Salmon the Grill

I was going to cook out on the grill this weekend. I was thinking of doing salmon.
Anything I should know in terms of grilling it? I'm concerned that it won't work physically (that it will flake and fall through the grill).

Edited to add: "Salmon the Grill" -- Looks like DML forgot a word. My bad. The title of this should be "Salmon ON the Grill."

I grill salmon frequently. Be sure to oil the grill just before putting the fish out. All I do is season the fish with a little toasted sesame oil and some Jane's Salt -- it's the simplest preparation ever and always turns out delicious. I learned this method from my aunt in Massachusetts. Whenever we would go to visit, she always served fish caught fresh by my uncle that morning (lobsters, too, if we were lucky), along with a giant salad from their garden in the back of the house. Best meals ever.

It's important not to cook the fish too long -- I prefer mine on the rare side, and it doesn't take more than a few minutes out there to get it to that point.

Good luck and enjoy!

Suzy

Another option is to get some untreated cedar planks. These are very popular with fish, especially with salmon and are readily available in stores like Home Depot, Menards, etc. in their bbq section. Here's a good recipe as well.

I use a fish basket, like this:

the sleeve wrote:Another option is to get some untreated cedar planks. These are very popular with fish, especially with salmon and are readily available in stores like Home Depot, Menards, etc. in their bbq section. Here's a good recipe as well.

You can also get them, albeit more expensively, from cooking stores. Not sure what's close to you. Whole foods has them too. I prefer my salmon cooked on a plank- I think it tastes more interesting from the grill this way, plus it's a very easy way to do a lot of salmon at once without worrying about flipping it.

I am not a big fan of cooking on cedar planks. I usually grill salmon fillets skin side down, directly over the heat, and never flipping it. With some wood chips (perhaps from those cedar planks) thrown on the fire and the lid on. This gives it a grilled/smoked flavor that is excellent. When it is done, it is easy to remove the meat from the skin while it is still on the grill, using a spatula. You dont get any grill lines, but you wont have those with the cedar plank either. Whatever method you choose, do not overcook it, and it should not be too difficult to handle without falling apart.

-Will

I go directly on the grill. 400 for 10-12 minutes and it always comes off perfectly. Olive oil first prevents sticking. Enjoy.

Yet another method: Oil the salmon fillet, place flesh side down on the grill grate. The fish will stick to the grate; cook until the fillet easily releases from the grate when touched with tongs, usually about 7 minutes. Then flip the salmon over so that this skin side is on the grate and cook for 2-3 minutes more.

If you can find alderwood chips, use them to grill salmon. This is the accepted smoke in the Pacific Northwest/British Columbia/Alaska region, adopted from the original natives.

Also, a topping of lemon and onion slices is very good- this from a Sunset Magazine recipe from years ago. It works best inside the cavity of a whole salmon, but is good on top of a fillet, too.

MikeLM wrote:If you can find alderwood chips, use them to grill salmon. This is the accepted smoke in the Pacific Northwest/British Columbia/Alaska region, adopted from the original natives.

I second the rec for alderwood, and I also find that fruitwoods (apple, for instance) seems to work well with salmon.

I'm growing some lemongrass for the express purpose of putting it into the cavity of the salmon to be smoked.