The Tastiest Way to Keep Fish From Sticking to the Grill
Grilling a whole fish is an impressive, if a bit intimidating, display of grilling prowess. It’s easy – put the fish on the grill and cook until flaky – but the process is rife with potential mistakes that can make a potential griller a little skittish. The tender skin can stick to the grill and tear, and if you’re not careful with the cooking time, the fish meat can dry out, and no one likes dry fish meat. Wrapping the fish in thin strips of bacon down the middle before grilling will mitigate both of these potential dangers.
Developed by grilling expert and cookbook author Elizabeth Carmel and Ann Maloney of The Washington Post , this method is the perfect way to dive into the world of whole fish grilling. Bacon protects the fish by creating a barrier between its skin and the hot grate, giving it a subtle smoky flavor. It also securely holds any toppings – fresh herbs, lemon wedges, chopped ginger root – inside the fish. Best of all, there is no flipping. Simply season the fish, stuff it with something, wrap it in bacon and let it cook over indirect heat until the bacon is crisp, which takes about 20 minutes.
Don’t worry about buying expensive thick bacon. Carmel recommends thin strips that brown faster, making it less likely you’ll overcook your fish:
“I’m buying a portrait of Oscar Mayer in the center,” she said. Thinner bacon needs about 20 minutes to cool. This way it will wrap around the fish easily and won’t require dirty toothpicks to hold it in place. The center cut is important because it is more compact . Too greasy bacon will shrink during cooking, leaving the fish naked and blotchy.
I bought fish from the local bougie grocery store, which only had thick, rather greasy bacon. I didn’t want to go to a second store so I decided to force it and everything Carmel says about using bacon is true. My bacon shrank towards the head, didn’t get as crispy as I would have liked, and generally took 30 minutes to get crispy.
However, despite the wrong choice of bacon, the pork jerky still did the trick. The fish came off the grill without sticking. It also stayed moist even after an extra 10 minutes of grilling thanks to the addition of moisture from the herbs and bacon.
The taste was as promised – slightly smoky, but not so bacony as to overpower the trout flavor. I still had a good taste of the tarragon that stuffed the fish. All in all, it was a tasty, effortless trout. (So easy, actually, that I was able to do it after gulping down 1 1/2 edibles.)
Another bonus was the ease with which I was able to remove the skin and how cleanly the meat separated from the bones. After eating the first side of the fish, I was able to completely separate its skeleton from the “bottom” side, leaving behind a perfect fillet.
I used trout for this experiment because I live in Oregon and the trout is pretty good here. You can also use branzino or snapper. Look for fish that are around 3/4 lb or lb, as anything smaller will cook long before your bacon is crispy, and anything much larger means you risk scorching the bacon. (The fish at your fish counter is probably already butchered, i.e. cleaned and gutted, but this guide can give you confidence in buying fish if you’re unsure of your terminology.)
Following the recipe from the Washington Post will give great results, although I recommend increasing the amount of bacon per fish from four to five, if not six (another reason to get cheap thin bacon).
Fried fish in bacon
Ingredients:
- Whole fish, each weighing 3/4-1 lb
- 5 strips of thin bacon with a slit in the middle for each fish
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper (I love white pepper)
- Herbs, lemon slices, ginger root, or whatever you’d like to fill your fish with.
Pat the fish dry with paper towels and brush inside and out with olive oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper and fill the cavity with the filling of your choice. Wrap each fish with bacon, starting at the head just behind the veins, slightly overlapping the bacon. The end is about an inch from the end of the tail.
Create a two-zone heating system on a charcoal grill by heating several charcoals with the chimney and stacking them on one side of the grill. If you are using a three-burner gas grill, cover and turn all burners on high, then turn off the middle burner and lower the other two to medium. If your grill only has two burners, heat one burner to medium and leave the other off. Aim for a temperature of 400℉.
Place the fish on the indirect heat zone (side without hot coals or flames) and let cook until the bacon is browned (about 20 minutes). Remove from grill and serve immediately.