Perfectly grilled salmon
roger_mommaerts/flickr
I downloaded this photo of a person grilling salmon from a random Flickr account. Let’s examine it and see if we can figure out what he’s doing wrong.
Or perhaps it depends on who you ask.
I am certainly no expert, but I have been firing up the grill more and more myself these days in an effort to learn more about how to turn out great grilled food. I used to leave it up to Howard, but sometimes he’s busy doing other things, such as mowing the lawn, while I make dinner and I figure I could at least learn how to cook a hamburger or a piece of fish. The steaks are still up to him because he has that mastered.
I bought some fresh sockeye salmon at Kroger yesterday (wild-caught, 3/4-inch thick, $8.99/lb. on sale this week, FYI) and it was a lovely, deep ruby red color. I did not want to screw that up. So I did a little research and settled on a method I found on YouTube. It worked perfectly.
The key, they said, is to get the grill really hot and grease it. The person in the video sprayed cooking spray directly on the grill while it was on high, which seemed kind of dangerous to me. Doesn’t that seem dangerous to you? Anyway, I oiled my fish on all sides with olive oil, then salt and peppered it. Then I heated my grill to high, cut it off quickly so I could spray the grates, then cut back on high.
Then I did the perfect salmon method:
1. Salmon on grill, skin side up, for two minutes. Lid closed, don’t touch the fish.
2. Flip the filet and you should have nice grill marks on the top. And I did!
3. Brush with whatever sauce you’re using (I used Sippie’s original and it was fantastic).
4. Cook, lid down, for 5 minutes.
5. Remove salmon from the grill and eat it.
Now, the instructor in the video shows you how to take the salmon off the grill by edging the spatula between the flesh and the skin, then quickly sliding it under, which removes all of the flesh but leaves the skin on the grill for discarding later. I wasn’t brave enough to try that last night because I could just see myself messing it up and having fish torn up all over the place, and I wasn’t in the mood for that kind of failure.
Some people like salmon skin, so they should definitely not try that. But if you don’t want to eat the skin, you may want to check that out.
I know a lot of you have grilled plenty of salmon in your lives. How does my new method compare with what you’ve done? And what’s your favorite sauce, glaze or seasoning for salmon?
July 18, 2011 - 10:39 AM
RSS feed 
I prefer center cut filets, no bone or skin. I usually coat both sides with olive oil, sprinkle with different flavors of rubs (I love to experiment), spray grill, and cook, turning with spatula when about 3/4 cooked. You have to really be careful to not break up the skinless fillet.
Do you spray the grill while it’s on?
I’m with you on turning OFF the grill before spraying, Lindsey. I’d say spraying with the gas on is a perfect date with explosive disaster. Ugh.
Heading to the store today to try some Sippie’s!
I do not spray while on. I use a small piece of an old towel, dipped in a small bowel of olive oil, and rubbed quickly over grate.
@David, good idea.
@Amy T, I try not to gush about Sippie’s, but even if I hadn’t done an article about the stuff I think I’d be hooked. I have had it on grilled chicken, pork and salmon, and I’ve had the spicy version on chicken wings. It’s all really good.
I usually heat the grill, then apply olive oil with a brush just before laying on the fillets, skin side up. Normally 3 minutes on one side, then flip to the other side. I apply my rub on both sides prior to putting the fish on the grill. Second side goes for 3 minutes or a little more. Lid is always down when timing. When I remove the salmon from the grill, I try to leave the skin on as much as possible, and I put the fillets in a foil wrap for about at least five minutes. Just like letting a steak ‘rest’, I do that with any protein I cook on the grill. If I’m using a sauce on the fish, I put it in the foil container then.
I normally only use rubs for any fish. I just think it’s better to add the fruit juices, etc of a sauce after the fish is fully cooked.
Another thing – folks need to read the ingredients label of a lot of these ‘spray oils’, since many of them contain silicone and other chemical (nasty) ingredients. Maybe I’m overly cognizant of it, but I try to avoid as many of the ‘preservative’ type items as I can, knowing how cancer rates have risen so dramatically.
If you buy a mist instead of a spray, you’re more likely to avoid ingesting so many chemicals. Maybe it’s just me, but when I read that I’m spraying silicone (or some other ‘lubricant’) in my frying pan or on my grill, I start to think there’s got to be a better way.
If this was Facebook, I would “like” your last comment, Abdnva. It reminds me that Pampered Chef makes a spray bottle you can fill with your own oil, and wash and reuse over and over again. So you can spray olive oil, peanut oil, whatever.
Lindsey,
I grew up in the northwest, so grilling salmon is mandatory! Try putting a piece of nonstick aluminum foil down on the grill right after lighting it. Then you can simply close the grill and let the fish cook without turning it. It also will keep any marinade right around/on the fish allowing it to glaze.
Win
One of the Weber’s Grilling cookbooks suggests that spraying/oiling the grill doesn’t really help anything and the main thing is spraying or putting oil on the food prior to putting it on the grill.
Also, if you want to do it in the really old school method, do what the native americans…cook it on a cedar plan. It is really easy and give a great flavor.
Look at: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/cedar-planked-salmon-2/detail.aspx
Win
I’ve cooked salmon this way as you describe, and I have also sprinkled a little salt and pepper over the fish, then used fresh dill and slices of lemon, some pats of butter, wrap the fish in foil and put it on the grill until it is done. OMG!!
Lindsey – I have that Pampered Chef bottle, and maybe it’s just my bottle, but it doesn’t work that great. I love the idea, though!
I usually do what David does, and use either an old towel or a wad of paper towels to rub oil on the grates. With fish, I also oil the flesh of the fish. Last week we grilled some yellowfin that I purchased from Local Seafood Delivery, and dressed it with a wasabi cream sauce.
Have you tried Thomas’ sauce? It’s very good, too. Last night we grilled some flank steak that had been marinated in a combo of Thomas’ sauce and Dale’s Seasoning. Very tasty!
Dave, I don’t have a weber so don’t know what they recommend…just know what I have learned over time. Oiling seems to help provided you have a wonderfully smooth grill, like a porcelain glazed on. Foil does work well IF you use non-stick foil. I always also lightly oil my salmon to help the herbs stay on…if I am not marinading.
@ Lori, I guess the bottle is too good to be true. Does the nozzle maybe get clogged and need to be cleaned? Anyway, brushing on the oil would work just as well.
I do wonder if I needed to grease the grill or not. I liberally coated my fish with olive oil, so it probably would not have stuck. But when fish sticks, it really sticks!
Lori, is that the fish guy at the market?
Rubbing a wadded up paper towel dipped in oil over a hot grill is a wonderful way to reduce sticking. Swear by it.
I’m gonna have to buy some fish from LSD and grill it up while trying some of the sauces I’m reading here!
They sell cedar for cooking salmon at Ladles and Linens.
I bought some Sippie’s sauce last month and opened it to taste, the day before I planned on using it. I then put it in the fridge, and I guess had it to close to the edge of the shelf it was on, because when I opened the fridge again later the bottle fell out and broke when it hit the floor. It was a full bottle. What a mess to clean up!
Lindsey, I too saw the wild caught salmon at Kroger on sale but don’t be fooled by the pretty color. I asked the fish mananger of the Tanglewood store if they added color and he said of course they do. The color is fake! Too bad.
Kristen – yep, that’s the guy on the market. He has a website & is on Facebook. I didn’t cook our yellowfin right away, but individually wrapped the 2 steaks I bought and froze them. They cooked up beautifully, though, and tasted great. His prices are good, too. I’m hoping to get some scallops from him soon. We bought some from a fish market at the beach recently, and until we had those, I had forgotten how wonderful fresh scallops are.
Debbie – spilling an entire jar like that is enough to make me cry!
Lindsey, I grill my salmon on a the grill in the summer and use the microwave in the winter. I wrap my salmon in alum. foil sprinkled with salt and pepper. Then I put matchsticks of ginger and some garlic and sprinkle with a little of sake (Japanese rice wine) and a drop of sesame oil. Fold the package up and grill for about 5 minutes. If doing it in the microwave, cook on high for 2-3 minutes depending on if it’s sushi grade salmon or not.
