Buying and lighting calculator · Fish and seafood

How much portion-size whole fish do I buy and when do I light?

Sea bream, sea bass, bream or trout of portion size are sold whole, 300 to 450 g each, and that fish is the unit you buy: one per person. According to the FAO yield table, the edible flesh of sea breams such as dentex is around 54% of the whole animal, and over the fire it loses another 20 to 30% as water. That is why we count about 380 g per person, so that about 170 g of clean fish reaches the plate. Cooking time depends on thickness, not weight: a 400 g fish takes about 20 minutes with the kamado at 200 °C and a heat deflector. Ask the fishmonger to scale and gut it, but leave the head and skin on: they protect the flesh and keep it juicy.

How to ask for it

For 4 people: Ask for 1.6 kg in portion-size fish of about 400 g (one per person), scaled and gutted, head and skin on. The fishmonger can butterfly them if you like.

Head, bones, skin and cooking loss take over half: a fish of about 380 g leaves about 170 g of clean fish on the plate. 60 °C at the thickest part, next to the bone; it rises a few degrees while resting.

How we calculate it

We start from a reasonable cooked portion (about 200 g of meat on the plate, 170 g of cleaned fish) and convert it to raw weight using each cut's bone and trim loss. "Hungry" adds 25 %. We round up to what is actually sold: quarter kilos, whole pieces, units.

To the cook time (per kilo or per piece, at each method's temperature) we add the kamado's lighting and stabilising (20-45 min depending on the method, as on the recipe pages), the rest, and a margin for long cooks, which vary from one piece to the next. Times are approximate: your kamado, the wind and the charcoal decide; on big cuts, trust the probe.

Frequently asked questions

How much whole fish do I buy per person?

One portion-size fish of about 350-400 g per person. Between the head, bones, skin and cooking loss you end up with about 170 g of clean fish on the plate. If the fish is the only course, do not go below that size; with starters and sides you can stay at the low end of the range.

How long does a sea bream take on the kamado?

A fish of about 400 g takes about 20 minutes with the kamado at 200 °C and a deflector (indirect); larger ones take longer. Better than the clock, use a probe: take it off when it reads 60 °C at the thickest part, next to the bone. It rises a couple of degrees while resting.

Whole or butterflied sea bream?

Whole, with head and skin, it stays juicier and needs about 20 minutes or a little more. Butterflied it cooks sooner and the skin browns better on the grate, but it dries out sooner, so watch it. You buy the same raw amount either way: one portion-size fish per person.

Other Fish and seafood cuts

← All cuts

Approximate figures. Sources and the portion rule are in "How we calculate it".