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Wild caught salmon on my Weber Kettle

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    Wild caught salmon on my Weber Kettle

    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

    #2
    Rub some Mayo on that fish. Releases better. Nice cook. I do fine with store bought.

    Comment


    #3
    When I lived in Seattle I loved grilling fresh wild salmon. I also can’t stand the farmed.

    those look great!

    Comment


    • Attjack
      Attjack commented
      Editing a comment
      I only buy line caught salmon. I will buy previously frozen fish in the offseason though.

    #4
    Great tips. Thanks for sharing!

    Comment


      #5
      Those look great Joe. We too did wild salmon last night, sockeye. I do mine similar to your method with excellent results. I recently started playing with an OJ Bronco and this was the first salmon cook. I loaded the basket with the lump on one side to zone cook. I toss on a small scatter of alder chips, real salmon loves alder smoke. I started the salmon on the "cool" side, skin side down. I use an olive oil/soy sauce with dill and citrus marinade so the skin and flesh sides have some lubrication from the git go. My times are similar to yours with the same target temp (125 - 130 range then a tad of carryover) so our outcomes likely are very similar. I flip the flesh side to the side over the coals for that stripe/sear effect. Didn't take pics of the fish since I didn't expect I'd be posting about it, but I did take a pic of the basket load because I plan to make some commentary on the Bronco in the near future.

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      Last edited by Uncle Bob; February 18, 2020, 08:21 AM.

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        #6
        Click image for larger version  Name:	D2D02AED-F506-4645-A268-BEDDC649F708.jpeg Views:	17 Size:	3.64 MB ID:	804204 Thanks! I use the Weber baskets on either side and lay my slab of salmon up the middle, indirect style. I'm always afraid to flip so I just let it bake on the grate. I'll have to give this a try.
        Last edited by HawkerXP; February 18, 2020, 12:48 PM.

        Comment


        • HouseHomey
          HouseHomey commented
          Editing a comment
          I cut off that belly and throw it on the heat. Good.

        • HawkerXP
          HawkerXP commented
          Editing a comment
          What ya talkin bout Willis!?! My beer belly or fish belly! Hehehehe… I will try that also. Thanks HouseHomey

        #7
        I switched years ago to using phat mats and have never had a sticking fish since.

        Comment


        #8
        Glad this turned out for you. Have you checked out Meathead's recipe for salmon. I love that recipe it is amazing stuff. Also, there is a great trick that he provides. Use cut outs from a brown paper bag and place the fish on the square, skin side down. This will protect the fish and after you are done cooking, the skin sticks to the paper and all you have is the meat. (If you like the skin, you can peel it from the paper as well.)

        The recipe is fantastic.

        Comment


        • JoeSousa
          JoeSousa commented
          Editing a comment
          I will have to give that a try. I wanted to try this one as "clean" as I could to let the flavor of the fish come through but will definitely give that recipe a shot.

        • mnavarre
          mnavarre commented
          Editing a comment
          Butcher paper works great also.

        • Spinaker
          Spinaker commented
          Editing a comment
          Yep, that also works as well. Good call. mnavarre

        #9
        Friends don't let friends eat farmed fish....

        Looks great!

        Comment


        • Thunder77
          Thunder77 commented
          Editing a comment
          That's too bad!

        • JCGrill
          JCGrill commented
          Editing a comment
          Huskee that sounds pretty weird coming from a guy who lives in Michigan.

        • Huskee
          Huskee commented
          Editing a comment
          JCGrill, I know, but I don't have the time nor money to travel to the good salmon spots anymore. River fishing isn't what it was when I was a kid anyway. Sigh...storebought salmon for me.

        #10
        Very nice. Now do some wild caught chinook when it's running this May from Alaska. PS Oil the grates too. But yeah, letting it release naturally is best.

        Comment


        • JoeSousa
          JoeSousa commented
          Editing a comment
          I will definitely be getting some Chinook this spring.

        #11
        Looks really good indeed JoeSousa

        Comment


          #12
          Once again I enjoyed your write up. Easy peas you of a read. No fuss no muss. Thank you

          Comment


            #13
            Wish I could catch wild salmon on my kettle...

            Comment


            • FireMan
              FireMan commented
              Editing a comment
              Those were my initial thoughts also. Was lookin with great anticipation. I’ve caught lots of salmon in my time. Was lookin fer a new way. 🕶

            • jfmorris
              jfmorris commented
              Editing a comment
              Exactly what I was thinking when I saw this thread! I never catch fish, much less salmon, on my kettle....

            #14
            Salmon is great with a honey habanero dust mix. I call it hot honey.

            Comment


            • JoeSousa
              JoeSousa commented
              Editing a comment
              I have a Spiceology honey habanero rub in my cupboard. If I ever get tired of plain salmon (not sure that will happen) I will have to give it a shot.

            • texastweeter
              texastweeter commented
              Editing a comment
              JoeSousa I just take some of my ground dried habanero or scotchbonnet from our farm, and mix it in with some wildflower honey from a friend of mine who is the head of the East Texas beekeepers association. Warm it up in a pot of hot water to make it thin out, and paint it on. Just like BBQ sauce on ribs (if you sauce) and let it tack up in the pit. I usually wet brine salmon that doesn't get salmon magic rub. Always smoke over alder.

            • Uncle Bob
              Uncle Bob commented
              Editing a comment
              To Joe's point, the follow up question would be: Are you talking about Atlantic (especially farm raised) salmon, or wild Alaska/Canadian salmon? What Joe calls plain salmon is wild North Pacific salmon that has innate flavor that is rich and well rounded. Atlantic (especially farm raised) is like a blank canvas, with about the same flavor profile, that needs to have something of interest applied to it to make it worth trying. I'm not usually a food snob, but this is one of the few exceptions.

            #15
            The 145 degree recommendation is because salmon is prone to parasites (roundworms) and that is the temp to kill them .

            Comment


            • jfmorris
              jfmorris commented
              Editing a comment
              Yep, I am following that temp guideline too!

              I wonder if fish that is previously frozen is still unsafe?

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