Baking fish with Tinfoil

beertons

When baking fish with tinfoil, does it matter if shiney side is on the inside or outside?

Carawaystick

I'd put the shiney side towards the fish, but I'd out the fish on fruit or veg to avoid it touching the aluminium.

I never really thought about it really, the fish'll only be touching the foil for less than half an hour. if you're worried, wrap the fish in greaseproof paper and then wrap that in foil to make it airtight.

Mellor

Carawaystick wrote: »

I'd put the shiney side towards the fish, but I'd out the fish on fruit or veg to avoid it touching the aluminium.

I never really thought about it really, the fish'll only be touching the foil for less than half an hour. if you're worried, wrap the fish in greaseproof paper and then wrap that in foil to make it airtight.

If you wrap it in greeseproof paper, whats the need for tinfoil on top?

beertons

Thanks for that guys. We realised it was the wrong way around, when after 40 minutes the fish was still cold. We had the cod on a bed of peppers and garlic and onions, so it wasn't touching the foil.

olaola

If your fish is still cold after 40 mins, there's something wrong with your oven!

WindSock

olaola wrote: »

If your fish is still cold after 40 mins, there's something wrong with your oven!

Yeah that seems very strange. I don't think it is to do with which way you put the foil.

For how long and what temperature should you bake fish this way?

olaola

Esp if the foil is sealed - I wouldn't think it would take more than 15 - 20 mins?

-lala-

When cooking anything in tin foil, the shiny side should be on the inside as if it were on the outside it would reflect the heat away from the food and therefore take much longer to cook.

olaola

-lala- wrote: »

When cooking anything in tin foil, the shiny side should be on the inside as if it were on the outside it would reflect the heat away from the food and therefore take much longer to cook.

It's not going to make that much difference. If any. The heat in an oven is convection mainly, not radiation. Sealing the foil will make it cook quicker, as you're using the energy from trapped steam to help the cooking process.

Mellor

beertons wrote: »

Thanks for that guys. We realised it was the wrong way around, when after 40 minutes the fish was still cold. We had the cod on a bed of peppers and garlic and onions, so it wasn't touching the foil.

-lala- wrote: »

When cooking anything in tin foil, the shiny side should be on the inside as if it were on the outside it would reflect the heat away from the food and therefore take much longer to cook.

The shiny side would make some difference, but not a huge amount, prob wouldn't notice unless you had one of each in. As mentioned, its conduction and convection not radiation.

However, the bed veg would have a bigger effect acting as an insulator. I've noticed this lately while cooking salmon with lemon or cod with peppers and tomatoes.
What I do is to have the veg on one side for most of the time, then open it and expose that side to heat (either oven or under grill for crispier) for the last few mins

WindSock

I would love to try this, I have never cooked fish before.

Whats the easiest recipe for it? And what temperature should it be at?

Carawaystick

Mellor wrote: »

If you wrap it in greeseproof paper, whats the need for tinfoil on top?

air/steamtightness

I thought the OP may have been worried about getting aluminium on the food through corrosion by the acid in the juices.

rubadub

-lala- wrote: »

When cooking anything in tin foil, the shiny side should be on the inside as if it were on the outside it would reflect the heat away from the food

Won't effect it much for reasons mentioned, but even if it was radiant heat it would not make too much of a difference. People who grow "herbs" indoors under lights will use tinfoil to reflect the light and not waste any, they actually use the dull side to reflect it since it still reflects very well but far more evenly.

I fry a lot of food in saucepans, it stops spattering but also at the end I put in a tablespoon of water and cover with a lid, this gives it a final steam to cook and moisten it, yet it still appears and tastes fried. Works great with chicken.

Fletch123

WindSock wrote: »

I would love to try this, I have never cooked fish before.

Whats the easiest recipe for it? And what temperature should it be at?

Cooking fish in tinfoil is one of the easiest ways to cook fish, vary hard to go wrong.

Just pop a fish fillet in the centre of a rectangle of tin foil, pop some slices of lemon over the top, maybe sprinkle some herbs (like dill), seal the tin foil into a parcel (by folding the tin foil over the fish and crunkling up the edges), put on a baking tray and put in the oven for about 20mins at 180C. Try different flavors (like a chinese one or a thai), or put some veg in with the fish too. I think trout works really well cooked this way.

Alun

Thinking back to a recent thread where a cooking 'newbie' was apparently unaware ofthe fact that you had to preheat an oven, could this maybe be the problem the OP (who bizarrely hasn't been near this thread since!) is having?

rubadub

Alun wrote: »

Thinking back to a recent thread where a cooking 'newbie' was apparently unaware ofthe fact that you had to preheat an oven

Could well be, I had a mate who didn't know about preheating either, think he was around 25 at the time.