I have only cooked fish a few times on my kettle and always had issues. I have tried planks, cooking on foil, directly on the grates, etc. but it either overcooked, stuck to the grates, or just fell apart.
I got some nice wild caught salmon (I hate farmed salmon) from Wild Alaskan Company (full review of them here: Wild Alaskan Company Review), and decided to give the Weber another shot.
The three on the left are sockeye and the two on the right were coho.
I lit a chimney of Rockwood lump and dumped it in the kettle. While that was heating up I brushed the filets with some oil and then hit them with salt and pepper. And I love lemon with seafood so I put a couple slices on as well.
No idea how hot the grill was (guessing around 400?) but I put the salmon on skin side down and just walked away for about 6 minutes. My problems in the past probably stemmed from me messing around with the fish too soon so I just let it cook until it released from the grill.
I like my salmon about 125 degrees. No idea who at the USDA decided on 145 degrees but I guess they like dry fish. When I hit about 115 degrees (right about 6 minutes) I took the lemon slices off and flipped the fish for about a minute. 4 of the pieces released perfectly but the skin stuck on the 5th. No big deal, Then I removed the fish from the grill and threw the lemon slices on for about 20-30 seconds per side to get a bit of carmelization and enhanced flavor.
This was some of the best salmon I have ever had. Better than any restaurant and definitely the best I have ever made at home. I think I preferred the slightly firmer texture of the coho. The flavor of the sockeye was a bit stronger but the coho definitely had enough salmon flavor.
TL;DR - Cook the fish and don't mess with it until it easily releases from the grill. It will be delicious.
I got some nice wild caught salmon (I hate farmed salmon) from Wild Alaskan Company (full review of them here: Wild Alaskan Company Review), and decided to give the Weber another shot.
The three on the left are sockeye and the two on the right were coho.
I lit a chimney of Rockwood lump and dumped it in the kettle. While that was heating up I brushed the filets with some oil and then hit them with salt and pepper. And I love lemon with seafood so I put a couple slices on as well.
No idea how hot the grill was (guessing around 400?) but I put the salmon on skin side down and just walked away for about 6 minutes. My problems in the past probably stemmed from me messing around with the fish too soon so I just let it cook until it released from the grill.
I like my salmon about 125 degrees. No idea who at the USDA decided on 145 degrees but I guess they like dry fish. When I hit about 115 degrees (right about 6 minutes) I took the lemon slices off and flipped the fish for about a minute. 4 of the pieces released perfectly but the skin stuck on the 5th. No big deal, Then I removed the fish from the grill and threw the lemon slices on for about 20-30 seconds per side to get a bit of carmelization and enhanced flavor.
This was some of the best salmon I have ever had. Better than any restaurant and definitely the best I have ever made at home. I think I preferred the slightly firmer texture of the coho. The flavor of the sockeye was a bit stronger but the coho definitely had enough salmon flavor.
TL;DR - Cook the fish and don't mess with it until it easily releases from the grill. It will be delicious.
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