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How To Grill Salmon
Does anyone know how to grill salmon without overcooking it?
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Maybe give some free advice about: Cooking?
I grill salmon frequently, and it almost always comes out good. Here's how I do it:
(1) Start with the salmon thawed, not frozen. If it has bones in it, pull them out with pliers before cooking (most salmon fillets are boneless).
(2) Create a shallow pan from aluminium foil by rolling up the sides. Make it large enough to fit the whole salmon fillet. Put a large cutting board or baking sheet under it to support it - use something flat without sides.
(3) Start the grill and crank it up to high.
(4) Lay the fillet out on the foil and season it to taste. I spread soft (almost melted) butter over the top of it and hit it up with garlic salt, fresh-grated Parmesan cheese, and bread crumbs; but there are many ways to do it and it depends entirely on what you like. Marinating it in teriyaki sauce also makes a delicious salmon, but this needs to be started at least an hour in advance.
(5) Once any leftover grease has burned off the grill, scrape it and then turn it down to its LOWEST setting.
(6) Slide the foil with the salmon off the board and onto the grill (this is why you want to use a board without sides).
(7) Close the grill and let it cook for about a half hour. You won't need to flip it or do anything else at all. One of the great things about grilling a salmon is that it doesn't need monitoring.
(8) After 30 minutes, it should be slightly charred on the very edges and near the tail, but pink and juicy everywhere else. Stick a fork into the thickest part and give it a twist to see inside; it should e a uniform pink throughout. If it's a darker, raw-looking pink inside, let it cook for another 10 minutes.
(9) At no time during the cooking should you attempt to flip it! It will not work and you will end up with a mess of fish down inside your grill.
(10) You should be able to use the same board to pull the foil back off the grill. The foil dissipates heat quickly, so even though it's been in a hot grill for half an hour, you can touch the rolled-up sides with bare fingers (make sure not to dip your fingers into the hot melted butter, though!) Just pull the foil and fish gently onto the board to carry it inside. The fillet will not slide off the foil, because the skin will stick to it.
(11) To serve, slide a large spatula between the fish and the skin; it should separate easily, leaving the skin stuck to the foil, which can be thrown out. Because the skin actually protects the fish from burning, you don't ever want to buy skinless fillets for grilling (they're more expensive anyway). NOTE - Teriyaki sauce will carbonize and leave the foil and skin looking totally black and burned, but the fish will still be good.
That should do it! The most important thing is to cook it for a long time at a low temperature, so it cooks through without burning.
I almost always use fillets, not steaks. Salmon steaks are delicious but often prohibitively expensive. A salmon steak can be grilled the same as above, but it can also be placed directly on the grill, without foil. I recommend using a flat grill basket to hold the fish if you do this, though; the steaks will tend to flake apart as they cook and you'll need something that holds them together as you flip them. or you risk losing it through the grate. Once again, cook on low temperature for a long time. Steaks are harder to grill than a fillet because they do require constant monitoring and flipping, and the grill can sometimes flare up if oil or butter drips down on the hot plate. I recommend cooking fillets until you get to know your grill, then try steaks when you feel like more of a challenge.
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