Grilled Salmon Questions

Cedar planks are awesome Direct heat skin down 350-400 Check out Ross in Ventura He has several posts on cooking salmon on a cedar plank

I cook a fair amount of salmon on the Weber kettle.
My preference is to go skin side down, indirect. I don't have a temp gage on my kettle, but would guess it's running in the 350* range. I use briquettes (GASP!) and a light flavored wood like pecan. Alder is my favorite for fish, but harder to come by in my neck of the woods.
My favorite seasonings are an olive oil rub with S&P, some of Paul Prudohmme's Salmon Magic or brown sugar and then glazed for service with a reduction of butter, dark rum, maple syrup and pecans.
I cook it until it flakes easily at the thickest part.
The cedar plank is a gimmick that needs to go away in my opinion. Not a fan at all. (Sorry George!)
Good Luck!

I'm not a fan of what I consider to be overcooked salmon. I always use a temperature probe inserted into the thickest part of the fillet and aim for an internal temp of 118-120. Cook skin side down on a sheet of aluminum foil using indirect heat. Usually the skin sticks to the foil and I can remove the fish by sliding a thin spatula between the flesh and the skin. Quick clean and easy to serve and looks good as well. I always pull the "pin bones" prior to cooking with a pair of needlenose pliers that are a dedicated kitchen tool.

I have been brushing on some maple syrup and using a moderate amount of coarse salt and pepper as a rub. I cook skin side down (oil the grate) and indirect, at about 300 degrees. I usually use lump for a slight wood flavor. Pull it off when it flakes and slide it right off the skin and serve.

Atlantic salmon is almost extinct, so you are probably getting farm raised salmon. Not sure what the price is, but if you can get wild caught pacific salmon, it will taste a lot better.

Atlantic Salmon (farm raised) is great for smoking It is higher in fat

I posted some pics of yesterday's salmon dinner in my Black Bean Quinoa burger thread. I normally grill salmon on either of the Kamados, yesterday I used the Weber kettle.



I spray both sides of the fish with a little EVOO, then season with pepper and whatever other seasoning I'm in the mood for. Sometimes lemon pepper garlic salt, other times Caribbean jerk, yesterday was a Cajun seasoning.

Clean and oil your grill grates, then skin side down indirect. Kettle was running around 375-400 for yesterday's cook. I very rarely have issues with the salmon sticking to the grates. I tried a cedar planked salmon many years ago, the Mrs and I both hated it - tasted like wood and ruined a darn good piece of fish. I don't understand the desire to do this and won't ever try it again.

After the fish firms up a bit, I do flip it for about 5+ minutes, again staying on the indirect side. Makes for nice sear marks on my cast iron grates and gets that top side nicely grilled. Flip back over, place on the hot side of the grill to crisp up the skin. Done for me is a temp around 145. Yesterday I did flip it once again, flesh side down just to try a reverse sear. Worked out well.

What really helps with flipping it so the fish remains intact is a good set of bbq tongs/spatula. The one I use looks like this:



Search for Onward Manufacturing Stainless Steel Turner Tongs. Walmart and amazon carry them. This set has lasted me years.

-lunchman

Salmon is something my wife and I always thought we should like, but tried periodically and never did. After moving to Cal I learned we had been trying farmed salmon, which I think folks label as “Atlantic” salmon in some sort of code. Tried wild Pacific salmon and it was astounding, everything I always thought salmon should be but never was. In addition to great flavour it had a real deep reddish colour, not light pink.

I then read about farmed salmon, how they raise them and what they feed them, including colouring to make the flesh pink instead of gray, and it did not sound good at all. So I wont eat it — if I can’t get wild salmon, which I believe is limited to Pacific salmon, I won’t buy it at the shop or order it in a restaurant. Fortunately, out here even CostCo carries wild Pacific salmon.

Sorry, just my humble opinion . . . .

I don't like the flavor of planked salmon if the wood is WRC. After I started making my own out of hard maple and using wild pacific salmon it's become one of my favorites.

Not a fan of planked salmon either. :grin:
I oil both sides, cook skin side down, season with lemon pepper and coarse salt, then hit it with butter as it rests. I don't temp salmon, just watch for the juices to rise. Best to pull it off the heat too soon and let it rest, than to overcook it. imo
I grill salmon plain for use in other dishes..patties, omelettes, etc., but my favorite is to stuff a slab with a crabmeat blend or wild rice blend..

Bacon, leek, wild rice stuffed salmon...
https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=227779&highlight=salmon







Crab stuffed salmon...

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=225831&highlight=salmon





Lemon pepper and butter are my favorite standbys for a quick seasoning.

Good luck with what ever you come up with, I'm sure it will be tasty!

You're making me hungry Jeanie!

BuffettFan said:

You're making me hungry Jeanie!

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I was thinking the same about yours Terry! lol I didn't know Paul Prudohmme made a salmon rub, I'll look for it here. Thanks! :grin:
Some great ideas on this thread. I'm going to give them all a try.

I cook salmon on the Weber pretty often and here's how I do it.


Lump the charcoal to one side of the grill, start about 12-15 briquettes in the chimney and once ashed over, dump them on the coals spread apart on top. Let the coals go a little bit then put a few chunks of cherry wood on top of the coals and put the lid on. Usually put the salmon on around 350° lid temp.


I did the cedar planks soaked in water for awhile but don't do that any more. I make a little "tray" out of aluminum foil and put the salmon skin side down on top of the foil. Usually do lemon pepper and salt on the salmon and place a slice or 2 of lemon on top. Then with the salmon on the aluminum foil squeeze a lemon over the top letting the juice sit in the "tray".


Put the foil tray opposite side of the coals and put the lit with the exhaust over the salmon so it half grills/half smokes. I do spin the foil tray around a few times so one side of the salmon isnt closest to the heat the whole time. Pull when its at your desired doneness. :thumb: