Despite our shared last name, my grandmother hated cooking. She was infamous in our family for using her oven as a cabinet for potato chips and sliced bread. And yet, when I helped clean out the kitchen after she died, I found dozens of mid-century kitchen implements I couldn’t hope to name. A fork with eight tines. An Iron Maiden the size of an egg. A terrifying vessel shaped like the decapitated head of a winking, coquettish cat.

The most intriguing of these was a corrugated stainless-steel blade with an overhead Bakelite handle. It looked like a funhouse guillotine. 

“It’s a crinkle-cutter,” my mom scoffed. 

So, yes: a funhouse guillotine. 

At the time, I thought of crinkle-cutting largely as a retro affectation, or a patronizing method for making vegetables more palatable to kids. But the benefits of a crinkle-cutter are more than aesthetic. Crinkle-cutting maximizes surface area, boosting texture, crunch, and condiment absorption for all kinds of foods—fries, carrots, pickles, and much more.

Now, I recognize crinkle-cutting as the domain of serious cooks and eaters. Once you experience the dip-smuggling power of a crinkle-cut carrot, you’ll never want to put a boring, smooth carrot stick on a relish tray again.

The Life-Changing Magic of Crinkle-Cutting

When weighing when to crinkle-cut, think like an engineer. There’s a reason you see corrugated metal on roofs and pole barns and corrugated cardboard in shipping materials. Corrugations make materials stronger and stiffer. Crinkle-cutting foods can similarly improve their crunch, rigidity, and grip.

Because of its surface-area-boosting powers, crinkle-cutting is especially beneficial for roasted or fried foods, where you want to maximize crispness and crunch. I’ve used mine for cottage fries, French fries, thick-cut Saratoga chips—even roasted and grilled potato slices. The ridges also offer more pockets for spices and sauces to settle into, boosting flavor along with texture. 

But the benefits go beyond roasted and fried food. Crinkle-cutting can boost crunch (and visual interest) in a giardiniera or Mexican escabeche. It can also give raw or slippery fruits and vegetables more grip: A crinkle-cut pickle chip is less likely to slide off your burger between bites; a crinkle-cut banana slice is less likely to ooze out of your Elvis-style peanut butter sandwich.

I’ve even come around to crinkle-cutting purely for aesthetic charm. Does it make foods look like they teleported from the Atomic Age? Sure. But we’re post-modernist cuisine now: A little kitsch is good. I recommend slicing hard-boiled eggs with a crinkle-cutter to make especially pretty deviled eggs, or adding corrugated slices of carrots and cukes to a mayonnaise-slicked Midwestern pasta salad.

Will It Crinkle-Cut?

The answer to “Will it crinkle-cut?” is usually “Yes.” The guardrails are pretty clear. You should not use a crinkle-cutter to flense a delicate fish, or to debone a chicken (unless the chicken has really weird bones). 

But some exceptions are less obvious. I don’t recommend crinkle-cutting most alliums—a wavy cutter will wreak havoc on the cell walls of garlic and onions, releasing more of their sharp and sulfurous flavor compounds. I also avoid crinkle-cutting delicate foods like tomatoes, as the cutter is more likely to crush them than slice them.

Crinkle-cutters, like serrated knives, dull over time and can be particularly tough to sharpen at home. That means I don’t bust out my hand-me-down cutter for any task that requires paper-thin slices or a razor-sharp blade. 

My vintage funhouse guillotine isn’t the only way to crinkle, of course. Wavy blades are available for many mandoline slicers and food processors, and they can help achieve thinner, more uniform slices. But I favor the hand-held varieties for one reason—they’re more versatile, especially if you want to use your cutter for more decorative work or garnishes. How else could one achieve the intricate cuts necessary to make webbed carrot feet for a squash goose? 

I don’t know whether my grandmother ever made a squash goose. I’m not sure she used the crinkle-cutter at all (I know she used the terrifying cat vessels). But I’m grateful to her for the introduction. We can all benefit from the crinkle-cutter’s texture-amping abilities. But we can also benefit from its aesthetic reminder: We should all keep playing with our food.

The world of cooked sugar is a magical realm. The temperature to which sugar is heated, along with the ingredients it’s combined with, can produce wildly different textures and flavors. Sugar crystals transform into many beloved confections through caramelization, the breakdown of sugars as they heat, changing both their color and flavor.

Caramel, butterscotch, and toffee are all made using the same cooking technique and are often mistaken for one another. These sweets demonstrate how subtle variations—such as the addition of milk, cream, or butter, and the precise temperature at which cooking is stopped—can produce different flavors and textures. 

To better understand the differences among caramel, butterscotch, and toffee, I spoke with Nathan Myhrvold, the author of Modernist Cuisine, and Nik Sharma, a Serious Eats contributor, cookbook author, and editor in residence at America’s Test Kitchen. Here’s what I learned about the differences, plus the best uses for each of these sticky sweets.

Caramel

Ingredient: Granulated sugar
Cooking Temperature: Recipes range from about 250 to 350°F (121 to 175°C), depending on the desired result

Caramel is made by heating granulated sugar (white sugar) until it melts and caramelizes. There are two main techniques: dry caramel and wet caramel. Dry caramel is made by heating sugar on its own, without added liquids,  while wet caramel starts with sugar dissolved in water. The temperature you cook it to will determine the final flavor and texture: The longer the cook time the tk the flavor.  Luxurious caramel sauces and soft, chewy candies are created by adding cream and butter at the end of caramelization. 

Cooking caramel requires a watchful eye. Even the most experienced chefs have scorched or crystallized a batch. As sugar cooks, its flavors deepen and become more complex— but there’s a fine line between beautifully caramelized and burned. Myhrvold recommends caramelizing sugar in a small pan to reduce the chances of burning, explaining that it can be difficult to heat a large pan evenly, resulting in parts of the sugar cooking too quickly. Making caramel well requires precision: Taking the sugar to just the right amber shade will reward you with rich,  nutty, and malty flavors.  

Sharma explains that sugar naturally wants to crystallize and will seize any chance to revert to that state during cooking. Adding acid, such as lemon juice or cream of tartar, can help stabilize the mixture by preventing crystallization. If your sugar does crystallize, the good news is it’s just sugar. If a batch goes wrong, toss it out and simply try again. 

Caramel is an incredibly versatile ingredient. As Myhrvold notes, how you intend to use it will determine the ingredients you add. Whisking cream into caramel at the end of cooking helps maintain a fluid consistency once cooled, which is ideal for sauces and incorporating into buttercreams. Iconic caramel-based desserts include caramel cake, tarte Tatin, crème caramel, and millionaire’s shortbread.

Butterscotch

Ingredients: Sugar (typically brown) and butter
Cooking Temperature: Approximately 234 to 265°F (112 to 129°C), depending on desired result

Butterscotch stands apart from other caramelized confections because it typically is made with brown sugar instead of granulated sugar, and butter is always included during the cooking process. As Sharma explains, brown sugar— which is either partially refined sugar that retains some molasses or white sugar coated with molasses—has a higher moisture content, which makes it more difficult to burn, and a natural acidity that makes it less prone to crystallization. 

Butterscotch can take many forms, including sauce, candy, or pudding. Butterscotch pudding is a classic preparation made by tempering egg yolks with milk or cream, then incorporating them back into the butterscotch base. Warm butterscotch sauce, with its viscous texture, is a great topping for cakes, ice cream, and other desserts. And of course, there are butterscotch hard candies—instantly recognizable by their canary yellow wrappers— which are made without milk or cream, so they have a less rich flavor than other butterscotch confections. 

To make butterscotch, you whisk butter and brown sugar together on the stove until it reaches your desired temperature: Cooking the mixture to the soft ball stage (234 to 240°F/112 to 115°C) will give you a pourable sauce; taking it to the hard ball stage (240 to 265°F/115 to 129°C) will provide you with chewy candies. 

Despite the inclusion of “scotch” in its name, there’s no Scotch in butterscotch. Butterscotch reportedly originated in Yorkshire, England, in the mid-19th century. According to an entry in Britannica, “scotching” may refer to the practice of scoring the candy while still warm, making it easier to break into pieces once hardened. Others suggest it’s simply a nod to Scotland.

