Blackening is a popular technique of preparing fish that can also be applied to meats and chicken.

It involves dressing fish fillets with butter and coating them with a seasoning blend, after which the fillets are cooked over high heat on a grill or a cast iron skillet.

This technique of cooking fish forms a dark brown to black crust on the surface of the fish, and it also gives the fish a distinct and rich flavor. 

The fish appears burnt but it is not burnt. The black color comes from the butter and spices which are toasted. 

The exterior has a crusted dark brown appearance and also a crisp texture.

An alternative to blackened fish is bronzed fish.

Bronzed fish shares a lot of similarities to blackened fish when it comes to the choice of ingredients used in the bronzing mix, and also the method of preparation.

In this post, we look at these two preparations and discuss the differences between them.

What is bronzed fish?

Bronzed fish is a lighter version of blackened fish 

Preferably, white fish is used for bronzing.  

Like blackening, bronzing is also a cooking technique that can also be used on meats and chicken.

It involves brushing one side of the fish filet lightly with butter and then coating it with the seasoning. The remainder of the bronzing mix is sprinkled over the other side of the fish as the coated side cooks in the skillet  

The bronzing mix consists of ingredients like cayenne pepper, garlic powder, oregano and thyme.

These ingredients are similar to those found in the blackening mix as well.

Bronzed fish is not blackened but browned

Blackened fish is known for the smoky brown to black crust that the fish has when cooked 

The dark color is from butter and spices. The fish is buttered then covered in a blackening spice blend and charred until the exterior is crisp while the interior remains moist.

Bronze fish is cooked until it has a brown or bronze color which is unlike the intense charring in blackened fish.

Blackened fish is cooked at higher temperatures

Blackening involves cooking the fish quickly at high temperatures, bronzing also involves the same but the temperature for bronzing is less than that of blackening  

For blackened fish, the pan can reach temperatures of around 450 degrees Fahrenheit, while for bronzed fish, the pan gets to temperatures of around 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bronzed fish produces less smoke and can be cooked indoors

Blackening fish generates a lot of smoke.

The smoke comes from the butter as soon as it is heated in the pan.

This is why it is often recommended that blackened fish be made on a grill outdoors so that the kitchen does not get filled with smoke.

Alternatively, bronzed fish produces less smoke compared to blackened fish and can be made indoors because of this reason.