Seeking advice on baking fish.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi Everyone,

I've been trying to bake fish in the oven and every time I
do I end up with an apartment filled with smoke. I used
extra virgin olive oil to coat the pan the first time and,
having set off every smoke detector in the place, tried
unsalted butter the second time with the same result.
Is smoke par for the course or am I using the wrong
fat? Thanks for your help.

1) Where is the oven rack, in terms of height? In the center? The bottom?
The top?

2) What temperature are you setting the oven for?

3) When's the last time you cleaned the oven? Are you sure the smoke's
coming from the baking pan, or could it be some built up grease elsewhere?

[email hidden] wrote on 16 May 2007 06:45:44 -0700:

me> Hi Everyone,

me> I've been trying to bake fish in the oven and every time
me> I do I end up with an apartment filled with smoke. I used
me> extra virgin olive oil to coat the pan the first time and,
me> having set off every smoke detector in the place, tried
me> unsalted butter the second time with the same result.
me> Is smoke par for the course or am I using the wrong
me> fat? Thanks for your help.

I hope you have an operative exhaust fan but it sounds like the
temperature may be too high. Cooking "en papillotte" (sp?), ie.
sealed in aluminum foil, often works well and minimizes smoke.
You can do that in the traditional manner using parchment paper
but I can't tell the difference. The Washington Post has a
simple recipe for halibut with herbs and lemon that looks good
today (5/16/07) in their Food Section (accessible on the net).
Another method that produces surprisingly little smoke is
cooking salmon filets on a bed of salt for 10 minutes at 500F.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

Quoted message said:

Hi Everyone,

I've been trying to bake fish in the oven and every time I
do I end up with an apartment filled with smoke. I used
extra virgin olive oil to coat the pan the first time and,
having set off every smoke detector in the place, tried
unsalted butter the second time with the same result.
Is smoke par for the course or am I using the wrong
fat? Thanks for your help.

My favorite current recipe:

zest of 1 lemon
a couple T. of parsley flakes
a little garlic powder
Panko crumbs (found in the "Asian" food aisle)

Rub the fish with olive oil; coat with the above ingredients which
have been all mixed up. Place in lightly greased pan. Bake at 350
for about 20 minutes or until fish is flakey.

I usually use cod - tried to get some halibut fillets last week, but
all they had were "steaks" (bone-in) which I don't care for.

I've never had smoke in the oven, from this.

Yum!

N.