Grilling fish is a seemingly difficult task, with many horror stories of fish falling apart, and also sticking to the grate. It really is not that hard to grill fish with success. I wrote The 5 Essentials for Grilling Perfect Fish to tackle some of the problems holding would-be successful fish grillers back. Using the tips in that article will help you to grill some amazing fish.
However, we are going to drill down and focus on grilling fish on the skin side. You’ve picked up some nice salmon fillets with the skin on from your local fish market; guess what, that’s the hard part. That’s right, picking a good fish is more difficult than grilling it. Let me show you how easy it is.
1. Direct medium-high heat on a covered grill. Set up you charcoal or gas grill to produce a medium-high heat level. Make sure your grate is clean, and rub a bit of olive or canola oil on it. The cleanliness and oil will help prevent the fish from sticking.
2. Brush the skin side of the fish fillet with oil. A bit of olive or canola oil brushed on the skin side with help to prevent sticking. A bit of melted butter will work too.
3. Place the fish fillet skin side down over the heat source and cover. Grilling fish directly over the heat source will crisp up the skin and also help with sticking. Grilling the fish covered will cooking it evenly top through bottom.
4. Check on the fish periodically, but don’t ever flip it. Grilling fish this way requires no flipping, but you do need to check on it. Check to see that the skin is crisping, but not burning. You can do this by lifting the corner of the fish fillet with a spatula. If the skin is starting to burn, fold up a piece of aluminum foil and slide it under the fish fillet.
5. The fish will be done in 10 – 15 minutes. It doesn’t take long to grill fish on the skin.
See, I told you it’s easy. Get out there and try it. I personally love to grill salmon fillets this way. It is so quick, easy and delicious. And just think of the glazes you could also add. There are a lot of options for experimenting with grilled fish.
Another great way to grill fish is to use a fish grilling basket. Fish grilling baskets are easy to use and make for quick and easy clean-up. One of the best that I found available is Steven Raichlen’s Stainless Flexi Basket. What is great about this basket is not only does it work great for grilling fish, you can also use it for grill other meats and vegetables too. Check it out, it is a great addition to any grill-masters arsenal >> Fish Grilling Basket
image courtesy of VirtualErn/flickr