How to Cook Fish — Grill, Value & Burnt Fish
Unlock the grill through the Grill Master shark quest, cook catches for more value, and understand overcooking and burnt-fish achievements.
Unlocking the grill
Video-tested: On the third island, the Grill Master asks for a Shark for a party. Catch and defeat a shark, then give the required catch to him. Completing that request unlocks use of the grill.
Why cooking matters
The NPC dialogue says cooked creatures sell for more and are better food. Launch-day testing supports both: cooked catches restored more effectively and could sell above their raw value.
The observed value curve
One long single-player test repeatedly watched item value while cooking and observed a peak around 1.5× the raw value, after which extra cooking caused value to fall. Treat that number as video-tested behavior, not a permanent official formula. Balance patches could change it.
A safe routine is:
- Inspect the raw value.
- Cook until the creature reaches the visibly cooked/golden state.
- Re-inspect before letting it burn further.
- Remove it when the value stops rising.
Burnt creatures are not always useless
There is an achievement for eating a burnt creature, so deliberately overcooking one cheap catch has a purpose. Do not practice on a quest trophy or expensive creature.
Mid-fight food
Cooked fish can be staged as healing, but Seagulls may steal unattended catches in outdoor areas. Keep high-value or quest-critical food in inventory when possible.
Cleaning cooked weapons and tools (Patch 1.0.10)
Official: weapons and tools now get cleaned from cooking when dipped in water. If you accidentally grilled a gun or rod, put it in water instead of selling or discarding it.
This does not say cooking value on fish changed. The 1.5× peak above remains video-tested launch behavior, not a 1.0.10 formula.
Ground drops after you cook
Patch 1.0.10 also saves up to 64 items dropped on the ground between sessions, prioritizing weapons, tools, quest items and creatures. Do not rely on that cap if the island is already cluttered with junk fish.
Patch 1.0.11
Official notes: drip parrotfish can be cooked. 1.0.10 already let you dip cooked weapons and tools in water to clean them.
Evidence & source notes
- Official Steam store page — Official game description, features, release date and progression loop.
- Launch-day gameplay transcripts supplied for this guide — Quest steps and combat observations are taken from the supplied walkthrough transcripts and are labelled Video-tested.
- Official Steam news for How to Fish — Official Dazed Games patch notes through 1.0.11, checked 2026-09-02.