When it comes to grilling, there are many ways to do it! Grilling is one of those things that seems almost magical in its ability to create delicious food for you and your family.
Grilling can be done low and slow with grill temperatures dropping slightly as the meat cooks, or high and fast at higher temperatures. There are several types of grills that take different lengths to cook depending on how hot they get- direct heat, indirect heat, rotisserie style, etc. Then, what kind of grill you have determines what cooking styles you can use it for.
If you’re new to grilled foods or need some beginner tips, this article will go over all of the basics of how to grill fish. Hopefully you’ll feel more confident in the kitchen soon!
How to Cook Deliciously Chilled Seafood
Cooking cooked seafood can taste bland and flavorless unless it has been prepared properly. Luckily, knowing the best way to grill fresh fish is easy to pick up once you’ve seen it done a few times.
When baking or broiling fish, make sure to cover it completely to retain moisture. This also helps prevent overcooked mushy flesh.
Toasting the butter/oil before adding the fish gives it additional flavor and browns it slightly. Once the fish is cooked through, spread the toasted butter/ oil onto the plate and top with salt and pepper.
Brush the fish with oil
After washing your grill, you will need to brush some kind of oil onto the surface. There are two main oils that can be used for this: olive or vegetable oil.
Olive oil is more durable than most other oils, which makes it good for longer grilling sessions. If using olive oil as the cooking oil, make sure to stir the meat frequently to ensure even roasting.
On the other hand, vegetable oil will burn slightly, making the food taste better. For one batch of grilled fish, we like to use peanut oil because it does not have any strong flavors in it. It also fries easily, so if the fat starts to smoke, just turn up the heat and continue frying!
We usually mix both types of oil together before applying them to the grill.
Add salt
When grilling fish, people usually add salt towards the end of the grill cooking time. This is not always the case though!
When grilling meat, adding salt at the beginning will help dry out the protein and promote browning. For grilled fish, this isn’t necessarily the best approach as you want the moisture in the fish to stay there.
If your grill has an automatic temperature control feature, then it can tell when the salt is being added so that can be used to determine how long to cook the fish. Just make sure your grill doesn’t think you are throwing away all of those minerals! 😉
General tips for baking or broiling cooked foods: remember to season with salt both before and after putting food onto the stove or oven burner.
Add fresh herbs if desired
When grilling fish, there are two main things you must remember! The first is how to season your grill properly before cooking the fish. This article already covered this in detail so make sure to check out our other tips here!
The second important thing to know when grilled fish is that unless the fish has been marinated or the recipe calls for it, adding salt or pepper will not help flavor the meat. Instead of enhancing the taste, these additions can actually have the opposite effect as the salty seasoning may dry out the protein structure.
Instead, add fresh herbs such as parsley, thyme, oregano, etc. to give the finished product more flavor and texture.
Rub the fish with a grill paste
After washing your fish, let it air dry! When you are ready to cook your fish, mix up some grilled cheese seasoning (or grill paste) and coat the flesh side of your fish.
This will give your fish an extra flavor boost and help keep it moist while cooking as well. Now, how do we broil or griddle-style cook our fish? Simply place the coated fish onto a preheated pan or grill and cook according to your normal internal temperature for cooked fish.
We usually recommend starting with a full five minutes per half pound of fish, then checking if it is flaky and white at that time! This way, it does not overcook too much before being served.
Make a grill paste
While most people know how to cook fish on the stove, cooking it directly over open flames or using olive oil as a flavorizer, there is an easier way!
Using a premixed seasoning called grill paste is your best bet if you want to make sure your food does not taste like fire!
Grill pastes contain gelling agents such as wheat starch that lock in natural oils to give foods more flavor and keep them from drying out. The two main ingredients are usually salt and pepper.
By adding just a few drops of the paste to each piece of fish, these things will not matter anymore! The rest of the recipe can be doing anything you would like to cook the fish on- broiling, grilling, roasting, or even frying!
This article and tip has been adapted lightly from In & Out Food Co., LLC. You can find their website here: http://www.inandoutfoods.com/blog/how-to-grill-fish-on-weber-grills/.
Put the fish on the grill
When it comes time to cook your fish, the first thing you should do is make sure that it can sit without drying out. This will depend on the kind of fish you are grilling!
If your fish has skin, this will probably dry out so remember to either cover it with grease or use parchment paper as a protective layer. For thicker white meat like salmon, we recommend brushing off any extra fat before putting in the oven or broiler.
Now that you have checked that, let’s talk about how to grill fish! To begin, turn up the burners on your grill to high heat. You want the flames to be around medium-high, just make sure they don’t reach red hot.
Once the fire is ready, put the fish onto the grill. Depending on the thickness of the fish, you may need to press down on it slightly to ensure it cooks all the way through.
Give it a few minutes per side depending on the size of the fish. Make sure to check it every couple of minutes to see if it needs more heat.
Cook the fish
When it comes time to grill your fish, make sure it is well-cooked! Most people like their grilled fish slightly pink in color, but depending on the fish, that may not be achievable.
Thick flaky white meat such as salmon will usually cook through before it turns dark and tastes raw. Make sure to check your fish once it has cooked for at least one minute per side under a knife or a plate. If it still looks raw, then turn up the heat and see if that helps dry out the flesh a little bit!
If you want to keep the skin on the fish, broil it first until just warm, then season and grill it on the hot grill.
Serve the fish
When it comes time to cook your fish, you will want to start by making sure that it is very well dried off. This ensures that it does not stick or burn when cooking later.
Once it is dry, cut up some bread into bite sized pieces and soak them in olive oil for several hours.
Now, season your grill with salt and pepper and then get grilling!
When searing meat, there are two main types of heat sources used: gas or electric. Most people use direct flame which is just having an open fire next to the rack that the food cooks on. Others use hotplates which are warmer than a regular grill, but still have enough warmth to sear the meat.
We usually prefer using indirect flames as they do not scorch the outside too much while also giving us more crispier cooked meat. To achieve this, we put a cover over the grill to create an insulated area and then add additional oils (such as olive) to the heated plate under the cover.
This helps keep the meat warm and juicy.