Barbecue Salmon Recipe – Grilled or Roasted – It’s Summer Time!

Summer is a great time for grillin’ keeping the heat buildup out of the house and fishing season is upon us so I thought I would put this one out there for everyone.

1/4 c pineapple juice
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
4 (6 oz) salmon fillets

2 tbsp brown sugar
4 tsp chili powder
2 tsp grated lemon rind
3/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Cooking spray
Lemon wedges (optional)

Combine first 3 ingredients in a Ziploc plastic bag, seal and marinate in refrigerator 1 hour, turning occasionally.

Before we start grillin’ let me give you a few tips on barbecuing salmon recipes.

Make sure that the rungs on the grill are clean.  There’s nothing worse than old bits of food burnt on the grill bars, not only does it leave a horrible taste but it will make the Salmon stick.

Get that barbeque really hot.  Depending on charcoal or a gas grill use plenty of charcoal to build a really good fire that will retain plenty of heat.

Let the flames die down until you can see that the charcoal has become white, it should take at least ½ hour - this is where many people make a critical mistake.  You know what they say - Patience is a Virtue - or in this case Patience will help you cook food that you can eat, not the usual burnt offerings!

As long as the Salmon (or any seafood or meat) is well oiled it won’t stick.  Of course, it helps if you don’t prod it and move it around every 30 seconds, if you do you’ll end up with scrambled salmon which isn’t much use to anyone except the cat.

Wait until the flesh is seared before turning it over.

Only turn it over once.  The best utensil for this is a wide, thin spatula, big enough to lift the whole salmon or fillet in one go.  An alternative is to buy a grill cage the fish sits inside it and makes the whole turning over process child’s play.  They work great but I don’t particularly like to use one.

Don’t salt anything before grilling.  This will dry the fish out.

If you're using a traditional Chargrill a good idea is to use herbs or flavored wood chips thrown on the charcoal to impart additional flavor.

Of course, if you're using a gas or electric BBQ grill then try rubs or Marinades for extra flavor when cooking your barbeque salmon.

If you use the oven and bake it then preheat oven to 400°F.  Remove fish from bag; discard marinade.  Combine sugar and next 5 ingredients in a bowl.

Rub over fish.  Place in an 11x7" baking dish coated with cooking spray.  Bake at 400°F for 12 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

Serve with lemon, if desired.  Serves 4

Enjoy the summer!  If all goes well after this upcoming week out of town, I plan to head down to the Kenai for my annual dipnet subsistence fishing.  This year there will be a gaggle of us with my father & brother in law heading down on Wednesday with several of Mike’s co-workers from Shemya.  They are going to camp for a week or so until they get on the fish.  With the cooler/cloudy weather this season the fish are arriving in the rivers later than normal.  My plan is to let them set up camp and once the fish hit to call me and I will drop what I’m doing and go fish.  Hopefully I will not be on the road then and can get the logistics to work out.

Ice