# Cooking sheepshead. Your favorite method?



## Dominion (Jan 16, 2016)

Besides frying, what's your favorite way to cook sheepshead?


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## Tideup (Jan 16, 2016)

I use them to make fish stew when I don't have catfish.


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## Sharkfighter (Jan 16, 2016)

I light pan cook mostly ,   roll filets in flour and old bay but just a dusting and cook in a pan with some olive oil but not enough to cover them

On the grill, i just scale and gut them, stuff the cavity with lemon wedges and maybe some herbs coat with olive oil and salt In and outside the skin    

And yes second pic is sea bass but sheepshead can be done in similar fashion (i do something similar on spottail porgy)


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## kc65 (Jan 16, 2016)

gut the sheepshead then dip whole fish into boiling pot of crab boil for 10 minutes, remove and pick meat off bones dunking in melted garlic butter....


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## Uptonongood (Jan 16, 2016)

Sharkfighter said:


> I light pan cook mostly ,   roll filets in flour and old bay but just a dusting and cook in a pan with some olive oil but not enough to cover them
> 
> On the grill, i just scale and gut them, stuff the cavity with lemon wedges and maybe some herbs coat with olive oil and salt In and outside the skin
> 
> And yes second pic is sea bass but sheepshead can be done in similar fashion (i do something similar on spottail porgy)



These are some of my favorite recipes, too.


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## Steyr (Jan 16, 2016)

Skinned fillets with rib cage removed. Season both sides lightly with Montreal Steak Seasoning. Electric skillet on 200 melt small amount of butter and saute  at 200 with The Lid On.  A glass lid works best to monitor progress.

They will slowly turn white and remain moist if they fall apart while removing they are perfect, if not you cooked them to long.

( optional... lightly brush one side with herb / garlic marinade before removing )


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## Riplukelee (Jan 16, 2016)

All of the above ...plus deep fried ... Convicts are delicious.


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## crackerdave (Jan 16, 2016)

Take a big sheephead and butterfly the whole fish.Cook on a hot grill skin side down,slathered with datil pepper sauce till done...pig out.


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## bnz (Jan 17, 2016)

Blacken the filets then make fish tacos.  Some of the best fish tacos you'll ever eat.  Blows mahi fish tacos away.


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## Nicodemus (Jan 17, 2016)

Salt, pepper, cornmeal, deep fry in 350 degree peanut oil. Bandits are a mighty good fish.


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## KyDawg (Jan 17, 2016)

This^^^^


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## Riplukelee (Jan 17, 2016)

Rob, I've tried grilling them several times. They always come out tasting awesome but they fall apart and can be a chore to eat. Got any tips for keeping them together


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## Dominion (Jan 18, 2016)

Riplukelee said:


> Rob, I've tried grilling them several times. They always come out tasting awesome but they fall apart and can be a chore to eat. Got any tips for keeping them together



One method of grilling that works for this is to cook the meat skin/scale side DOWN on the grill. I do this for redfish too (and like it much better for redfish, but it will work for sheepshead).


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## Dominion (Jan 18, 2016)

kc65 said:


> gut the sheepshead then dip whole fish into boiling pot of crab boil for 10 minutes, remove and pick meat off bones dunking in melted garlic butter....


 
Very interesting. So you place the entire fish in the pot (scales, head, tail, etc)?


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## Gaswamp (Jan 18, 2016)

nice tips


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## shallowminded (Jan 26, 2016)

New twist for you to try. A breading made from pretzels!! Buy some thin pretzel sticks, fine grind a cup and then coarse grind a cup (I like it chunky). Mix the two and use that for your batter so flour, egg, and then the pretzel mix. Drop in some hot peanut oil and they cook in a few minutes, crispy, hot, and pretzely!  Works great for reds and chicken filets too. Naturally, goes with your favorite brew.


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## Dominion (Jan 27, 2016)

Alright, I tried the "boiling the whole fish in crab boil spices" suggestion and...well...the meat tasted a lot like...well...boiled, wet fish. 

If that was a joke, you got me  Good one.

If that wasn't a joke, what is the trick?


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## Cmp1 (Jan 27, 2016)

Man guys got me hungry, never had sheepshead, why do you call them convicts and bandits? I'm a Yankee but was stationed in NC and Florida and did some saltwater fishing there, I'm a bass fisherman, used to fish for blues when they were running near New Bern, NC, didn't much care for them but my boss loved them,,,,
Checked them out on Google, I see why their called convicts, lol, they got some teeth too,,,


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## perryrip (Feb 2, 2016)

Dominion,
Fillet off the sides leaving skin and scales on. Cut out the ribs and do a wedge cut down the midline and pull out midline bones. Sprinkle on seasoning (hungarian hot smoked paprika, Southern flavor, etc.) smear a honey mustard glaze over the non scale side. Place in a tray of tin foil, and cover in olive oil. Grill 30 to 32 minutes on grill at low heat (depending on thickness of fillet). Meat will flake off with the fork. All blood line and dark meat stays on the skin and pure white flake meat comes off on the fork. I also use wood chips to give it a smokey flavor. I use this method for both sheeps and reds. I've found it hard to beat, but you can play around with the time and seasoning to your taste.
Perryrip


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