It Really Works #1 - Grilling Fish

I was in Costco the other day buying this and that and walked by the fish area and saw packages of trout that had just been put out, i.e. hadn’t been sitting in the cooler for 6 days. They looked pretty fresh. Four large trout are a lot for one person to eat, but Lois is traveling this week, so I am on my own; it’s meat (or fish) pig-out time!

I decided to grill the trout. Now I have usually been reluctant to grill fish directly on the grill, especially delicate fish like salmon or trout. It’s too easy for it all to stick to the grill and have a real mess. All the books say clean the grill and then lightly oil it to prevent sticking but that doesn’t seem to work that well.

A few weeks ago I was watching “America’s Test Kitchen” and saw this tip on how to properly prepare a grill for cooking fish:

1. Heat the grill to the max – really burn off all that crud left from the last time you did that steak or chicken. I mean torch the sucker! Till its just turned to white ash.
2. Now scrub it good and hard with a wire brush until it is completely clean.
3. Oil it. Not once, but 7, 8 or 10 times. Get a bowl of vegetable oil (don’t waste that good olive oil unless that’s all you have), a couple of paper towels bunched up and your tongs. Rub on the oil, do it again, and again, and again.

The secret is that just doing it once doesn’t really build up a layer of polymerized oil. But doing it several times does. Now you are ready to grill.

For my trout I just first rinsed the trout. Then dried it completely. Any meat or fish should be completely dry for best browning. Brushed with olive oil and liberally sprinkled with salt, pepper, and garlic power. Don’t forget to season the insides.

Now lay the fish on the well seasoned grill and don’t disturb for 3-5 minuters. The fish should easily be flipped over for another 3-5 minutes and you are done. Crisply skin and no sticking.

It Really Works!