THIS is How I Get Perfectly Grilled Salmon Every Single Time

Grilling salmon, or any other fish for that matter, can be one of the most frustrating cooking procedures out there. It sticks to the grates, or it falls through, or it's overcooked. Trust me, I've heard it all, and I've experienced it all firsthand. Today I wanna show you a few cooking procedures that I've learned throughout the years to help get perfectly cooked, great tasting, beautifully grilled salmon every single time. Let's hop in. Sound good? Let's cook. I've got two, one pound each, skin-on salmon fillets. One is a farm-raised Atlantic salmon, also known as salmon salar, and the other is a Chinook, or King, wild-caught Alaskan salmon. The farm-raised is fattier, and you can see it in the fish, and this is due to its diet and overcrowding, which denies its ability to swim long distances. Farm-raised tends to be cheaper and has a milder fish flavor, which is why it's so loved. Wild-caught is a more fiery orange color due to its eating krill and shrimp, and has a more pronounced salmony flavor. Does that work? And it's also a bit firmer. Now, while I love skin-on fish, I don't personally enjoy salmon skin. I leave it on when cooking salmon because it will help keep it moisture, ensuring the salmon is juicy and flavorful. I also think it adds more salmon flavor, but that's just me. Comies, you know I will always push for wild-caught salmon. It's better for you. It has lower contaminants and a higher nutritional value. But salmon is expensive, no matter where it comes from. Everything's expensive these days. And if all you have access to is farm-raised frozen, it is what it is and it's gonna be all good. All right, for this first technique, watch closely. I'm just going to cut down the salmon fillets into eight-ounce individual portions. Using a dry paper towel, pat down the salmon on all sides very well so that you get up as much moisture on the outside as possible. You have to think, moisture and water is what causes food to stick to the grill, so we have to get this off. Generously drizzle on some olive oil or avocado oil all over the salmon, rubbing it in. This will add flavor, plus it will also help release it from the grill when we wanna flip it over. I'm going to next generously season the salmon on both sides with coarse salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Now, when you season, season high, about a foot away from what you're seasoning so that every square centimeter is seasoned and every bite is delicious. Believe it or not, salt will also help release the salmon from the grill. Then I like to mop the salmon up with all the salt and pepper that didn't make it onto the salmon so that it's coated on all sides. I'm going to set it to the side on a plate. Looks perfect. Time to get out to that grill. We wanna preheat it until it reaches 450 to 550 degrees Fahrenheit. Once it's heated up after a few minutes, we want to clean the grill using a grill brush. By doing this, just scrub it back and forth, removing all the old cooked-on food that's still on the grill grates. If this grill is not cleaned, no matter what you put on there, it's going to stick. Plus, who wants old leftover food on the food that they're about to eat? Nobody. For another really easy trick, if you're afraid of those grill bristles, crumple up a large sheet of aluminum foil. Then using tongs, scrub the grill back and forth, just like using the grill brush. It works very, very well, and it's a great, efficient, cost-effective way. Briefly heading inside for a moment, I've got a large, clean kitchen towel, which I'm going to fold in half, then fold in half again. I'm going to completely saturate one side with some olive oil. This is going to act as our oil towel for the grill. Speaking of that, head back out there using your tongs, brush the top of the grill grates with that oil towel. This is going to give it a sort of nonstick feature, so that no matter what you put on there, it releases with ease. Once that grill is hot and reached at 450 to 500 degrees Fahrenheit temperature, we're going to lay down our salmon skin side up or flesh side down at a 45 degree angle to ensure it has beautiful, perfect grill marks that we can show off. Now, if you just happen to like the skin on salmon, wanna make sure it's crispy, so we're gonna put it skin side down, flesh side up for a few of these fillets. The salmon looks great out here, and probably for my number one tip, let it cook. We're going to cook it most of the way on this side. There's no reason to keep flipping it back and forth. Doing this side for a longer cook than the other side will ensure it doesn't stick and it still has those beautiful grill marks, so let it cook. We are gonna close the door. Doing