Toffee

Ingredients: Sugar (typically brown) and butter
Temperature: Approximately 300 to 335°F (148 to 168°C)

Toffee distinguishes itself from caramel and butterscotch in one key way: It’s typically served as a hard candy. The process begins much like butterscotch—by caramelizing sugar with butter—and then the mixture is taken to the hard crack stage of  300 to 335°F (148 to 168°C). The higher temperature produces a deeper, more complex flavor and gives toffee its signature nuttiness and brittle snap. When toffee is prepared as a sauce, as in sticky toffee pudding, the addition of molasses and/or heavy cream helps prevent it from hardening, resulting in a smooth, pourable consistency.

Toffee candies are often enhanced with chocolate or nuts, which complement its rich flavor. At Dandelion Chocolate in San Francisco, one of the most popular confections is their Cocoa Nib Toffee, coated in delicate, fruity 70% Zorzal Comunitario chocolate from the Dominican Republic. Pastry chef Zach Juliano explains that they make their toffee with a blend of brown and granulated sugars emulsified with local clover butter, which provides the confection with a more complex flavor than one made with just granulated sugar alone. The butter’s fat content amplifies the sugar’s nutty caramelized flavor, while the chocolate’s fruitiness, paired with sea salt and cocoa nibs, helps round out the confection’s sweetness.

Key Takeaways

Caramel, butterscotch, and toffee each showcase the magic of caramelized sugar, and reveal how variations in temperature, timing, and ingredients can lead to dramatically different results. 

Caramel is cooked to the highest temperature of the three, and is typically used as a sauce or flavor base for other desserts. It is usually made solely with granulated (white) sugar and develops a deep, rich complexity as it approaches the caramel stage.

Butterscotch is cooked to the lowest temperature and always includes butter. Brown sugar is typically used, giving butterscotch its signature sweetness and nutty flavor.  Butterscotch is often made into candies or sauces. 

Similar to butterscotch, toffee is made with butter and sugar but cooked to the hard crack stage, which gives it its brittle texture and deeper, more nuanced flavor. 

Cooking sugar requires patience and precision. A good candy thermometer, a watchful eye, and all your ingredients lined up before you start are essential. With a solid recipe and a bit of care, success with caramel, butterscotch, and toffee can be yours.

The package instructions on most rice will tell you to rinse the grains before cooking them, but if you’ve been tempted to skip this step—or if you have skipped this step, only to be left with a bowl of gummy rice—you’re not alone. You might be wondering why people in the know consider it so important to wash rice, or if it’s always necessary. Here, we’ll cover the facets of making perfect rice, including why you should wash your rice, when to wash it, and how. Read on for perfectly textured grains in your fried rice, pilafs, biryanis, and so much more.

Why should you wash rice?

When rice makes the journey from paddy to grocery store to your home, with a few stops along the way, the grains rub against each other, resulting in a layer of starch that coats the outside of each individual grain. When you cook rice without rinsing it beforehand, that excess starch makes the grains stick together, forming into one gluey mass. Rinsing rice also helps remove any grit or tiny broken pieces that might have made their way into the package.

How to wash rice

You’ll need: A bowl that is comfortably larger than the amount of rice you’re cooking and a strainer of some type.

Measure the quantity of rice you’d like to make. Pour it into a large vessel and add enough cold water to completely cover the grains. Agitate the rice with your hands until the water turns murky. Then, pour this starchy water out, using a mesh strainer or small-holed colander to catch the grains of rice. Repeat this step until the water runs clear; the number of rinses will depend on the kind of rice, but usually three or four times is sufficient.

You can also simply place your rice in the strainer and let running water roll over it, but this makes it harder to see when your water goes from starchy and murky to clear.

What types of rice need washing?

Although every kind of white rice will have excess starch around the outside of the grain, the starch content does vary depending on the type of rice. All rice contains two types of starch: amylose and amylopectin. The types of rice that are high in amylopectin and lower in amylose are stickier—think arborio or glutinous rice. In contrast, rices like basmati or jasmine are higher in amylose and lower in amylopectin, so they produce a fluffier, more separated final result.

