Fish vs Meat Proteins
The biology behind the BBQ - my latest YouTube film is live
A few weeks ago I made a film about one of the questions I get asked more than almost any other:
How do I stop fish sticking to the grill?
The practical answer is straightforward enough: dry the fish, get the grill hot, oil the fish rather than the bars, and leave it alone until it naturally releases.
But as I was making that film, it struck me that there was a more interesting question lurking underneath it.
Why does fish behave so differently to meat in the first place?
The answer comes down to biology.
Fish and meat are both made largely of protein, fat and water, but they are built in very different ways, and that has a huge impact on how they cook.
To explain it in my latest YouTube film, I raided the kitchen cupboard and reached for some slightly unusual teaching aids: spaghetti, raisins, butter and olive oil.
The proteins in meat are arranged in long fibres, bundled together like strands of spaghetti. Those fibres are held together by strong chemical bonds and connective tissue, which is why tougher cuts need longer cooking and why meat often has a distinct grain.
Fish proteins are arranged very differently. Instead of long fibres, they are shorter and grouped into little blocks stacked in layers - picture a brick wall in your mind. Those beautiful flakes we see in cooked fish aren’t something created by cooking – they’re already there. Heat simply reveals the structure.
The fats are different too.
Land have firmer, saturated fats - that are solid at room temperature, like butter. Fish need fats that remain fluid in cold water so they can swim efficiently, which is why their fats are softer and unsaturated, like olive oil.
All of this affects how fish behaves when you cook it over fire.
Fish cooks to lower temperatures than meat and the gap between undercooked and overcooked is surprisingly narrow. It’s one of the reasons fish can seem intimidating to cook and why it is so easy to overdo.
But understanding the structure changes everything.
Once you understand why fish flakes, sticks, cooks quickly and falls apart, it suddenly becomes far less mysterious.
Fish isn’t difficult.
It’s just different.
The film is only four minutes long and follows naturally from the film on how to stop fish sticking in my Master Techniques series, so if you haven’t seen that maybe have a nosey. Consider this latest film the biology behind the barbecue. I hope you enjoy it!
Big love
GT x
🔥 Watch the film here: