Aug
Grilling Salmon
The thing about Salmon, of course, is that it cooks quickly and doesn’t need the slow cooking. Grill it up and serve it.
It’s very easy to over cook fish. Raw fish will be translucent, cooked will be opaque and flakey, so you want to cook it to just at the point where it turns flaky. It’s better to undercook it a bit than overcook it, in my opinion, anyway.
Also, salmon will really stick to the grill unless you use a grilling spray. Even then, expect to have to gently pry it off the grill to turn it or remove it.
What I’ve been doing is cooking is a couple of minutes grilling over a high heat, to get those grill marks, then move away from the direct heat for a few minutes. I’ve been using a whole fillet, around 1.5 pounds, skin on, and only grilling the skin side.
Here’s the recipe, such as it is. Pretty much like cooking a steak.
- Get the charcoal going (we use a weber grill) on one side of the BBQ.
- Spray the grill with a high temp grilling spray
- Place the salmon, skin side down, right over the charcoal.
- Sprinkle on your favorite seasonings
- Cover and Grill for 2-3 minutes. (The charcoal should be hot enough that you can hear it sizzle.)
- Move away from the heat, cover, and cook for 5-10 minutes, depending on how thick the fillet is.
- You should see the fat beading up on the surface of the fillet when it’s done.
- Remove and serve.
A whole fillet is awkward to flip, so if you want the grill marks on both side just cut it into sections, 4 to 6 inches long.
Here’s another Salmon grilling recipe. The chef marinades the fish for 30 minutes, then grills for just a few minutes.
Garlic Ginger Basil Salmon
It’s not BBQ, but it looks pretty yummy.
He also makes some remarks about cooking salmon to the “medium” state.
