How Do We Clean and Cook Trout?

- December 16, 2015

Question from one of our Readers asking, “How do we clean and cook trout?” In answer to the question, we provide a summary of the different ways we clean and cook trout!

Depending on the size of the trout, we clean and cook them as follows:

Stocker size trout (9″-13″ in size) :
- We cut their heads or remove the gills (“gilling”), and then we remove the guts. Not sure why we opt to cut the head off versus “gilling” them; just seems to go one way or the other from trip to trip.
- When cooking the Stockers, we season them with salt and pepper (sometimes add Season Salt), and then pan fry them in oil for about 5-8 minutes each side.
For larger trout in the 14″ – 18″ range:
- We clean them like the Stockers but will split the fish (butterfly).
- We then cook them on a cedar plank (see Grilled Plank Trout Recipe).
For trout going 19″+ in size:

We gill them and remove the guts, leaving the head in place.
Then, we stuff with lemon slices, onions, butter, and sprinkle Rosemary in the body cavity. Next, season with salt and pepper inside and out, wrap it in foil and then slow cook it using indirect heat from a charcoal grill. Cooking time ranges from 1-2 hours depending on the size of the fish and how low of a heat we desire. Also, the last 5″, we will open the foil and broil it for 5″ in the oven or crank up the heat on the grill.