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Cooking fish on the grill

It takes time to acquire skill with fish on the grill

Learning to grill seafood to everyone's satisfaction may take some trials and result in a few errors.

If seafood on the barbie is new to you, start small with shrimp, scallops or salmon, all of which cook quickly and don't require much adornment. When you get more adept, go for the whole fish or oysters, clams and mussels.

Whole fish must be cooked longer and at low temperatures to make sure it's cooked through but not burned. Direct, high flames are never good for any seafood.

Capt. Blair Wiggins, host of the show “Addictive Fishing” on Fox Sports Network, shared his tips for grilling the catch of the day.

“One of my secrets is, I always spray the grill down really good with regular Pam or olive oil Pam,” he said. “And the one thing you don't want to do is overcook seafood, because it will taste like fish jerky.”

Oiling the grilling grate before you start the fire is important because unlike beef or chicken, seafood will fall apart with a lot of pushing and pulling. A hinged wire grilling basket is a worthwhile investment, and that should be oiled, too. Don't use melted butter unless you want to see flames erupt and char your seafood.

Overcooking is difficult to avoid, because seafood cooks so quickly. Shrimp, even jumbo prawns, will be done in five to seven minutes over a hot fire. As soon as they become crimson and opaque, take them off the heat. Holdover heat within will continue to cook them.

Fish is done when it's opaque all the way through and is easily flaked with a fork or knife. A thin filet cooks quicker than a thick-cut fish steak, which cooks faster than a whole fish.

Wiggins is sort of a “dump” cook when it comes to grilling fish. He goes through his pantry in search of spices and herbs that look good: salt, pepper, parsley, basil, oregano, red pepper flakes, whatever.

Take for example, his favorite preparation for sea trout:
“Put it in foil, seal it up with lemon, butter, onion, whatever spices you like to have,” he said. “Put that on the grill and it will puff up like Jiffy popcorn.”

There are lots of recipes for seafood marinades, but Wiggins, a true man of the sea, doesn't use them. “If you are marinating, you're making the fish taste like something else,” he said. “I want my fish to taste like fish.”

The only seafood that Wiggins says he won't chance to the grill is yellowfin tuna, because it is so easily overcooked. He likes his seared on the outside and still cool-pink in the middle.

“Once you overcook tuna, it's time to give it to the cat,” he said.

Though we do like our cats, we would rather not spend $13.99 a pound to feed them, and we suspect you might feel the same way.

Here are a few more tips for seafood grilling success.

Don't get hung up on fresh or frozen. There is nothing wrong with frozen fish if it has been handled correctly. In fact, most fish is at least partly frozen, especially when it's caught on a long-haul trip. What is inferior is fish that smells funky or looks mushy. If you detect an odor other than the sea, pass it by.

Consider a simple treatment. Jumbo prawns are pretty wonderful on their own; a brush with melted butter, minced garlic and dried oregano is really as much as you'll need. Likewise fish fillets. Salt and lemon bring out their best.

Shrimp and scallops are better cooked on skewers. Soak bamboo skewers in water for about 30 minutes before using.

Turn fish just once. Flipping it back and forth, while fun, will make it fall apart.

Minimize marinading. If you disagree with the captain and want to marinate your seafood, don't soak it for more than 30 minutes or the flesh will become mushy.

And here are two suggestions to overcome potentially fatal flaws:

Have a luscious tropical salsa on hand in case of overcooking. The juice from the fruit will combat dryness.

And if the seafood sticks to the grill, well, there's always a bed of lettuce waiting for a few savory chunks.

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