6 full lessons
Written in plain language, illustrated, and kept as a reference afterward.
In the kitchen · whole fish to plate
Cutting and Cooking Finfish
Whole fish to plate: choosing it, scaling, gutting, filleting, portioning, working out real yield, cooking by cut, and handling raw service honestly.
Six lessons on using a whole fish: judging freshness at the counter, the handling in the first hour that decides eating quality, setting up and scaling and gutting cleanly, filleting round and flat fish by following the bone, portioning and working out the yield you actually got, and cooking by cut with the freezing rules that apply before anything is served raw.
$95 once, or $95 on Driftline. Add $60 and Jules reads and grades one real piece of work, passing at 80 percent. Review is optional. Nothing here is accredited or carries credit.
Take this class
Pay once, and it is yours to come back to. Pick how you want to take it.
On your own
The whole class, the practice work, and the knowledge checks. No pass score, no graded work, no certificate gate.
With Jules reading your work
Everything above, plus one real piece of work, "A whole fish broken down, with your real yield", that Jules reads and grades against a rubric you can see before you start. You pass at 80 percent, and you can rewrite and send it back as many times as you need. This is optional, and it is not accredited and carries no continuing education credit.
Already taking this class? You can add review later and pay only the $60 difference.
12 contact hours
Measured per lesson, with written outcomes, so your time is recorded honestly.
No-pressure checks
Clear answers and explanations, unlimited tries, and nothing sent to a gradebook.
Region aware
Rules are shown by state with the source and the date we checked it.
The complete course
Lesson 1 · 1.5 h
Choosing a Whole Fish
- · Judge freshness from eyes, gills, flesh, and smell
- · Name the common market forms and what each includes
- · Explain what you give up when you buy a fillet instead of a whole fish
Lesson 2 · 2 h
Handling, Cold, and the First Hour
- · Describe the handling that protects eating quality in the first hour
- · Explain bleeding, gutting, and cold as one connected chain
- · Say plainly what ikejime is, and what it does and does not change
Lesson 3 · 2 h
Scaling, Gutting, and Setting Up
- · Set up a station that stays clean while you work
- · Scale and gut a round fish in the right order
- · Describe sukibiki and when it beats a scaler
Lesson 4 · 2.5 h
Filleting, Round and Flat
- · Fillet a round fish following the bone
- · Adapt the method for a flat fish
- · Remove pin bones and skin without tearing the flesh
Lesson 5 · 2 h
Portioning and Yield
- · Cut consistent portions from a fillet
- · Calculate real yield instead of assuming it
- · Use the frame, collar, and trim rather than binning them
Lesson 6 · 2 h
Cooking by Cut, and Raw Service
- · Cook finfish to published safe temperatures and verify them
- · Match a cooking method to a cut and a species
- · State the freezing requirements that apply before raw service
What this course covers where you live
We say plainly how well each part of the country is covered, rather than implying the whole country is written to the same depth.
- West Coast: sourced and ready
- Alaska: partly sourced
- Northeast: partly sourced
- Mid-Atlantic and Southeast: partly sourced
- Gulf: partly sourced
- Great Lakes and inland: partly sourced
- Hawaii and the Pacific islands: partly sourced
Fin fish are cooked to 145 degrees Fahrenheit
The federal chart gives 145 degrees Fahrenheit for fin fish, or cooked until the flesh is opaque and separates easily with a fork. A thermometer is the only honest check.
FoodSafety.gov, Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures · checked 2026-09-19Raw service depends on freezing, not on a label
Parasite hazards in finfish are covered in the federal seafood hazards guidance, which sets out the freezing time and temperature combinations used to destroy parasites before fish is served raw or undercooked. There is no legal grade called sushi grade.
FDA Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance, Chapter 5, Parasites · checked 2026-09-19Market forms, cleaning methods, and edible yield, free from Sea Grant
North Carolina Sea Grant's Mariner's Menu explains whole, drawn, dressed, fillet, and steak forms with edible-yield percentages, plus step-by-step scaling, gutting, and filleting.
North Carolina Sea Grant, Market Forms of Fresh Fish and Cleaning Methods · checked 2026-09-19Real recovery rates for Pacific species
Alaska Sea Grant publishes measured recovery and yield tables for more than sixty Pacific fish and shellfish species. If you want to stop guessing what a whole fish gives you, start there.
Alaska Sea Grant, Recoveries and Yields from Pacific Fish and Shellfish · checked 2026-09-19
If you want Jules to read your work
Everyone gets the same lessons, practice work, and knowledge checks. For $60 more you also get one real assignment that Jules reads and grades. You can see exactly how it is judged before you start, you pass at 80 percent, and you can rewrite and send it back as many times as you need. This is optional, and it is still not accredited and carries no continuing education credit.
The assignment
A whole fish broken down, with your real yield
Break down one whole fish, work out what it actually gave you, and cook it.
Buy or catch one whole fish. Record its weight, break it down, and weigh the fillets and the trim. Work out your recovery percentage and compare it with a published yield figure for a similar species, naming your source. Say what you did with the frame, collar, and trim. Then cook one portion, record the internal temperature, and say what you would do differently with the next fish.
How it is graded
Freshness assessed before buying · 25 points
Eyes, gills, flesh, and smell are described as observed, not as a list copied from a chart.
Breakdown described step by step · 25 points
Setup, scaling, gutting, and filleting are written in an order another person could follow.
Yield calculated and compared · 25 points
Real weights are given, the percentage is worked out, and it is compared with a cited published figure.
Cooking verified, not guessed · 25 points
An internal temperature is recorded and matched against published guidance, and waste use is accounted for.
100 points in total. You pass at 80. Jules grades what you worked out, not your formatting or your word count.
Where it can take you
Take the safety and handling class first if you cook for other people. Finfish 101 covers the species and how they are farmed.
This course does not carry accreditation, credit, or continuing education units, and completing it does not count toward any outside credential. It is written to the structure a continuing education standard expects, with measured hours, written outcomes, and a completion record you can keep.