whole red snapper

Unknown

My wife want me to do a 21/2 to 3 lb. whole red snapper. I tried one and oil it and it stuck like crazy to the grill.....what happened?...too hot, overcooked?????help.....thanks,

mad max beyond eggdome

nodock,
did you oil the fish, or oil the grid??. . .[p]one of steve reichlin's good pieces of advice regarding grids is "clean, hot, oiled". ...[p]make sure you grid is clean. . .then make sure it is hot. ..then take some bunced up paper towels in a pair of tongs, dip it in oil (olive/veggie/whatever), and rub the towels across your grid. ...then put your food on. . .if you only had oil on the fish, then i think it just acts like glue to adhere your food to the grid. ...HTH

Unknown

nodock,
You made fish glue [p]I've never done a whole red snapper, but I have done several whole fish of various species (salt- and fresh-water), various fillets, etc.[p]the best results I got were by wrapping the fish in parchment (not wax paper) with some spices, lemon, onions, what have you (stuffing the cavity on whole fish with lots of fresh dill and tarragon is also a classic), and doing it at around 325 indirect for roughly 30 minutes (this will vary acording to the fish and cut of fish)- you wind up with a very light smoke taste and amazingly succulent flesh; I've also done some direct and without the parchment, but I preferred it "en papillote" - it's also fun to cut open the envelope and there's this whole beautiful fish[p]FWIW, I would avoid using tomatoes in the cook, and keeping the lemon content down to a few drops of juice or in lemon-pepper - that's how you make ceviche, and I think it might be OK, but that's not what the aim is, here

Lucky Duck

nodock,
A guy gave me some fishy advice some time ago... He said: Oil the fish, oil the clean grill... Pam works too. Cook at med to med high, depends on the thickness. Now here it is... Ready? Leave it on the grill 'til it comes loose by itself. Yes. Turn it once and leave it 'til it comes loose by itself. Five, six minutes to the inch pretty much works for time. Don't use a spatula, use tongs and grab it now and then to see if it is loose. I have done tuna, halibut, salmon. swordhish and some rockfish and it always works for me. Thin delicate fish like flounder won't work on any grill bacause of it's delicate nature. I did salmon the other hight w/ a horseradisn sauce and it was terrific. No sticking at all. [p]Phil, D' hopefully helpful Duck

Photo Egg

nodock,
The other trick I have used is to use rubber grill gloves to place the fish on the grill. Place the fish on the grill slow and slide the fish back and forth as you go with the grain of the grate. This will crust the oiled area touching the grate and avoid turning till first side is done. I like to off set my fish a little on the grate so when I flip I hit fresh oiled grate again with same slow sliding drop again.
I have not done this with large soft filets but whole snapper and salmon work well.
Darian

Nature Boy

Very sound advice Phil. A good clean oiled hot grate and the fish will release itself (mostly anyway) when the surface of the meat crusts over. It takes a little practice to get it right, but I really like fish with some good browning on it. [p]Beers
Chris

Unknown

mad max beyond eggdome,[p]Sounds kind of nit-picky (eveb to me) but can you define "clean"? Is it just scaping off the gunk from the last cook or is it washing it with soap and water to get down to the enamel? I have a horrible time with salmon (which I love on the egg) as the whole piece of skin sticks, not just part of it but every single morsel. It is nasty to clean off, especially when forgotten in the laundry room .....boy, does fish stink when left overnight...LOL[p]Howard

mad max beyond eggdome

Howard,
nah, it just means scraped/brushed good and clean. .. .i've had my eggs for years now, and i've never washed the grids. ..