Whole Fish BBQ Recipe Today marks the final phase in my quest to get more people to cook whole fish at home

The beauty of cooking whole fish is that it’s one of the easiest things to do in the world. It’s also one of the best ways of guaranteeing you get a fresh fish, since the signs of freshness are much more apparent on a whole fish than they are on a fillet. Plus, it’s usually cheaper, even after you’ve accounted for the weight of the bones and head.

In terms of absolute ease, nothing beats roasting a whole fish: It’s as simple as throwing it in the oven. (And, now that I’ve shown you how to serve a cooked whole fish without hacking it to bits, there’s nothing to fear at all!) But in terms of flavor, I have to say that grilled whole fish is my favorite. That dry, intense grill heat does wonders for the skin, making it crisp and crackly. And cooking over hardwood coals adds that extra dimension of flavor.

But I have to admit, grilling a whole fish is a little harder than roasting, mostly because if the fish sticks to the grill grate, things can get kinda messy. Still, as long as you know a few key tricks, you shouldn’t have any trouble. Here’s what you need to know to become a fish-grilling master in no time.

The first question is whether to use one of those fish-grilling baskets or not. I’ve tested it both ways, and the answer is that it’s up to you, because you won’t go wrong with a fish basket, but you also don’t need one to grill a fish successfully.

The nice thing about the basket is that it makes turning the fish on the grill foolproof, and it holds the whole thing together well, which can be handy if you’ve stuffed the cavity with aromatics and you’re worried about them spilling out.

But it’s also one more piece of equipment to buy, store, and clean. The basket can also take up additional space on the grill, so if you’re trying to cook more than one thing at a time, it can eat up some valuable grill-grate real estate. And the truth is, if you know the below tricks to grilling a fish, you really don’t have to use one of these.

The first thing you need to do when grilling fish is get both the fish and the grill ready. I like to set the grill up for two-zone grilling, so that I have the option of moving the fish from a hotter area of the grill to a cooler one, depending on how it’s cooking. Generally speaking, 

I find that starting out over the higher-heat area of the grill is better for whole fish, since, just like in a skillet, the fish’s skin is less likely to stick to a very hot surface. But if it’s a big fish, and I find that the skin is nicely charred but the fish hasn’t fully cooked through yet, I want to be able to shift it over to the cooler side to finish cooking without the skin burning.

The next thing is to clean and oil the grill grate thoroughly. This is a step that we encourage for all grilling, but it’s even more important with fish—since fish is more delicate, it’s more likely to tear if it sticks to the grill, and a dirty, un-oiled grill grate is a heck of a lot more likely to stick to the fish than a blazing-hot, clean, oiled one.

Last, I like to prep my fish by taking it out of the refrigerator about 20 or 30 minutes before I cook it so that it can come to room temperature. Condensation is more likely to form on the skin of an icy-cold fish, and a wet fish is more likely to stick to the grill. 

Once the fish has lost its icebox chill, I pat it dry thoroughly to remove any excess moisture on the skin, stuff the cavity with aromatics, and season it inside and out with salt and pepper. Then I rub the whole thing down with oil, once again to help prevent sticking.