| | Great Tips for Seafood & Fish Grilling | | | | | Lately, the grilling fish and seafood has become a more main stream alternative to beef steaks, pork chops and poultry items such as chicken or duck.
Unfortunately, the rules that apply to the grilling of meats don’t always apply to fish and particularly seafood, mainly because seafood, unlike most meats, lacks the fat and abundant moisture that meats have. In addition, typically, seafood such as shrimp, scallops and even lobster, are smaller pieces and more easily overcooked than steaks.
For example, if you have cooked shrimp yourself on the grill, or have had shrimp cooked by others, what you’ve probably experienced is shrimp that are tough, dry and somewhat flavorless.
It doesn’t have to be that way though. And Nino’s is here to help.
Before we leave you with a number of helpful guides and primers to give you ALL the information you’ll need to remedy any fish or seafood grilling dilemma, let us start by giving you some of the most helpful tips right up front.
1. The best grilling temperature for fish and seafood is MEDIUM HIGH to HOT. Not sure what that is? Check our Summer Fish Grilling Flyer.
2. Be sure to have ALL the utensils and supplies at the ready before you begin grilling. Especially with fish and shellfish, you won’t have the time to be searching for a spatula or pair of tongs once the products are on the “barbie”.
3. Seafood, ESPECIALLY shrimp, cook VERY FAST! The MINIMUM size you should use for most grilling are 21/25 Count, even then, you can’t stick a thermometer in shrimp to know when they’re done (they’re still too small for a thermometer to read accurately), so you need to know what to look for so you’ll know they’re actually cooked (which by the way only takes moments, not minutes.)
Still not sure? Click here for Nino’s Guide to Grilling to give you more information. You’ll be looking for an opaque, firm flesh. Again, it only takes moments.
We’re not kidding.
4. And nothing is more annoying or frustrating than having food that sticks to your grill. Keep your grill clean, well brushed, bring it to the FULL (correct) temperature then use a non-stick vegetable spray on BOTH your product and the grill to ensure you have food that doesn’t stick.
5. Turn the product over just once and NEVER press down on anything on the grill; it squeezes the precious juices and flavor out of the food.
6. Always use tongs and NEVER stab the food on the grill with a fork or skewer, skewering any product, punctures the flesh and opens a faucet of juices that smokes up the grill and leaves you with a dry, flavorless product.
7. Even fish and shellfish benefit from a moments rest before serving. This 3 to 5 minute time period helps the fish or shellfish to re-hydrate and equalize the distribution of moisture throughout the portion.
8. If you’re using a pre-marinated fish like Nino’s Fresh Flavor Fillets™, be sure to grab one of our easy cooking method cards for the fish you are grilling. Each card gives you specific instructions to optimize the enjoyment of each product. You can also find them ALL on line if you happened to have forgotten to pick one up. Safe to say, one of the key steps is to wipe off any excess marinate from the product and spray well with a non-stick vegetable spray before grilling. The extra marinate can be used for basting or brought to a simmer in a small pan and used to top as a sauce.
As promised, we have additional Guides, Flyers and Primers to give you more GREAT grilling information!
• Nino’s Shrimp Guide “Who You Callin’ a Shrimp?”
• Nino’s Shellfish Primer
• Tips for Cooking Lobster Tails
And a cooking show information and recipe package we created for a live cooking show entirely about Shellfish!
• Selfish for Shellfish
Have a GREAT season of grilling from your friends at Nino’s! |
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Recipes & More 