I went to Disney World last June and had the most wonderful salmon at Artist Point at the Wilderness Lodge Resort. They had salmon flown in and it’s called Copper River Salmon and is only available one month out of the year. It was amazing. It was grilled on cedar plank server with a little lemon beurre blanc!
Grouper grilled in Cedar Paper
Soaked Cedar Paper in water for 10 minutes. Placed Grouper on Cedar Paper and lightly dusted with salt and pepper. Covered fish with lemon slices and tied Cedar Paper around the fish. Grilled for 15 minutes.
You can find Cedar Paper in the grilling section of your local grocer
@ CMart, that irks me pretty badly because another guy standing at the fish counter with me asked the man if the fish had been artificially colored and he said no, it was wild caught that way. We need to be told the truth about our food. I’m particularly fired up about seafood these days (see my column tomorrow) and now I’m angry with myself for falling for that at the grocery store. Grrrrrrrrrr.
My mother had this hysterical old Home Ec cook book from the 50s, and there was an entire chapter on “planking”.
Lindsey, we were at Metro last night for the 1/2 off sushi, and they’ve made a huge effort to overhaul their sushi menu to render it more sustainable, and don’t offer any more fish that have been overfished. I get a dive magazine, and the feature this month was on the trouble the oceans are in, and how much of the seafood sold to consumers in this country – both restaurants and individuals – is misrepresented as to both species AND manner of catching.
@Kristen, I think you will find my column tomorrow very interesting
I usually buy Atlantic salmon (the stuff from Norway is the best)with the skin on. I soak it in Jerk marinade — I know this is hard to imagine but it’s unbelievably delicious.
I heat the grill on high, let it get good and hot, turn down the heat to the lowest setting on one side, spray oil there, then put the salmon there with the skin on the grill. Leave the other side on high.
No flipping is necessary. You leave it there for about 7 minutes per inch of thickness. When it’s beginning to fall apart, remove it. Usually the skin stays on the grill all by itself.
Our favorite is “HONEY GLAZED SALMON”
2 TBS Minced onion
1 TBS Chopped fresh thyme
3 TBS Honey
1 TBS Dijon Mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 6oz Salmon filets
Comblne 6 ingredients in small bowl. Brush mixture over skinless side. Cook 5 minutes per incn each side.
I spray skin side with canola spray. Skin side down to start.
Great article, Lindsey! I have that same app on my phone, and in my wallet I keep this little foldable guide I picked up at the Baltimore Aquarium listing the bad, better, and best seafoods to seek out.
I’m a huge tuna and hamachi fan, and it’s going to take some serious tastebud reeducation to get excited about the fish left to once the “bad” ones are eliminated, but we’re going to make a conscious concerted effort to get out to Metro at least (hopefully) once a week and support his efforts towards seafood sustainability.
Bill, that sounds delicious. Thank you for taking the time to share that recipe with us.
Kristen, it is my understanding that you can eat yellowtail without guilt if you buy the kind that’s fished in a sustainable manner- look at the app and see what it says about pole-caught, etc.
And some tunas are OK. So maybe there are some options for you.
I looked up tilapia today and it says U.S. farmed tilapia is the best, but most of the tilapia we see in stores was farmed overseas.
I buy the frozen (portion cut) wild salmon fillets.
Rub skin side with olive oil & desired dry spices.
Place frozen, skin side down, on wood fire, cover.
Sprinle flesh with soy & teryaki sauce & olive oil after some thawing.
Cook/smoke until skin is blackened/crispy & flesh just starts to firm, change color, flake at edges.
Couldn’t be easier.
I wasn’t kidding folks: the best salmon I’ve ever eaten has been soaked in Carribean Jerk sauce and is on my own grill.
Try it . . . you’ll like it.
I would suggest cobia as an alternative to tilapia, especially considering how much tilapia is farmed overseas in less than ideal conditions, let’s say. There is a cobia ‘farm’ in Saltville, just down I-81 an hour or two. Plus, if you’ve ever seen the tilapia episode on Dirty Jobs, you’d not be thrilled with eating it.
Thanks to everyone! I am inspired! In the new river valley you can get fresh seafood at http://www.indigofarmsseafood.com