Every type of white rice should be washed until your water runs clear when you want the end result to have separated, fluffy grains. For dishes where you want the rice to stick together, like risotto or congee, you’ll likely still want to do a light rinse to avoid too much gumminess, but you can skip the thorough washing because, after all, your desired result involves the starchy rice breaking down into a sticky, porridge-like texture.

Nonstick cookware excels in certain situations but teflon and nonstick pans have a low-heat design and slick surface, which makes them not the best choice for all foods. When you attempt to develop a proper crust on meat, you’ll end up with pale, gray protein instead of the caramelized golden-brown color you’re after and worst of all, you may be damaging your pans in the process.

The real problem lies in compatibility. Certain ingredients and cooking methods can rapidly degrade nonstick coatings, causing them to chip, flake or wear away prematurely. High heat, metal utensils and abrasive cleaning can all compromise the surface, potentially contaminating your food with coating particles. What starts as a convenient cooking “hack” can quickly become a safety concern and an expensive replacement cycle. 

We all love easy cleanup as much as the next bloke, but most of your culinary projects fare better in stainless steel, carbon steel or cast iron. These pans impart high surface heat, giving food char, depth and flavor development. I grilled a career cooking teacher to compile the ultimate nonstick no-go list. 

Richard LaMarita is a chef-instructor of Health-Centered Culinary Arts at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. LaMarita describes nonstick cookware, including ceramic, as “niche.” 

“Scrambled or fried eggs, pancakes and fried tofu are great for cooking in nonstick pans,” LaMarita told me via email. “These sticky foods must come out completely without leaving remnants in the pan. Nonstick pans are popular, easy to clean and convenient, and I recommend every cook have one.”

They’re not designed to handle high heat, be placed in the oven or scrubbed vigorously. The coating that makes a pan nonstick can deteriorate faster when confronted with certain foods or cooking techniques.

So, what foods should never be cooked in nonstick cookware? Here’s what Chef LaMarita says. 

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1. Most meat and fish

First are foods that require or desire searing on the outside. When you’re looking for a deep, caramelized crust with good color, such as on a steak, chicken breast, or a piece of salmon, you won’t get the color you want from a nonstick pan. Nonstick is not made to tolerate the high heat required to achieve the desired crust, and its surface is not geared toward developing that crust because of the coating on the pan. 

2. Most vegetables

Much like meat, vegetables need a little char for maximum flavor, and you just won’t get it with a nonstick pan. For zucchini, carrots, onions, asparagus and bok choy, reach for a stainless-steel or cast-iron skillet for best results. 

3. Caramelized food

Do you know about “fond?’ It’s the caramelized, crusty bits of food left on the pan after searing, and it’s the key to big flavor (and happiness). Fond is used to make pan sauces, searing items first, then picking up those beautiful, tasty bits of food and incorporating them into the sauce. For making fond, a nonstick pan will not serve you. There is simply not enough surface heat.

4. Highly acidic foods

Cooking highly acidic foods in nonstick pans is not a good idea. Acidic foods include a tomato sauce, or a dish with a high ratio of vinegar in the pan, such as a braised cabbage, or if there is lemon juice in the cooking process. “Ratatouille is one dish I wouldn’t cook in a nonstick,” LaMarita says. “The acids in this recipe and others will corrode the delicate nonstick surface over time.”

5. Stir-fry, soups, sauces

Along the same lines of wearing down the surface, refrain from cooking foods or dishes that require a fair amount of stirring. A stir-fry, sauce or a dish that demands a lot of tossing and mixing could wear down the surface quickly. “I find that nonstick surfaces wear down eventually, even with proper use, so why speed up that process?”

For more, here’s how to tell if you Teflon pons are Safe, and a complete guide to reheating every type of leftovers.

Turn your chicken breast-side up, with the thighs and drumsticks splayed out closer to you and the wings farther away. Pat dry with paper towels, then use the heel of your hand or hands to press down on the breast and flatten the chicken, until you hear the breast bone crack—the notch you cut makes this easier. Blot both sides of the chicken with a paper towel again to make sure everything is dry, and wash your hands. You now have a fully spatchcocked chicken.

