salt crust baked fish

[faffadoodledo]

It's about to get a bit cheffy at our house; I'm cooking sea bass in salt crust tonight for some friends. Anyone done it? I'm following a Delicious recipe, but would like to know if I can prepare say 2 hours in advance. i worried that if I did this the salt would draw the moisture from the fish. But scientific husband pointed out the salt would be damp, mixed with egg white and water, so that wouldnt happen.
So... can I do this in advance? Thanks!

No advice but it sounds amazing, can you upload a photo when it's done?

You don't need anything other than salt.
It's best to use fish that hasn't been scaled, (I don't know how you buy fish in the UK but here in Italy they'll ask "is it for baking under salt?" And if it is, they don't scrape the scales off like they do if you were just oven baking

Make sure the skin is dry- just pat it. Then pile salt on top.

Takes about 20 minutes for a one person sized bream or bass

(Put a bit of oil on the bottom of your tin otherwise it can stick a bit)

I think you might be right about it drying out, the texture of salt baked fish is definitely firmer and drier than if it's been just baked.

I live in Cornwall. Great fish, and a fishmonger who knew not to scale. The recipe definitely says egg whites, and looking online the recipes are about 50/50 with or without. It shouldn't stick because there's crust on the bottom too.

But can I cover in crust and leave for a couple of hours while i set table and get ready? I hate a last minute scramble!

I will take a pic - if it works!

It was delicious. Fragrant and succulent. And fun to break into the salt crust and uncover the beautiful fish. Six happy tummies. The pics don't really do it justice.

And I entombed it about 2 hours before it went into the oven, so had time to get ready and set the table.