I have not been very good at flipping whole fish on the grill. We are big believers in flipping proteins to cook them evenly and quickly. As the heat radiates upward through the grill grates, the fish cooks quickly on the bottom, while the top cooks much more slowly. So, if you don’t turn the fish, you are doomed to an unevenly cooked meal. This isn’t easily done because the fish tends to become somewhat fragile as it cooks. If you try to flip it without encasing the fish in a rack, it tends to fall apart. If you use a cage, it tends to get a little beat up and stick to wires.
As we contemplated a beautiful Blackfish, we began thinking about beer can chickens and the numerous devices designed for cooking them. I first tried balancing the fish on top of our beer can chicken stand. This was not a success. Then I took the tines from our toaster oven’s rotisserie attachment and attached them to the beer can stand. Now I was able to fill the base with citrus and aromatics and balance the fish on top. We brushed the fish with olive oil and carefully placed the whole thing in our grill on high heat and gently closed the lid. The skin crisped and blistered, and the meat cooked beautifully, becoming tender and juicy. It was a great first run and has me looking into how to make our own whole fish grilling apparatus.
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