Cooking fish is an art form that requires some knowledge of how to cook meat as well as knowing when your grill will let you go forward with confidence. There are many ways to prepare most types of fish, and there’s no wrong way! With that said, cooking fish on a kamado grill is one of the best ways to achieve perfection every time.
This article will talk about the perfect method for baking or grilling any kind of fresh water fish such as trout, salmon, whitefish, etc. At the end of this article, you will know how to bake, broil, and grill all kinds of fish like a pro! Before we get into those specific recipes, here are some general tips for boiling, roasting, and smoking fish on a kamado grill.
General Tips
Make sure your grill is hot before putting food onto the heating surface. This will ensure good browning and oven-style cooked flavor and texture in the finished product.
Never put wet foods onto the heat source of a grill. If you have to do so, make sure the grill is gapped enough so excess moisture can evaporate away.
Baste dry foods (like fish) using a fat of your choice (olive oil, butter, vegetable oil, etc.) to keep them from drying out.
Pat it dry
After cooking your fish, its next step is to be finished or dried off. This will depend on the type of fish you are boiling or frying. For flaky white-meat fishes like cod, salmon, and trout, leaving them wet can easily result in drying out the meat.
Fish and seafood that have thicker layers of bone require more time to dry thoroughly. If the bones remain slightly moist, this may contribute to flavor for the cooked food.
Brush it with oil
When cooking fish like salmon or trout, an important step is brushing off any leftover seasonings such as salt and pepper. This will help promote browning of the meat!
After washing the fish, coat it in olive oil either directly or using a paper towel to absorb the excess oil. If you have no olive oil, then use other neutral oils such as vegetable or coconut.
Once done, cook the fish on the kamado grill for around five minutes per one pound of fish. Make sure to check it once during baking to ensure that it does not burn!
If needed, cover the grill slightly so that some heat is retained for additional bakes later on. You can also let your cooked piece rest before serving to allow all the juices to re-absorb into the flesh.
Make sure it is not frozen
When cooking fish such as salmon or flounder, do make sure that it is not frozen. If you cook it when it is completely thawed, it will taste better and be more likely to stick to the grill, which would also help in flavor development.
When baking or broiling fresh fish, never pre-cook it first. The steam needed for baking and browning requires that the fish is raw! By putting cooked meat onto the grill, this eliminates the need to bake or broil the fish later.
Choose the right cooking temperature for the fish
When baking or broiling your food, there is a specific temperature range that every kind of meat or seafood should be cooked in. This includes kamado grills!
Most people know that trout needs lower temperatures than other white-flesh fish like perch or cod. But what about redfish? Or black grouper? These fish are not as easily categorized, so we will cover those next.
Redfish and black grouper are both types of flaky saltwater game fish that can grow very large. They are usually caught off shore where they feed on shellfish and crustaceans.
Since redfish and black grouper have lots of moisture, they do not dry out when you cook them. Because of this, they can become dried out and tough if you bake or grill them too high. This would definitely not taste good!
So how do you cook these larger flat-brooded fish? That is the topic of today’s article! Read on to find out more about grilled marinated redfish and black grouper recipes.
Make sure the grill is not too hot
When cooking fish on a kamado, one of the most important things to make sure you have is enough space to cook it. The kamado grill can get very warm, especially when baking or broiling foods.
If your kamado does not seem to be cooling down as quickly as it should, then start checking your grill temperature. A good test is to take a piece of bread and if there are any crispy bits on it, that means the grill is cooling properly.
Another way to check this is to use a source of light to see if it lights up correctly.
Add more charcoal or lighter fluid as needed
In cooking fish on a kamado grill, how much charcoal you have in your grill will determine whether it is done all the way through or not. If it is not cooked enough, the dry meat will taste raw or feel soft when pressed.
If your grill does not have very many holes, you can close some of them off to make sure that heat gets transferred from the fire to the cooktop evenly. This may also help prevent burning of excess grease if there are no openings at the top of the grill.
Another option is to use lids for the grill which fit properly so that little to no air gets trapped under the grill. This helps ensure that the temperature stays even and that the food doesn’t burn due to lack of oxygen.
Let the fish cook for the right amount of time
When cooking any kind of seafood, one of the most important things is knowing how long to cook it until it tastes good! This article will tell you some helpful tips about this trick.
The first thing to know is that all fish contains an internal structure called collagen. As the fish cooks, this protein melts down and mixes with water to create gelatin. The more gelatinous the meat, the softer and fluffier it will be cooked and taste better.
But before the meat gets too soft, there is another factor at work – flavor. If the salt in the fish dissolves into the flesh, then its overall flavor becomes less pronounced. Therefore, the best way to ensure your mouth is flooded with flavor is to let the meat sit together enough time so that the salt has time to permeate the flesh.
This article will talk about two different types of fish- what temperatures are appropriate to bake or grill them at, and how to determine if they are done.
Check for doneness
When cooking fish on a kamado grill, your first clue if it is done will be how it reacts when you touch it. If it flings off little pieces, it is probably not cooked enough!
Fish should release some kind of stickiness to the hand when pressed. It must also smell good, like nothing strong such as salt or pepper needs to be detected. A faint odor is acceptable, but if it smells too much of either flavor, it may be overcooked.
Remember that even raw fish can contain traces of acid which would potentially cause burning in the next step.