this will help keep humidity and heat inside that grilling chamber, which will assist in rendering and melting the fat, keeping it moist and delicious. So once the salmon is on the grill and the door is closed, we are gonna cook it for three and a half to four minutes max. During this cooking process, we're gonna get those nice Maillard crust grill marks from those hot grill grates. Then after that allotted time, we're gonna come back, open up the grill door. We're gonna start with the skin on salmon. I usually like to give it a little gentle tug. If it pulls away, I know I'm good to go. So using some tongs in one hand and a spatula in the other, give it a quick flip. It should come right off, even when using tongs. Now, if you eventually wanna take the skin off the salmon, here's a really quick trick I learned way back in the day. Using tongs gently and easily, using tongs gently and easily pull the skin off while it's still hot until it's completely off. Comies, I love that technique. Then going back over to our skin side up, flesh side down salmon, I'm gonna use a spatula in one hand and again, the tongs in the other and give it a quick slide underneath while using the tongs to help flip it over so that nothing breaks apart. Remember, salmon is a softer protein and needs to be handled with care. I'm gonna close the door and cook it for another two minutes. Salmon does not need to be served well done and it shouldn't be. It should be served medium to medium well. So I'll pull the salmon at about 125 degrees Fahrenheit internally. Now, if you're thinking, there's no way I'm eating my salmon not cooked through, then pull it off in between 135 degrees and 140 degrees. We're gonna let it rest for about three to four minutes. It will also come up in temperature a little bit more. And if you want a way easier procedure to grill salmon and spice up the flavor a little bit, you should try cooking it on a cedar plank. Now, these planks come in all different flavors from alder, cedar, cherry, apple, you name it. We are gonna soak it in a pan of cold water for about 30 minutes. I'm gonna add some forks on there to make sure it stays under the water. In the meantime, I'm going to prep up the salmon in the exact same way. I'm gonna cut the fillets down to eight ounce portions. I'm gonna quickly pat it dry on all sides, coating in oil, rubbing them down, seasoning generously with coarse salt, fresh cracked black pepper. Then once the cedar plank is done soaking, I'm gonna take it out and I'm gonna put that salmon skin side down right on to that cedar plank. It's going right on the grill in between 400 and 450 degrees Fahrenheit. It's going to take in between 13 and 16 minutes for this to reach that 125 degrees Fahrenheit internal temperature. Again, if you'd like it more well done, cook it for another two to three minutes to get to that 135 to 140 Fahrenheit internal temperature. Boom, done and delicious. Now to me, these are finished. I love the simple flavors of fresh grilled salmon with a little lemon and butter. And I would eat salmon every single day if I could. The problem is my wife, my daughter, they're not huge fans. For some reason, my wife tastes nickels every time she eats it. I know it's weird, but she will however eat it if it's completely drowned in sauce because she does recognize the health benefits of it. So I figured I'd make a really quick cilantro lime cream sauce that comes together in minutes so that I can drown it for her. In a blender, I'm gonna add in 16 ounces of full fat sour cream, a quarter cup of whole milk, two teaspoons of vinegar, next a half cup of sliced green onions, only the green parts, one cup of packed cilantro, including the stems, two garlic cloves, a half pitted and seeded avocado to add some color and fat, then the juice of two limes, which equals about a quarter cup of lime juice. Going to generously season it with coarse salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Gonna blend it on high speed. Once it is smooth, combined, and has a nice green flavor like this, I'm going to quickly check the flavors to make sure it doesn't need any more salt and pepper. And to plate this one up, I'm going to add a bunch of sauce to the bottom. Remember, my wife loves sauce. Adding the salmon to the top, going to garnish with some lime slices and some fresh cilantro leaves so my wife can get even more flavor of that and less of the salmon. Remember, a patted down, dried, oiled up salmon, a nice, clean, oiled grill, and let the dang thing cook. Don't get so flippy with it. Now, if you love salmon like I do and want to try some more flavors, check out my honey garlic salmon. It's really tasty and will be a great weeknight meal. Got an awesome recipe video. See you on there.