Salmon on the Grill

There's probably a thousand ways to cook salmon on the grill, so if you have a method that you're comfortable with... go with that.  For those of you who might be less familiar with grilling salmon, here's a simple easy way to get that perfect preparation!

1. Oil.  You're going to want to oil both your grill AND your salmon.  We take a double layer of paper towels, pour a little vegetable oil on one side, and wipe down the grill.  Then smooth a little oil on both the skin side and the meat side of your salmon filet (along with a little salt and pepper). 2. Start meat side down.  Once your grill is appropriately pre-heated, slap that salmon filet down on the grill meat side down.  It's going to cook on this side for just a couple of minutes (1-2 for a thinner sockeye filet, 3-4 for a thicker king salmon filet).  This will put some nice grill marks on your filet and cook the surface. 3. Flip it.  I like to use tongs and a spatula for this, it's a relatively critical step.  Give your salmon a wiggle and a nudge or two to loosen it properly and flip it over, skin side down. 4. Baste and finish.  If you're recipe calls for a sauce, now is the time to baste a bit of sauce on top of the salmon filet, then cover your grill and let it cook the rest of the way (no biggie if the skin burns a bit) about 4-5 minutes more for sockeye and 6-8 minutes more for king.  We like to leave our salmon just slightly underdone in the center, so keep an eye on things for best results!  Overcooked salmon isn't a complete disaster, especially if you have a good sauce recipe, which we just happen to have for you!

 

This sauce is pretty tangy and it goes very nicely on salmon!  If you like a more mild sauce, go heavy on the ketchup and lighter on the soy/Worcestershire.  Mostly, play with it a bit and with time you can develop your own "signature" barbeque sauce!  1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup ketchup 2T Dijon 2 T soy sauce 2 T Worcestershire 2 heaping T brown sugar 3 cloves garlic, minced Throw it all in a pan and warm slowly to melt the butter and combine the flavors.