Tools for Cleaning Grouper

Series Summary

There is nothing like preparing fresh seafood. If prepared correctly, there is rarely a seafood recipe that doesn't appeal to our taste buds. Because of the effort that it takes to select and make fresh seafood, most of us don't spend the time creating fantastic seafood dishes. And, for those of us that do not cook seafood often, we may be a little reserved to take on the responsibility. Luckily, with a little instruction, we can all learn to master the culinary art that is preparing fresh seafood. All you need is a sharp knife, a little bit of instruction, and a hearty appetite for these delicacies of the sea.

In this free video series, learn how to prepare grouper, stone crab, and oysters for eating. Our expert, Bert Davis, owns and operates a professional fish cleaning company. He shows you everything you need to know to clean fresh grouper. Get tips for picking the tools and fish for cleaning. Also, learn how to begin cutting a grouper. Get tips for cutting fillets from grouper, and learn how to remove bones, head, breast, and more. If you are more of the crab lover, get tips for cracking a Florida stone crab claw. Also, if you love raw oysters, learn how to use an oyster knife to shuck them. So, what are you waiting for? Learn how to prepare fresh grouper, stone crab, and oysters for your favorite seafood recipes.

Video Transcript

"Okay, in this clip, we're going to talk about cleaning fish and cleaning seafood, preparing seafood to eat. What you need to clean fish, is a, you need a very sharp knife. I've got in my hand here a tool that we use a lot. It's about an eight inch boning knife and this is what we filet the fish with. This is what we take the meat off the bone. You want to get a good sharp knife, a sharp edge on your blade. Now, this is sharpening steel. You can pick these up in a lot of places. And chefs use these all the time and we just get a little edge on it. It's already been sharpened for me. So, basically, you cross the blade on the steel in the same direction. You don't want to go different directions. I can see people getting sloppy because this is going to give you a bad edge. Same direction either down or up. Okay? If you're going to clean a fish with scales on it, you want to leave the skin on it; you're going to need a scaler. Okay? This is a tool that it's got little teeth on it. It's a very, it's not real sharp, but it's very coarse. You want to keep your hands out of the way. And you're just going to go to town on this fish to knock all of the scales off it the best you can. Once we get the fish off the bone, we're going to have a filet that's going to be lying there, usually with the skin on it. Okay? For instance, this grouper. You want a nice long skinning knife. Okay? It's something; it's got to be longer usually than a filet knife or a boning knife, because it's got to be wider than the filet that you're going to skin. A nice sharp edge on this as well. A little flex in the blade is good. And this is what you're going to take the skin off the fish with. Okay? So, let's get started."