fish, you really don't have to use one of these. The basket can also take up additional space on the grill, so if you're trying to cook more than one thing at a time, it can eat up some valuable grill-grate real estate. Then I rub the whole thing down with oil, once again to help prevent sticking. Make sure they are well coated in oil, well salted and make sure your grill is nice and hot, and you will be fine. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet's largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. When you are ready to lay the fish down, dip a paper towel in some oil and grab it with tongs. Generally speaking, I find that starting out over the higher-heat area of the grill is better for whole fish, since, just like in a skillet, the fish's skin is less likely to stick to a very hot surface. You can also rub the grill with a cut raw potato, I’ve heard (thanks, Martha Stewart! The same crisp skin and juicy meat as our classic recipe, but with a flavor-packed herb butter to coat it. I caught several nice crappie yesterday and kept a couple of 1.5# whole to try. If your fish was well oiled, your grates are clean and you happen to have one of those long, flat spatulas that short-order cooks use to flip pancakes and eggs and burgers and such, you’re in business. Daniel cooked for years in some of New York's top American, Italian and French restaurants - starting at the age of 13, when he began staging at the legendary restaurant Chanterelle. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. This is a step that we encourage for all grilling, but it's even more important with fish—since fish is more delicate, it's more likely to tear if it sticks to the grill, and a dirty, un-oiled grill grate is a heck of a lot more likely to stick to the fish than a blazing-hot, clean, oiled one. Once it's ready, let the fish rest five minutes or so, then carve it up following my instructions here. I’ll never throw back or cook these fish another way again! Here's what you need to know to become a fish-grilling master in no time.