Salt Encrusted Whole Red Snapper

bgebrent

Once upon a time I had an amazing dinner with family at a great Spanish restaurant in Louisville.  It was a whole fish cooked encrusted in salt.  Not being sure if the egg was the ideal cooking vessel for such a cook, I decided to try this.  Stuffed the snapper with Meyer lemons, fresh thyme and pepper.  Lemon zest and thyme in the sea salt crust.  A couple pieces of grapevine for a kiss of smoke.  This worked spectacularly.  Grilled Meyer lemon and olive oil finish.  Moist, tender, buttery snapper.  N said “this is absolutely delicious”.  I’ll take that. Not much smoke but a do over.  Cheers.

dmourati

Wow. Awesome idea. I've never seen fish done that way before. I think fish on the egg is severely underrated. 

RustyBeavers

Incredible, Snapper is one of our favorite fishes. 

johnnyp

Cool cook. Thanks for sharing

johnmitchell

Great cook Brent..Awesome plated pic..

Botch

Beautiful cook, @Brent.
May I ask, what you mixed with the salt as a binder?  I've only done this once (beef tenderloin) and used a recipe that (iirc) used egg whites.  It stalled out my Kitchenaid Artisan, and I had to finish kneading the "salt dough" by hand, and was pouring with sweat by the time it was finished (this was pre-Christmas dinner in a dress shirt + tie).  I haven't done even a salt-encrusted pretzel since.  

JohnInCarolina

Looks great brother!

JohnnyTarheel

Now that makes a statement... great cook

YukonRon

Ceviche?
I have read about the salt encrusted methods, but just not there yet.
Great looking cook, the salt may have galvinized the fish from the smoke, as it seals the moisture in, and some of the cooking is done with the citrus and heat.
I dunno. Great meal with or without the smoke.
You just keep bringing it home with big grand slams.

abtaylor260

That looks amazing. There was an episode of man fire foot where a guy does pork belly like that and smokes it.

bgebrent

Botch said:

Beautiful cook, @Brent.
May I ask, what you mixed with the salt as a binder?  I've only done this once (beef tenderloin) and used a recipe that (iirc) used egg whites.  It stalled out my Kitchenaid Artisan, and I had to finish kneading the "salt dough" by hand, and was pouring with sweat by the time it was finished (this was pre-Christmas dinner in a dress shirt + tie).  I haven't done even a salt-encrusted pretzel since.  

Brother Botch, beyond the seasonings, juice of one Meyer lemon, one egg white and enough water to almost become a paste.  Probably 1/2 C water in 2# of salt.  I mixed with a fork.  Was just guessing but it was perfect.  Thanks.

bgebrent

YukonRon said:

Ceviche?
I have read about the salt encrusted methods, but just not there yet.
Great looking cook, the salt may have galvinized the fish from the smoke, as it seals the moisture in, and some of the cooking is done with the citrus and heat.
I dunno. Great meal with or without the smoke.
You just keep bringing it home with big grand slams.

Thanks Ron.  I thought the smoke wouldn’t happen but had to try.  Appreciate your kind words.

YukonRon

No expert, but just curious, because I do not really know.....
Do you think the pan utilized may have adversely impacted the absorbtion of the smoke? Would the use of a perforated pan might make a difference?
Either way, that fish on my plate would have been talked about as the best I ever had, with the plate clean, in a humiliating, short time.

Canugghead

Absolutely love it!

HendersonTRKing

That is a sight to behold!  Cool technique. Looks delish!

lousubcap

Another inspirational cook right there.  Great adaptation and result. Congrats.  
BTW-what was your finish temp if you care to share the key to the finish? 

bgebrent

YukonRon said:

No expert, but just curious, because I do not really know.....
Do you think the pan utilized may have adversely impacted the absorbtion of the smoke? Would the use of a perforated pan might make a difference?
Either way, that fish on my plate would have been talked about as the best I ever had, with the plate clean, in a humiliating, short time.

Ron, I believe it was the small amount of smoke wood, 1/4” moist salt crust and short cook, 35’.  Didn’t matter.  I expected minimal to no smoke.  That’s what I got.

Killit_and_Grillit

Awesome cook, Brent. I tried one a few months ago after seeing it in a Mallman cook. 

I didnt get much smoke either (I used some fruit wood) and no pan. Laid it on a banana leaf. 

Maybe it would have done better in a Traeger 

bgebrent

lousubcap said:

Another inspirational cook right there.  Great adaptation and result. Congrats.  
BTW-what was your finish temp if you care to share the key to the finish? 

Thanks Cap!  I did not temp the fish.  Gleaned from a couple similar cooks I read and went with my gut.  Probably 145 finish temp if I had to guess.

lousubcap

Thanks-as I take fish to around 140*F or so but that's primarily for salmon.  I have to change up the species.  

bgebrent

lousubcap said:

Thanks-as I take fish to around 140*F or so but that's primarily for salmon.  I have to change up the species.  

140-150 works well for fish and lobster.  Branch out my friend.  Snapper is delicious.

DoubleEgger

Neat cook Brent 

Sea2Ski

salt encrusted. A very neat cook.  Never did one. Certainly an impressive presentation, but is it worth the work? Or can you get the same enjoyable result another way? Regardless, looks like a great meal that was fun to do.

bgebrent said:

140-150 works well for fish and lobster.  Branch out my friend.  Snapper is delicious.

Yes it is my friend.  Yes  it   is.

StillH2OEgger

Jeez, do you ever just cook a hot dog (-: This looks like another home run!

caliking

Superb. I'm kinda jealous.

bgebrent

StillH2OEgger said:

Jeez, do you ever just cook a hot dog (-: This looks like another home run!

Yessir, and burgers.  I only post stuff I hope will help others broaden their repertoire.  Thanks.

bgebrent

caliking said:

Superb. I'm kinda jealous.

Thanks Ashish!

bgebrent

Sea2Ski said:

salt encrusted. A very neat cook.  Never did one. Certainly an impressive presentation, but is it worth the work? Or can you get the same enjoyable result another way? Regardless, looks like a great meal that was fun to do.

bgebrent said:

140-150 works well for fish and lobster.  Branch out my friend.  Snapper is delicious.

Yes it is my friend.  Yes  it   is.

Worth it Mark.  Just another great treatment of good fish.

bluebird66

Beautiful cook!

Jupiter Jim

I'm speechless!

buzzvol

Got a try this.  Looks great!