Grilled Fish

Few things are as delightful as grilling, serving, and eating fresh fish. Whether bought from the store or caught on a fishing expedition with family and friends, there’s basically no limit to the variety of fish flavors and textures you can grill and enjoy.

Grilling fish on a BBQ has slightly different guidelines from cooking other kinds of meat. Read on to learn more about grilled fish and make them a delicious, mouth-watering addition to any seasonal BBQ.

Why Eating Fish is Getting More Popular

Throughout the world, members of nearly all human civilizations enjoy catching, cooking, and eating fish. Unlike “beef” or “pork,” there is no specific culinary name for fish, which is why we simply use the word “fish.”

Since the early 1960s, eating fish has grown in popularity more quickly than eating any other sort of meat. This is due to many factors, including improved supply chains and the rise of “pescetarianism,” a dietary plan why which one doesn’t eat any meat except for fish. As time goes on, there’s a better and better chance that you may have a pescetarian or two in attendance at your BBQ, which is why learning how to grill fish is an important part of developing your skills as an amateur chef.

With over 33,000 different species of fish, they offer more varieties of flavor and dining experience than one could ever try in one lifetime. In order to enjoy as many different types of fish as possible, it’s important to remember a few consistent grilling techniques and guidelines, as well as to appreciate how important it is that fish be cooked at the appropriate temperature. For this, your smartest move is to follow the lead of top chefs around the globe and use the best digital meat thermometer on the market when grilling fish.

Grilling Fish: How to Use Foil

It’s a common practice when grilling fish on your BBQ grill, to wrap the fish in aluminum foil. This helps them preserve their flavor and structural integrity. It also helps keep the fish from coming in contact with other meat residues that may be on the grill, such as chicken or beef, which can be a polite sign of consideration for pescetarians or others who prefer their fish flavor in its purest form.

Small amounts of aluminum are very unlikely to pose any risk to your health. However, it is not considered a safe practice to clean your grill by putting foil on it and turning up the heat. In general, you should be well aware not just of the materials you’re using, but the importance of knowing your temperatures throughout the process of grilling and grill care. This is just one more reason why having the right measuring equipment, particularly a high-quality digital meat thermometer, is so important.

How to Keep Fish From Sticking to Your Grill

Using foil is one way by which you can prevent fish from sticking to the grates of your BBQ grill. Another is to pat your fish dry and cover them on all sides with oil. Using canola oil or similar vegetable oil will help keep the fish from sticking to the grill and also produce delicious grilled fish.

What Are The Best Types of Fish for Grilling

With all the different types of fish you can choose from, picking the right one for your grilling session can seem a daunting prospect, but the truth is that certain types of fish are generally considered much better than others for grilling.

For BBQ grilling, fish to avoid include those that are softer and more delicate. With fish such as flounder, sole, and tilapia, only the most experienced expert chefs should attempt to cook them on a grill. That’s because they tend to fall apart and lose their structural integrity when the heat gets high.

The good news is that there are still much fish you can pick from. Fish that are easier to grill include stronger varieties such as snapper, tuna, mahi mahi, swordfish (if you want to make it classy!) and salmon. If you’re specifically interested in salmon, here’s a great recipe you can try as you begin to master the art of cooking grilled fish.

How to Cook Fish on the Grill

Now that you’ve selected your fish, covered it in oil, and wrapped it in foil, you’re well on your way! Your grill should be preheated to around 400 degrees Fahrenheit. You should have separate “zones” of heat, one with high heat and one with much less, which you can create by putting your burners on different levels or shoveling your charcoal to one side.

Place the fish on the side with lower heat. Now, cover your grill. It usually takes around ten minutes or so to cook your fish to where you want them, but the only way to be sure is to check the temperature. This provides greater safety and accuracy, and more consistently mouth-watering results, than checking by time or by eyesight.

Use your meat thermometer, get your fish to the ideal internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit. At this point, it should flake easily with a fork. The only way to be sure is to measure the internal temperature of the fish using a digital meat thermometer.

The Perfect Grilled Fish Recipe