Articles - Wellington BBQs & Fire tips

Grilling Fish

Fish can frustrate the most experienced griller or give the most satisfaction.

Learning how to judge the freshness of fish is one of the most useful skills a barbequer, or any kind of cook can learn. 

Fish needs to be fresh where possible, especially when grilling a whole fish.

Cooking characteristics of fish:

Texture

• Delicate fish, flakes easily when cooked and should not be direct grilled unless in foil parcels
• Medium texture fish can be used for direct or indirect grilling
• Firm texture fish is suitable for all grilling

Oil Content 

Some fish have a high oil content, so if you are grilling an oily fish, (i.e. Salmon) use minimal oil.  

Colour

Colour is important because people eat with their eyes. Colour of the fish can change after grilling.

Flavour

Some varieties have a nice delicate flavour and not much extra flavouring is needed, while others will need marinating or flavouring. 

As a general rule for barbequing, use fish with a firm texture and a high oil content especially if grilling a whole fish. Don't over-marinate the fish as the delecate nature of the texture can be easily broken, or the fish taste is overpowered by the marinade. 

Sticky Fish

How to stop fish sticking to the grill, and avoid an undignified scraping and hacking at the food!
The reason fish sticks is that the protein oozing from the fish flesh whilst it is cooking stick to the grill. The answer is to make the surface slippery and cook the fish as fast as possible. Always oil the grill before placing the fish on it and use an old pot lid to cover the fish or close the hood of your barbecue to allow the heat to circulate around the fish. Fish will have less chance to stick and the cooking time is heavily reduced. Another solution is to coat the fish in seasoned flour.This will reduce the sticky problem and add flavour.

Freshness of Fish

Fish should be stored at 0 degrees celsius at all times to slow the processes of deterioration. Ask your fish reatiler to put it on ice while you transport it home and leave it on ice even in your refridgerator. Keeping the fish fillets raised on a grill so that they don't sit in the juices or melted ice that run off, will keep them fresher for longer. 

Five steps to becoming the ultimate fish griller

If you are nervous about cooking fish on the barbeque, train yourself in stages. Soon you will become the gun with fish on the barbeque. 

The simple steps:

• Fish in a parcel. Oil the shiny side of the foil. Wrap fish fillets in the foil to make a parcel. Make sure all parcels are similar in size and thickness. Add flavour and moisture to the parcels by adding herbs, spices, seasonings, aromatics (soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce), vegetables, noodles, oil, or moisture in the form of wine, sake or beer. Ensure parcels are well closed before placing them on the grill. Don't overdo your additional ingredients, one of each category, just choose three or four, for example coriander, ginger, soy sauce and sake.
• Fish fillet on the skin. Oil the grill before cooking. Season the fish and place skin side down onto the grill. Cover. Fish varieties that have a leathery skin are not suited.
• Fillet of fish directly on the medium hot grill. Oil the grill and cover. Turn fish with a thin fish slice, only two to three times, depending on the thickness of the fillet. Always remember to oil the grill first.
• Whole fish under 1kg (sole, flounder, sardines, small trout) can be grilled directly on a medium hot grill. Again oil the grill and cover.
• Whole fish over 1kg is best indirectly grilled with or without wrapping in foil. It is not necessary to turn the fish if you indirect grill. Cut to the bone at the thickest part og the fish to allow even heat penetration and flavours to permeate the fish. 

The initiation test for the Gun Fish Grillers Club is simple. You should be able to remove the top fillet off the whole fish easily when cooked, and then lift the whole bone structure and head in one piece off the bottom fillet. A complete fleshness skeleton and two perfectly cooked whole fillets of fish will proclaim you as one of the chosen few!

Problems removing the top fillet will indicate the fish is undercooked. If the bone structure breaks up easily the fish is overcooked.

Checking Fish for doneness

Use a knife to test the doneness of a fillet of fish. The fish is done as soon as the meat starts to flake and the fork cuts easily through the meat. Don't overcook fish! Gently flaking, but still delicate white colour, and moist flesh is ready to eat, but greying, dry, firm flesh is hard and breaks rather than flakes is overcooked fish.