Grilling Salmon 101 with Dennis Prescott

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Grilled Salmon – a culinary delight that never fails to taste amazing when served in a restaurant or even from your own backyard! We know that grilling salmon can be tricky whether you’re a curious novice or a grilling enthusiast, but we are here to help. We asked our Brand Ambassador, Dennis Prescott, some important questions about grilling salmon and he gave us some great tips and tricks that could help you create your own 5-star grilled salmon dish from home. Here’s his advice:

My preference when grilling salmon is to preheat my grill to 425 degrees F when cooking salmon filets. This results in a beautiful golden outside and perfectly cooked through inside to the filets, every single time.

For me, this comes down to personal preference and the specific recipe you’re preparing. As I love a big table filled with folks excited about a Bluehouse Salmon feast, I’ll often cook a whole side of salmon on the grill. If cooking for just a few, skin-on salmon filets are my preference of choice.

When cooking protein of all kinds, the best practice is to cook to temperature, rather than time. It guarantees that your salmon will be cooked perfectly to your specific liking! The best practice here is to use a meat thermometer, and be ever present at the grill, checking every few minutes to ensure proper doneness. For me, my preference is grilling my salmon to a medium doneness, around 135-140 degrees F (checking with a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the salmon), and pulling from the grill around 125-130 degrees F. The internal temperature of the fish will continue to rise as it rests to a perfect 135 degrees.

Marinades are an incredible way to infuse extra flavour into your salmon. I’ll often marinade my salmon for several hours in the fridge before grilling, cutting down on cook time when preparing dinner and adding that extra bit of deliciousness we all love. Are they necessary? Absolutely not! Bluehouse salmon tastes incredible on its own. If not marinading specific to a recipe, my typical simple but delicious grilling preparation is coating the salmon in a little olive oil, lemon zest, thyme, salt and pepper, and it’s absolutely perfect!

Both skin on or off will certainly work, but I tend to almost always prefer to grill my salmon with the skin on. The skin provides a protective layer between the salmon’s flesh and hot grill, releases natural fat onto the grill grates helping it stop from sticking, and salmon skin is super delicious!

Oiling your grill grates will help stop the food from sticking. I use a neutral oil, dripped in a little paper towel, then use tongs to rub onto the grill grates just before placing my salmon on the grill.

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