How To Make “Close Proximity Smoked Fish”

Gently kissed by the smoke gods, this grilled sea bass will have you coming back for more. And more. And more. 

Unlike salmon which benefits from a good amount of smoke flavor, most fish do not need much at all. In fact, too much smoke will completely destroy their wonderfully delicate flavors.

Fish also cooks fast because it is usually thin. Fish tastes best when you take only up to 125 to 135°F (51.7 to 57.2°C) in the thickest part. Within that narrow cooking window, if you want to get some smoke on it, you need to place the fish in close proximity to smoldering wood.

To solve these problems, I use a special tool called GrillGrates. These are not your ordinary grill grates. They are specially designed with a plate that can hold wood pieces in close proximity to the food. In addition, the special tongs that come with GrillGrates are perfectly designed for lifting delicate fish.

This technique that I created for fish was named “close proximity smoking” by my friend Greg Rempe (he produces an informative podcast for members of our Pitmaster Club). When the GrillGrates are hot, I scatter pellets or wood chips between the rails and let them smolder. Then I place the fish right above the wood on the GrillGrates and close the lid so the wood doesn’t burst into flame.

To demonstrate this procedure, I created the following recipe using Chilean sea bass. Allow me to propagate an opinion which I hold so dearly I am tempted to try to pass it off as fact: Chilean sea bass is the single best tasting creature in the sea. Originally called Patagonian toothfish, this large fish, often 25 pounds (11.3 kg), is most often found in the cold waters of the Southern Hemisphere, like Patagonia, Southern Chile, or Argentina. It is not to be confused with other varieties of fish named sea bass. They are not related. Not even kissing cousins.

Chilean sea bass once was overfished, but in recent years, regulation has brought the fishery back so we can now buy it with a clear conscience. Filets are snow white and thick, and the cooked meat has large flakes that remains moist even if overcooked. There’s only one problem: at the time I wrote this, Chilean sea bass was selling for about $30 a pound in Chicago. Shop around. Or use sablefish (black cod), which has similar flesh.

Simply Smoked Sea Bass Recipe

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Chilean sea bass is a good fish for demonstrating Close Proximity Smoking, a technique created as a means of ensuring delicate fish such as this aren't completely overpowered by harsh wood smoke on the grill.

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Course:

Dinner

,

Main Course

Cuisine:

American

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Makes:

Servings: 2 servings

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Takes:

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Equipment

• GrillGrates

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Ingredients

US Customary – Metric

• ▢ 2 Chilean sea bass filets, 6-8 ounces (170-227 g) each
• ▢ Morton Coarse Kosher Salt
• ▢ 2 teaspoons dried tarragon
• ▢ 1 tablespoon neutral cooking oil or mayonnaise
• ▢ 4 ounces hardwood or fruitwood pellets, wood chips, or sawdust

Notes:

About the salt. Remember, kosher salt is half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.

Metric conversion:

These recipes were created in US Customary measurements and the conversion to metric is being done by calculations. They should be accurate, but it is possible there could be an error. If you find one, please let us know in the comments at the bottom of the page

Method

• Prep. Remove the skin from the sea bass. When cooking fish hot and fast, leaving on the skin makes it a crispy treat. But some skin is too thick to crisp, especially if it is not in contact with metal. So for this technique, the skin must go. In this video below you can see how to remove the skin.
  
• Lightly salt the fish and sprinkle on the tarragon. If you wish, paint the fish with oil or mayonnaise. This helps keep it from sticking. Yes mayonnaise. It is mostly oil and surprisingly it does not change the flavor of the fish.
• Fire up. Preheat the grill with the GrillGrates directly over hot flames or coals.
• Cook. Toss the wood into the valleys of the GrillGrates directly below where the fish will sit. It should start smoldering quickly. Place the fish directly over the smoke and close the lid. After no more than 4 minutes, flip the fish. The underside should have dark grill marks and a golden color from the smoke. Cook another 4 minutes and test the internal temp. Take the fish off when the internal temp is between 125 and 135°F (51.7 and 57.2°C).
  
• Serve. Plate and serve immediately.

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