does everybody filet?

[stupidjet]

does everybody filet their fish? i find myself gutting, scalling, and throwing the whole damn thing on the grill more often than fileting. i just hate seeing so much meat go to waste, even though probably the same amount does when i'm picking at the whole thing

[Too Busy]

I filet. I can do it faster than cleaning and scaling with a lot less mess

[justinfisch01]

I also strictly filet, I don't feel like scaling the dame things

[bluerunner]

there's not much meat wasted after i filet a fish, only thing left is bones and guts.

[rgking03]

Depends on what kinda fish it is.. Mostly filet. Two quick swipes verses cutting,scaling and then gutting.. Too much work!!!

[Jesse Lockowitz]

there's not much meat wasted after i filet a fish, only thing left is bones and guts.

yep

all depends of the fish though for me..occasionally a whole/headless/gutted pompano on the grill is pretty tasty, do that a few times a year with sheep too.


fillet+skin= my favorite..no bones..and if u know how to fillet, u dont waste anything.



jesse

[UnknownFish]

theres good eating meat up against the bone on alot of fish so what i have been doing lately is butterflying my fish, after you cook the fish you can just peel the bones straight out with no wasted meat, tog on the other hand i fillet those cause the are a pita to try to scale.

[Too Busy]

agree with too busy -- also don't like picking thru the bones when eating -- bout the only thing i clean & scale is freshwater trout

I don't even scale freshwater trout. I gut 'em, pat dry and wrap with aluminum foil before I toss on the grill or on a low fire
When I pull back the foil, then skin comes away with it:D
Eat down the back bone, then grab the head and gently lift. The eniter skeleton comes away clean.:D
Then eat down to the skin attached to the rest of the foil.

[jcreamer]

Depends on the size of the fish. Crappies and smaller fish I do not fillet.

[Coast'n]

I fillet.. but it is more of a convienience and long term storage thing than a taste or work issue. I believe that fish taste better when gutted and cooked whole. You have a natural wrapper in the skin and the flesh near the bone will have more taste. Think about a pork chop or steak with the bone in or out. The bone in cut tastes better. I usually vaccum seal my fish and am afraid that the open cavity will lead to freezer burn. A good sized striper whole in the oven or on the grill would be a good thanksgiving dinner.

[HellRhaY]

whole thing, but most of the time i butterfly them.

[TreednNC]

there's not much meat wasted after i filet a fish, only thing left is bones and guts.

x3

[Coast'n]

If you do filet you can make a fish stock to use for fish soup, Jambalya or Gumbo by simmering the skeleton in a pot. I do this with striper. Freeze in a bowl then vaccum seal.

[RuddeDogg]

Boss Dogg does the filleting. I have to say she is just better at it than me. Striper, flounder, weakies and such get filleted. Blues we keep whole for the mako bite.

[clinder]

HellRhay -- i think i have an idea of what you mean, but how does one butterfly a fish? (i'm thinking so that it can be opened, exposing cavity, allowing both sides of fish to be cooked at same time, with spine still intact?-is this close?)

thats exactly right. I filet most larger species. Smaller ones get cooked whole minus guts and scales. I also take into consideration the method of cooking before cleaning. Frying ...fileted//// Broiled..... mostly cooked whole.... blackened....steaked.Just my quarter clean your fish based on the method of preperation.:)

[surfchunker]

from spots and bluegills and everything on up ... no bones in this house either and I don't waste any fileting either ... I love my electric filet knife but can use a reg. one too ..... if it's not big enough to filet it's bait ......

[nine ought]

Since I have young kids in the house who like fish, I pretty much fillet everything to make sure they don't swallow a bone.

I gotta agree with fishbait!!

But if it was up to me i'd grill the whole darn thing "head on".;)

[barty b]

Pretty much what Jesse and Clinder said.