How To Clean Snapper (When Cooking Them Whole)

Up until recently, I always threw back mangrove snapper that were just barely over the limit.

I only wanted to keep the big ones because I didn’t think the small ones were worth filleting.

And I was right… sort of.

After seeing a few videos about cooking fish whole, I decided to give it a try with some smaller (but still legal) snapper and I was blown away.

It’s a delicious way of cooking them, plus you don’t have to fillet them and miss out on some of the delicious meat.

In this video, I’m going to show you how I cleaned this snapper and prepared it to cook it on the grill whole.

It's only four steps, takes just a few short minutes, and you don't have to worry about wasting meat as you fillet it.

Have any questions about cleaning fish to eat it whole?

Let me know in the comments below!

[Rodbry]

Watching you butcher that fishing! I am from south Florida by way of the Bahamas but I have lived in Texas for a long time. I didnt know about filleting fish until i was nearly an adult. We always cooked the fish whole and with the head on when they were that small, actually even bigger than that. There is a lot of meat in the head that you cut off. We even roast them on the grille whole in the Bahamas.

[redfishbluefish]

Leave the head on, cut all fins with scissors. Pull out guts through a tummy slit. Cut diagnal cuts a finger apart down both sides of meat. Mix a lot of dry spices(paprika, salt, pepper, garlic, onion, time, dill, rosemary, etc all powdered) with oil and spread over both sides of fish including the head. Fill belly will lemon and onion. Set oven to 380F and cook 10min/side but add oil mix to flesh during bakeing when it dries...enjoy!

[dlmccallie]

DEER MEAT IS THE MAN! respect...he really knows what he's doing...thats cool to see so many fishtubers collab

[TheBoundlessNexus]

Y'all got so many amazing influencers, you should work with them to make catch and cook tutorials like this!!

[rafaelgiusti]

Leave the head!! That’s the real whole fish, and actually the best part 😉

[MoniKeo]

Thanks for the tutorial. Kitchen sheers works great on the fins. I like it lightly salted and fried until golden brown.

[STLO.]

What a brilliant hack to descale this beauty 👏🏽

[RandomJ]

I have a suggestion bro. After you scale it, make a small slice 1/8 inch down both sides of the fins. Then use a pair of pliers starting from the back and pull. The fins and bones will all come out leaving a much easier to eat whole fish. I plan on making a video soon showing how. Good stuff!

[zansalleh]

Hey ya bro... i normally use scissors to cut off the fin... much easier and efficient

[CrFouquet]

Thank you, I appreciate it, and will try it.

[JULOC]

Where I come from we do it differently and we typically keep the head but it depends on what you are making. Snapper is awesome grilled, baked, panfried but I also had it in sushi many times and it's one of my favorites.

[webincomeincome]

Spoon or just a cheap metal fish scaler work best. To remove fins simply cut along either side and pull off with pliers. Much easier

[leonardjoseph]

Filleting fish is for rich people.. poor people like me eat the whole fish.. might sounds disgusting but the head is where the good taste comes from.im a Pacific islander that live in the US now and I miss eating fish every day. I love your videos

[geoxrox]

Thanks! Nice directions. Got us a 3 lb to grill.

[pgsibilo]

2:05 Before you remove the Scales, it's better to remove the Guts and the Sharp Fins first.
You can remove the Guts wihout removing the head as it can be a messy task for most people.

[jeremyneill]

Great video and tips! We have invasive snapper here in Hawaii and it’s always a little challenging figuring out how to eat them easily. This is a great way and they look very similar to the snapper you had in your vid. Mahalo!

[mbr]

So many complaints and criticisms. Everybody has their own way!

[mikebainter]

Spoon works just as good if not better!

[jory]

Pan fry that bad boy, we fight over that crispy tail in my house

[hazelrebello]

use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut of the fins