Weber 6471 Original Stainless Steel Fish Basket, Large Review

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I bought this about 3 weeks ago and have used it a few times. I'm very happy with the purchase. My high level summary is this is a great, affordable product that will allow you to execute great, chef quality cooking for your favorite grilled fish recipes.

Let me get my one negative thing out of the way: the clasp that holds the two side of the metal mesh basket together is a little difficult to open when I'm done grilling. I have a Weber Genesis grill that gets anywhere from 400-550 degrees Fahrenheit on the inside, and fumbling with this hot clasp takes a bit of practice when you want to get the fish out and onto a serving platter easily while it's fresh off the grill. But with a little practice I'm getting better at it. Still, use some sturdy pot holders to protect your fingers and don't let the basket slip and touch tour inner arm or anything. Ouch.

Putting that aside, it does a great job with larger fillets and whole fish up to about 2 lbs. I was a little worried when I first opened the box because, unlike other fish baskets, the sides are not really concave when the basket is closed. I was worried the sides would put too much pressure on the fish and squeeze it, especially if I wanted to grill a fillet of something like salmon fillet, swordfish or tuna steak, etc.

Not to worry. The tension gives enough to prevent applying too much pressure. Last night I grilled a 1.4 lb.s rockfish (striped bass) fillet to perfection, still moist and fully cooked inside with nice texture and grill browning on the outside. Less meaty fillets I'd probably still use a grill pan instead, like for example, grilling tilapia for fish tacos. (Can you tell I love to grill fish?)

For whole fish, you can't go too big. IN the past I've enjoyed grilling whole red snapper for example, and I like to go with a fish about 3 lbs. I haven't tried but I don't think that would fit well in this basket. In fairness, not many baskets out there (any?) can handle that size fish. And for longer bodied fish, like rockfish (striped bass), the basket can probably handle a fish close to 2 lbs, not much more. If you;'re inclined to grill smaller fish, like small rainbow trout or something, as individual portions, you can probably get a couple of 1 lb. fish in there, not much more than 1 lb. a piece.

But for what you get, if you know your way around a grill and like to grill fish, this basket will keep you from tearing up your dinner every time you try to turn it over for even cooking or try to remove it from the grill when done. You can cook evenly and create that extra texture that adds so much flavor, while putting fish to plate that's attractive to the eye because you haven't left chunks of it stuck on the grill.

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The curved ends of this basket snugly fit the smaller Weber round grill and would fit the larger round grill easily. Of course it would work on any rectangular grill of sufficient size. It is well made and easy to use. So far I have grilled 3 medium sized trout (the most this item will hold) and a large batch of 1/4" thick carne asada in multiple loads. Honestly, I don't know how I would have managed the carne asada without this reliable snap-lock grilling basket. Next I look forward to trouble-free grilling of a large batch of seasoned prawns.

One important rule to successful grilled food is frequent turning on the fire--every couple of minutes or so. So very easy now!

Two recommendations:

1. As Weber recommends, always spray the basket and the food with oil--I forgot to the first time and the trout stuck and was a bit of a mess.

2. Do yourself a favor and get a pair of Aramid or other fire-proof gloves. It makes handling this grilling basket easy and painless.

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Most grilling accessories are junk, but this one really does what it is supposed to. Putting fish into the basket and removing it is easy and mess-free. The basket is easy to flip and maneuver on the grill. And best of all, the basket cleans easily in the dishwasher.

Honest reviews on Weber 6471 Original Stainless Steel Fish Basket, Large

The basket is good. I don't know how they got a chicken in it, it is way tight. We put some large redfish fillets in it and to keep from smooshing (technical word) it my husband put 1 inch thick pieces of wood across the front and back. That worked great.

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I bbq a lot, but I've always been a bit nervous about cooking fish. So I decided to do something about that and bought the large Weber fish basket last weekend. Used it for the first time last night cooked two whole mackerels last night on my Weber Genesis grill.

Perfect result, first time. Really easy to use. General tips/comments:

1. I absolutely slathered the fish in olive oil immediately before putting in the basket. A few bits of skin still stuck, but very few.

2. The basket is most easily manipulated using an oven glove, but if you are moving it around when hot (i.e. turning over, taking off the grill when cooked or unlocking the basket) then you'll need a pretty heat-resistant glove. This is likely to be my next purchase, as my bog-standard oven glove protected my hand for all of half a second.

3. The locking mechanism isn't as difficult as some posts here make out. Just make sure to check how it works before you get it hot.

4. Fits in the dishwasher. Result.

5. Small point, but I did find it useful to have a large wooden chopping board handy for when I took the basket off the grill. You'll need to put the basket onto something, and remember that it is white-hot when it comes off the grill.

6. I've seen some comments about how the basket grips the food too tightly and crushes it. Frankly, if you're cooking fish that can be crushed by this basket, then you're cooking fish that's gone off. Fresh fish is very firm and would not be at all affected by this basket. The basket does hold the fish firmly in place so much so that I'm thinking that I could probably stuff the fish without needing to tie it up to hold in the stuffing.

So all in all, I'd strongly recommend this product.