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Sheephead ideas

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Coastalcooker
Coastalcooker Posts: 185
in EggHead Forum
I was given sheephead and whiting last night and need to cook them. Anybody got any ideas other than cut up and fry?
Bob
Cookin' on the coast
Shellman Bluff, GA
Medium BGE

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  • buzd504
    buzd504 Posts: 3,824
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    Is the sheepshead already cleaned?  That's a great fish baked or on the grill.  If it still has the skin, it will hold up on the grill really well.  I wouldn't waste it by frying it.  Great fish.
    NOLA
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  • grege345
    grege345 Posts: 3,515
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    From where I'm from it is a type of mushroom. We bread them and pan fry
    LBGE& SBGE———————————————•———————– Pennsylvania / poconos

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  • Eggpharmer
    Eggpharmer Posts: 479
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    Sheephead are difficult to filet - I would scale them and leave whole. Whiting are easy to filet. Both are very mild tasting and will take on whatever flavors you want. Sheephead is a little firmer than whiting.

    Make some hobo packs with either one - HD aluminum foil, sliced onion and bell pepper, minced garlic, fish (works with filets or whole), favorite seasoning, dab of butter, splash of white wine. Wrap everything up and grill at 350-400 for about 20 minutes.
    Austin, TX
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  • Helmet
    Helmet Posts: 163
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    @Eggpharmer +1
    Medium BGE, Weber Q120 (The traveller)
    "I claim artistic license, it has a good beat, I can dance to it"
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  • yzzi
    yzzi Posts: 1,843
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    I typically grill or blacken fish. Any way you decide to cook that will be a nice meal. Sheephead are delicous.
    Dunedin, FL
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  • NEWB_IN_NOLA
    NEWB_IN_NOLA Posts: 135
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    We scrape sheepshead meat from the bones, stick it in a stocking and throw it in a crab boil. Tastes a lot like crabmeat.
    "America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland." -Tennessee Williams
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  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
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    I always gave them to the guys that were meat fishing on the bridge or pier. I've heard that they are getting popular as is drum.

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

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  • shadowcaster
    shadowcaster Posts: 620
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    The amount of time I threw sheepshead back because my old man told me they were a garbage fish. The day I kept one and ate it I wanted to kick his a$$ for misleading me!
    Pure Michigan
    Large BGE, Medium BGE, Mini BGE, Weber Smokey Mountain, Weber Performer.
    If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.
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  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    edited February 2014
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    That's what I heard but the locals always accepted them gratefully

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

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  • NPHuskerFL
    NPHuskerFL Posts: 17,629
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    Sheepshead are A> an art form to catch and B> delicious. Wouldn't throw it anywhere except in my cooler :))
    LBGE 2013 & MM 2014
    Die Hard HUSKER & BRONCO FAN
    Flying Low & Slow in "Da Burg" FL
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  • Eggpharmer
    Eggpharmer Posts: 479
    edited February 2014
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    I think they taste good, but difficult to clean and and lots of bones imo. Always seemed to be a lot of waste - not much meat for the size of the fish. I throw them back unless someone I take wants them.

    Anyone got tips to make cleaning them easier?
    Austin, TX
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  • travisstrick
    travisstrick Posts: 5,002
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    When I was a kid, I speared a cooler full of sheepshead off the rocks out back. I forgot them in a cooler on my deck for a week or so. As punishment for wasting, my dad made me clean the cooler. I still can't eat sheepshead.
    Be careful, man! I've got a beverage here.
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  • Philly35
    Philly35 Posts: 858
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    Feed them to the critters! Eww!
    NW IOWA
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  • Spaightlabs
    Spaightlabs Posts: 2,349
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    Not sure about the saltwater varieties, but we caught freshwater drum that are also called sheepshead as kids. They had a patch of cheek meat that was considered the prize/delicacy. Good eats.
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  • buzd504
    buzd504 Posts: 3,824
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    shadowcaster said:
    The amount of time I threw sheepshead back because my old man told me they were a garbage fish. The day I kept one and ate it I wanted to kick his a$$ for misleading me!

    Yep, people would use them for crab bait.  They are a pain to clean, but one of my favorite fish.  @Eggpharmer 's suggestion about hobo packs is a good one.  That's the best way I've had it prepared.
    NOLA
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  • D_Train
    D_Train Posts: 47
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    Are we talking freshwater drum? I catch those all the time around here fishing for walleyes and I know no one who keeps them, myself included. They have a reputation for poor table fare in MN.
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  • NEWB_IN_NOLA
    NEWB_IN_NOLA Posts: 135
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    We used to always throw them out or as mentioned above stick them in crab boil because (a) they are a pain to clean and (b) we had an abundance of spec trout, redfish and flounder.

    @LittleSteven - Restaurants have been pushing sheepshead because it is a cheaper fish.  Also black drum has basically been used in all restaurants in lieu of redfish since 2007.  Even when the menu lists redfish, you are getting black drum.
    "America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland." -Tennessee Williams
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