Some things are just right...

[jducoeur]

The thing about grilled salmon is that it is the only food I know that I can (more or less consistently) make better than any restaurant I've yet found. Getting it just right -- done, but still so soft and moist that it's almost liquid in the center, with some crispy bits but not burned anywhere -- requires getting the timing just right and serving promptly. Doing so in a restaurant setting, with the necessary compromises that imposes, is quite hard. But once you've got it right, it's not all that hard on the home grill. (So long as you can get a consistently-shaped piece from the store.) And there are a hundred different sauces and rubs that you can apply to that basic formulation.

Put it together, and you have perhaps the perfect grill food. Steak tips are great (especially with the well-known Cook's Illustrated marinades), but salmon is perfect...

Comments

[calygrey.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm, I've never had salmon from the grill done well... Good to know it can be done.

[jducoeur]

The only real complication is sticking -- some preparations can stick. (Indeed, with some of the gooey wet rubs I like it's almost inevitable.) In those cases, you just have to suck it up, and remove it from the grill as carefully as possible. It's still good, so long as you're careful, just less pretty. (The skin often suffers terribly in these cases.)

But yeah, it's not all that hard, especially if you know your grill well and have some faith in your timing. For a dry rub (which is the easier option), dry the fish with towels (this is important), brush all over with oil, and apply the rub thoroughly. On my gas grill, the procedure is simply to heat, clean and oil the grill, and grill the fish on Pretty High for about five minutes per side (assuming normal thickness), and serve promptly.

Some trial and error is definitely necessary, though, since grills can vary quite a bit. It's taken a couple of years for me to get to the point where I feel like I understand my grill's behaviour well...

[hudebnik.livejournal.com]

So what sort of dry rub do you like for salmon? We have several mixed up in the kitchen that we use on mammal meat, but I assume all that capsaicin would be a little much for salmon.

I think the last time we made salmon it was coated in basil pesto, then encrusted with chopped pistachios, then baked. Yum!

We use an electric grill, BTW.

[jducoeur]

Actually, a gentle BBQ rub works fairly well. Can't be one of the firey ones, but something that's not about the cayenne can do...