How to Make the Best Grilled Salmon

Follow these easy grilling tips for THE BEST, easy grilled salmon recipe that’s about to become your new favorite healthy summertime dinner.

The Best Salmon for Grilling

This recipe for grilled salmon doesn’t call for fancy marinades or mercurial methods. All that’s needed is quality ingredients and a hot grill.

The main question is, which salmon is best?

I prefer wild-caught salmon because it has more flavor, but if you’re dealing with eaters who are mild fish fans, a quality farm-raised salmon will have a more mellow flavor. Like any protein, higher fat fish yields a more buttery bite. Salmon caught in the wild have to work harder than farm-raised, so they tend to be leaner and more fish-like in taste.

Ingredients for this Grilled Salmon

The only ingredients needed are:

A nice filet of salmon, king, chinook, coho, or sockeye *IMPORTANT* Choose a salmon fillet with the skin ON. More on this later in the post…

A quality oil (grape seed oil for its high smoke point, or an extra virgin olive oil are good options)

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper.

How to Master the Charcoal Grill

Gas grills are popular for their convenience and ease in heat control, but a charcoal grill is where you’ll really find that smokey flavor and aroma that makes the neighbor’s noses twitch with envy, wishing they were invited over for dinner.

Setting the standard, Weber’s kettle BBQ grills have come a long way from the classic Weber. With a heavy duty steel cart, side table, and propane starter, our Weber Performer Premium Charcoal Grill also comes with a built in thermometer, LCD timer and a handy bin attached underneath the cart to keep charcoal within reach but out of the elements.

How to Grill Salmon (aka My Husband’s Secrets Revealed)

Choose your charcoal fuel. Because they burn at higher temperature and have none of the questionable fillers or binders, I like all-natural briquettes made form pure hardwoods but shaped in the familiar pillow shape. From hardwood to lump charcoal or briquettes, there are many types of charcoal available these days and each imparts a different flavor and ease in lighting—and lasting. Briquettes now come in a variety of flavors that emulate hard wood flavors like cherry or oak, hickory, mesquite, and more.

No lighter fluid required. Avoid using charcoal fluid and its chemical taste. Instead, top the briquettes with a charcoal chimney starter stuffed with a few wadded up pieces of newspaper at the bottom. Light the newspaper, then watch as the fire and heat rise, starting the briquettes naturally. Once the briquettes are lightly covered with white ash, use barbecue mitts to empty the chimney starter and distribute the briquette coals on the bottom rack of the kettle.

Make the Grill Hot for Grilled Salmon

Preheat the grill. Once the coals are in place, top with the lid to preheat the grill grates, similar to preheating an oven. This takes about 10 minutes.

How long will charcoal briquettes last? Plan on a batch of 80 to 100 briquettes to last about an hour, adding more briquettes as needed to increase the heat as you cook.

MY HUSBAND’S TIP: Carefully place your hand 3-4 inches above the grill grates. When you can hold your hand in place for (3) one-one thousand counts, the grill is the right temperature to start grilling. Be very careful, you never want to touch a grate to see if it’s hot! Or, be like me and just look at the temperature gauge on the lid, looking for it to read 450°F.

The Best Grill Temperature for Grilled Salmon

Grill the salmon on a 450°-500° F hot grill. The number one way to ensure success when grilling fish is a smoking hot grill. Cook for skin side down for about 6-8 minutes on hot grates to ensure the fish (or any other protein) won’t stick to the grates and will lift easily away once it’s done.

Oil the fish, not the grill. Contrary to popular belief, there’s no need to oil the grill grates. Oiling the fish itself improves the chances of it releasing more easily from the grates to look—and taste—better. Again, a neutral-flavored oil with a high smoke point like grape seed oil is a good one to choose.

What Side Do You Grill Salmon On First?

Grill the salmon first skin side down. Whichever variety of salmon you choose, choose a filet or salmon cut with the skin on. The salmon skin provides a layer of safety between the grill grates and the fish’s flesh as it cooks.

Keep a lid on it. Maintain a more consistent cooking temperature with the grill lid covering the fish as it cooks, creating the same environment as an oven.

Flip the Salmon Once On the Grill

Flip once, and you’re done. To ensure the the fish holds together and doesn’t fall apart or stick to the grill grates, grill the salmon skin-side down for 90% of the cooking time.

How Long to Cook Grilled Salmon

The fish will stick to the grates at first, but after about 6 to 8 minutes, the skin will crisp and release naturally, making it easy to flip to the other side for

just another 1-2 minutes of browning.

What Temperature Is Grilled Salmon Done?

How to tell when grilled salmon is done. Grilled fish is cooked when it is 145°F, but remember about carry-over cooking, where food will continue to cook once you’ve pulled it from the grill or oven. To ensure your fish isn’t overcooked, transfer it from the grill when it is 125°-130°F, then let it rest for a few minutes before stripping away the skin and serving.

THE BEST Grilled Salmon

Generously coat the flesh side of the salmon with oil and cook it 90% of the way skin side down until the skin releases easily from the grill, about 6-8 minutes, before turning to the flesh side for 2-4 more minutes.

Ingredients

4 6-8 ounce skin-on salmon fillets , (about 1-inch thick)

2 tablespoons grape seed oil

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon , cut into wedges

Instructions

Prepare the grill for direct cooking over high heat, 450°F-550°F. Brush the cooking grates clean and close the lid to heat.

Generously coat the flesh side of the salmon fillets with oil and season evenly with kosher salt and black pepper. Grill the salmon skin side down over direct high heat with the lid closed, for about 6-8 minutes or until the fish lightens in color, becomes more firm to the touch and you can lift the fillets off the cooking grates without them sticking.

Turn the salmon over, close the lid, and cook to 130°F or about 2-4 minutes for medium rare or longer to desired doneness. Transfer to a platter to rest for 1-2 minutes. Slide the salmon skin from the fillets and serve with wedges of lemon and tartar or cucumber dill sauce.