Bonus: How to season and grill a spatchcocked chicken

Photograph by Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., Prop styling by Christina Allen, Food Styling by Thu Buser

There are many ways to prepare a butterflied bird. A brine (wet or dry) is classic for hand-off flavor building, or you can soak it in a marinade. But for a quick summer chicken, a dry rub and a grill are good choices.

For cookbook author Anna Stockwell’s grilled chicken method, you’ll need about 1 Tbsp. Diamond Crystal or 1½ tsp. Morton kosher salt for each chicken you plan on grilling. Add 1½ tsp. brown sugar, which will help to caramelize the skin, and about 1 Tbsp. assorted flavorings, such as finely chopped oregano and lemon zest for a bird that transports you to the Greek islands, or jerk seasoning for a Caribbean-inspired bird. Stockwell also recommends ground coriander, lime zest, freshly ground black pepper, or a bit of cayenne. Rub your spice mix all over the spatchcocked chicken, making sure not to miss the wings or now-exposed interior.

Before transferring the bird to the grill, slide a metal skewer through the breast and another through the thighs. “This is a game-changing move,” Stockwell adds, noting that the technique originally comes from cookbook author J. Kenji López-Alt. It might seem tedious, but it ensures your butterflied chicken stays together when you flip it on the grill.

Like burgers, hot dogs, steaks, and ribs, chicken is often a staple at summer cookouts. Made poorly, grilled chicken can be dry and rubbery. But with the proper technique, grilled chicken can be wonderfully juicy and flavorful. Below, we’ve gathered 19 of our favorite grilled chicken recipes, including classic Indonesian chicken satay, a juicy grilled chicken sandwich, and an exceptional Caesar salad where every component (except for the dressing!) is grilled.

May 2020

Heat your oven: To 350°F (175°C).

Prepare your brisket: Place your total measured amount of salt [see Note] in a small bowl. Trim your brisket, if necessary, so that only a thin layer of fat remains — about 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick. Season it generously on top with salt from the bowl and many grinds of black pepper.

Brown your brisket: Heat a large Dutch oven (this is a 6.5-quart oval; see Note about size options) over high heat with 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil until very hot. Place the whole brisket (if it fits) or the first half of your brisket (if you need to divide it) seasoned side-down into the hot pan then season the second side (now facing up) generously with more salt from the bowl and pepper. Cook until crusty and well-browned on both sides, about 5 to 7 minutes per side, repeating with the second half of brisket if you needed to divide it. Transfer to a plate to rest.

While the brisket browns, prepare your onions: Halve and peel each onion, and slice a generous 1/4-inch thick. You can make quick work of this with your food processor’s slicing blade, should you have one.

Cook the onions: Add the onions to your empty pot, season with salt from the bowl and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions have softened and developed a rich brown color, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Prepare the braise: Remove the pot from the heat. If you need to transfer the onions and garlic to an ovensafe casserole dish, do so now. Place the browned brisket on the onions and pour any juices that accumulated on the plate over it, plus 1 1/2 cups (355 ml) of water. Spread the tomato paste over the top of the brisket as if you were icing a cake. Sprinkle the brisket with additional black pepper and any salt you have left over in your dish. Scatter the carrots in the pan. Cover the pot (or use foil if your pan doesn’t have a lid) and transfer to the oven.

Braise your brisket, choosing your next directions based on when you plan to serve it:

1st schedule: Braise your brisket to serve today: Let the brisket cook, untouched, for 1 1/2 hours then remove from the oven. Carefully transfer the brisket to a cutting board. Using a very sharp knife, thinly slice the brisket across the grain into approximately 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch thick slices. Return the slices to the pot, leaning them slightly so that you can see a bit of the top edge of each slice. If the liquid looks low — ideally, we’d like the liquid 1/3 to halfway up the meat — add another 1/2 cup (120 ml) water at this time. Replace the lid on the pan and return it to the oven for an additional 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours. The brisket is done when you can easily pull a slice apart with a fork.

