Buying and lighting calculator · Fish and seafood
How much cuttlefish do I buy and when do I light?
Cuttlefish is bought whole, with its cuttlebone, ink and skin, and the fishmonger cleans it on the spot. A large one runs 600 to 700 g once cleaned. You keep a little over 60 percent of the whole weight, and it loses more water on the grill, so for 170 g of meat on the plate we buy about 350 g per person. In the kamado it is a direct, very hot job, at around 260 °C: about 7 minutes in total, with diamond cuts on the inner side so it does not curl. A couple of minutes too long leaves it rubbery, and more time does not rescue it. Pull it when it is white and firm.
How to ask for it
For 4 people: Ask for 1.5 kg of fresh cuttlefish and have it cleaned (no cuttlebone, ink or skin); if it is large, ask for it opened out in one piece.
Cuttlefish loses half between cleaning and the grill: 350 g whole leaves about 170 g on the plate. flesh white and firm, not rubbery.
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 cuttlefish per person?
About 350 g of whole cuttlefish per person, which leaves about 170 g cleaned and grilled. If it comes already cleaned, 250 g of cleaned piece reaches the same plate. One large piece serves two or three people. Leftovers work well in a salad the next day.
How many minutes does cuttlefish take on the grill?
About 7 minutes in total at 260 °C over direct heat, a little over three per side. Griddle recipes call for two to three minutes a side, and coals are fiercer. Do not overdo it: cuttlefish turns rubbery if left too long.
Should you buy it cleaned or whole?
Buy it fresh and have the fishmonger clean it: it loses a little over a third of its weight in bone, ink and skin. We count 350 g of whole weight per person. If you buy it frozen and already cleaned, drop to 250 g and count only the loss from grilling.
Other Fish and seafood cuts
- Portion-size whole fish (sea bream, sea bass, trout)
- Large whole fish (sea bass or sea bream, 1-1.5 kg)
- Salmon (fillet)
- Bluefin tuna (loin)
- Octopus
- Large prawns (gambones)
- Sardines
Approximate figures. Sources and the portion rule are in "How we calculate it".