Fry Up That Fresh Catch Over Your Campfire With a Fish Grill Basket

If you love fresh fish and grilling fish over the campfire, you need a fish grill basket. These handy camping gadgets are the best way to cook your fresh daily catch while you relax at camp after a long day on the water. Plus, there are plenty of other ways to use a fish grill basket while cooking at camp. Once you have one, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

Let’s take a closer look at fish grill baskets and how you can use them to make the most of your camping and fishing trips.

Grill Basket Materials

There are a few types of grill baskets, but they’re all designed to withstand the heat of a grill or open campfire. Most grilling baskets are stainless steel. Some people might prefer not to use stainless steel cooking pots and skillets when cooking on a stove because it doesn’t retain heat well. This isn’t a problem with grilling, though. Because the food inside the basket is directly exposed to the fire, how well the material conducts heat is not as important.

Another reason stainless steel is so good for grilling baskets is that it’s easy to clean. If you’re using your grill basket while camping, you can wash it quickly with soap and water. Plus, stainless steel won’t rust over time like some other materials.

Fish Grill Basket Shapes

The original fish grilling basket is shaped, well, like a basket. It usually has a handle on each side and an open top. This style is the largest and can hold a lot more food than some of the other designs, and the open top is really convenient for adding and removing food. The downside is that, because there’s no lid, you can’t flip it over the fire.

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Another popular style is the skillet-shaped grill basket or grill wok. It looks just like a skillet with holes in it and a heavy-duty handle on one side. While you can’t flip this one, the shape makes it ideal for stirring and gives you a little more flexibility with your campfire cooking.

The most common and most versatile option is a dual-sided hinged grill basket. You can use it to grill fish, veggies, poultry, and just about anything you need to have a full spread for your camping trip. One of the best things about this style is that it hinges closed, locking the food inside and making it really easy to flip.

Fish Grill Basket Sizes

You might think that a small grill basket is enough to fry up some fish over the campfire, but it’s worth thinking about getting something that’s a bit bigger.

When cooking on a campfire or grill, you don’t have much cooking space to work with, so you have to make the most of it. If you’re planning a delicious fish dinner with some potatoes or roasted veggies, you don’t have the option of using multiple burners and frying pans. You have a single heat source, and you have to use is wisely.

A large grill basket lets you cook all your food at once. Some models are even divided into sections so you can put your fish filets in one section and roast corn on the cob in another.

The Best Way to Cook Fish Over a Campfire

Using a grill basket is an easy way to prepare delicious meals over a campfire. Here are a few reasons why this gadget is such a game-changer for campground cooking:

You can cook fish and so much more.

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There is nothing better than getting back to your campsite after an afternoon on the lake and cooking up the catch of the day. That said, if you feel like it, you can also cook up chicken breasts or wings, hamburgers, steaks, or just about any protein you can think of.

It encourages you to eat your veggies.

As we said, you can use a fish grill basket to make an entire meal. Pop some potatoes, corn, scallions, broccoli, onions, or mushrooms in the grill basket, and you have a complete meal. The main thing to remember is to cut everything into same-sized pieces to make sure that everything cooks evenly.

You can cook for a crowd.

With a large enough grilling basket, you have enough room to cook a full meal for the whole family. Again, the trick is making sure that you cut everything to the same thickness, so everyone’s food is done at the same time.

Grilling Basket for Campfires

If you’re planning to use your grill basket over an open campfire flame, make sure you choose one that’s designed for that purpose. Some models have plastic bits and pieces that are okay for a grill but cannot tolerate the heat of a direct flame.

One thing to look for is a long handle. This isn’t the only way to tell that a grill basket was made for a campfire, but it is one feature that comes in very handy. Most grilling baskets for campfires have a handle that’s about 20 inches or so long. This lets you stay a safe distance from the fire while still being able to flip the basket or pull the basket out from the flame safely to mix, add, or remove food.

Of course, if you have a campfire grill grate that goes over the embers, you can use a different style grilling basket safely. Just treat the grate like a regular grill and make sure you check that the product is approved safe for this use. Camp cooking is an art unto itself, and a fish grill basket is a handy tool to help you make sure you and your family eat like royalty, even when you’re roughing it. Whether you’re frying up a few filets or making a full meal with all the fixings, these baskets help take your campfire cooking to the next level.

If you need the inside scoop on how to scale your fish like a pro, check out this guide.

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