2nd schedule: Braise your brisket to serve tomorrow or the next day: Let the brisket cook, untouched, for 3 hours then remove from the oven. If the liquid looks low — ideally, we’d like the liquid 1/3 to halfway up the meat — add another 1/2 cup water at this time. The brisket is done when you can easily pull a slice apart with a fork. If it’s not done yet, return it to the oven for another 30 to 60 minutes, i.e. check at 30 for doneness and add final 30 minutes only if necessary.

Chill brisket overnight, or for two nights: Transfer brisket, covered, to the fridge.

About 1 hour before you plan to serve the brisket: Heat oven to 350°F (175°C). Remove the lid from the pot and use a spoon to remove any solidified fat from the top of and around the meat. Carefully transfer the brisket to a cutting board. Using a very sharp knife, thinly slice the brisket across the grain into approximately 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch thick slices. Return the slices to the pot, leaning them slightly so that you can see a bit of the top edge of each slice. Place lid back on pot and warm in oven for 35 to 45 minutes, until slices are hot throughout and the liquid is bubbling.

To serve (either cooking schedule): Serve the sliced brisket, spooning onions and sauce from the pan over each plate.

Notes:

• Let’s talk about timing: Braised brisket is good on the first day but it’s excellent on the second and third days. I always make it in advance when I can. Serving it on the second or third day also allows us to easily de-fat the braise. However, I’m sharing here two schedules just in case you need to make it the day you’re serving it.
• Let’s talk about salt: There is nothing more crushing than cutting into a gorgeously cooked braise that’s filled your home with a meltingly good aroma and finding it bland and underseasoned. I don’t want this to happen for us. As we cannot taste the inside of the meat as we go, our best bet is to actually use a correctly measured amount of salt. I estimate needing 1 teaspoon of Diamond kosher salt per pound of brisket, plus about 1/3 of that extra to account for seasoning the sauce. If the brisket is 6 pounds, I’m probably using 8 teaspoons or 22 grams of salt total. If it’s 7 pounds, 9 1/2 teaspoons or 27 grams total. Using Morton or another brand of kosher salt: 4 3/4 teaspoons total for a 6-pound brisket. Using table salt or a fine sea salt: 3 3/4 teaspoons. Does this sound highly finicky? Yes. But underseasoning makes me sad, as it’s almost impossible to correct later.
• Find the right size pan: Ideally, you’ll want to use a large Dutch oven — here I’m cooking in a black 6.25-quart oval but larger would be welcome too. In the top photo, I’ve reheated about 2/3 of the total brisket in a smaller pan — this 2.25-quart casserole dish in gray. If you don’t have a large pan that can go from stove to oven, simply use your largest skillet instead and transfer to an ovenproof baking dish when you’re done on the stove. If your brisket is too big to fit across the bottom of your Dutch oven or skillet, cut it into two equal halves, as shown here.
• Choosing your brisket: The “first cut” or “flat cut” brisket is the leaner, larger portion of the brisket, often resembling a thicker, larger flank steak, and is located below the fattier “point” or “second cut.” In the UK, brisket is often sold rolled, commonly referred to as “rolled brisket” or “pot roast brisket.” You should unroll it before cooking it here.
• Leftovers: Will keep for up to 6 days from the day you started the braise. Reheat at 350°F (175°C) for about 30 minutes. If it ever looks low on liquid, add another 1/2 cup water.
• Make this brisket in an InstantPot or electric pressure cooker: For 75 to 90 minutes on the meat/stew or “high” setting. Let the pressure naturally release for about 15 minutes.
• Make this brisket in a slow-cooker: Cook it on low for 9 to 10 hours.

Today marks the final phase in my quest to get more people to cook whole fish at home—at least for now… Bwahahahahahahahahaha!

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.

Do You Need a Fish-Grilling Gizmo or Not?

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.

Step 1: Prepare the Fish and Grill

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.

Step 2: Set the Fish on the Grill

Once you’ve preheated the grill, cleaned and oiled the grate, and prepped the fish, it’s time to get cooking. In the photo above, you’ll notice that I set the fish at a 45° angle to the grill grate. That’s a habit held over from my restaurant days—it’s the secret to getting nice crosshatch grill marks on the fish, assuming you then rotate it 90° to complete the crosshatching.* But it’s also a useful position for the fish when it comes time to turn it.

*You’ll also notice, in the photos below, that I didn’t do the 90° turn and never got my crosshatches on the fish. That’s because by the time the fish released from the grill, it was ready to turn, and I’m more concerned with perfectly cooked fish than with perfectly crosshatched fish.

I also position the dorsal (back) side of the fish closer to the hot coals, since that’s the thicker part of the fish and will take the longest to cook.

Step 3: Time to Turn

Knowing when to turn the fish is a little bit of a guessing game. Generally speaking, though, I wait until it looks like the skin has browned nicely before attempting to turn it.

When I am ready to try to flip the fish, I use a trick I learned from fish master and chef Dave Pasternack, formerly of Esca in New York City. Most people try to turn a fish on the grill with a spatula, but that’s asking for trouble: You have to slide the spatula under the fish, and if the fish is sticking at all, you’re not going to find out until you’ve shredded the thing. Others use tongs, but I find that you’re more likely to manhandle a fish with them.

Instead, Pasternack taught me to use a carving fork. By inserting the tines down through the grill grate, you can attempt to lift the fish from below. If it resists, stop trying, and let it cook longer until the skin releases. If it’s ready, the fish will lift right up. If you’ve prepped the grill and fish well and waited long enough, the fish will not stick.

Getting ready to attempt the lift.

Will it work?

Yes!

Once I’ve determined that the fish is ready to roll, I position a spatula on the far side to catch it, then complete the turn. Using the spatula, I ease it down onto the grill on the other side.

Next, it’s just a matter of waiting for it to cook through. It’s ready when an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers about 135°F (57°C). Again, if you think the skin is getting too brown before the fish is cooked through, just use the carving fork to lift it, then move it to a cooler part of the grill to finish.

Step 4: Serve

Once it’s ready, let the fish rest five minutes or so, then carve it up following my instructions here.

As for serving, you can eat the fish as is, with just a squeeze of lemon and/or a drizzle of olive oil. Or you can serve it with a condiment, like this olive-and-tomato compote I whipped up.

July 2014

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For the Sauce:

• 5 ounces oil-cured olives, pitted (about 1 cup)

• 1/2 cup (120 g) Kalamata olives, pitted

• 1/2 cup (120 ml) extra-virgin olive oil

• 2 medium cloves garlic

• 2 whole peeled plum tomatoes from a can, minced

• 1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano

• Freshly ground black pepper

For the Fish:

• 4 (1-pound; 450g) whole white-fleshed fish, such as sea bass, branzino, or porgy, scaled and gutted

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• Lemon slices, peeled garlic cloves, peeled ginger slices, fresh oregano sprigs, and fresh parsley sprigs, for stuffing

• Extra virgin olive oil, for rubbing and drizzling

• Minced parsley, for garnish

• Lemon wedges, for serving

1. For the Sauce: In a food processor, combine both types of olives, olive oil, and garlic and process to form a coarse paste. Stir in tomatoes and oregano and season with black pepper. Set aside.

2. For the Fish: About 30 minutes before grilling, remove fish from refrigerator and let come to room temperature. Light 1 chimney full of charcoal. When all charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and arrange coals on one side of charcoal grate. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill, and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Clean and oil grilling grate.

3. Thoroughly pat fish dry with paper towels. Season inside and out with salt and pepper. Stuff fish cavities with lemon, garlic, ginger, and herbs. Rub fish all over with olive oil.

4. Set fish over hot side of grill and cook until bottom sides are browned, about 5 minutes. Using a carving fork, insert tines between grill grate and under fish. Carefully attempt to lift fish from below; if it resists, allow to cook for 1 more minute and try again. When fish lifts easily from grill, turn onto other side and cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 135°F (57°C), about 5 minutes longer; if skin begins to char before fish is cooked through, transfer fish to cooler side of grill to finish cooking. Let rest 5 minutes.

5. Carve fish and transfer fillets to a plate. Top with olive compote and minced parsley. Serve with lemon wedges.

Special Equipment

Food processor, grill, chimney starter if using a charcoal grill, carving fork, instant-read thermometer

Make-Ahead and Storage

Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

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