Your "Go To" salmon recipes...

I love the taste of salmon, so simple is my preference. Butter, garlic, and onion and baked/grilled.

That said my all time favorite way to eat salmon is to add blackened seasoning, a little olive oil in a cast iron pan that is nice and hot. Flesh side down for a minute or two first, depending on thickness, then finish skin side down. Pull out, remove skin, and place salmon on top of a freshly made Caesar salad. Yum.
 
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Some yum goodness is being shared here!! 😋 (slurp…!!)
 
Josh said:
What temp do people like to set the grill at? Direct or indirect heat?
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I like to set the grill at 375 and do it right on the grate, wiped with oil, as mentioned. Depending on thickness usually about 4 min. per side.
Im' not much of a fish eater, more you kill it you eat it. That said I came to like the salmon we made at ivars, grilled as above, and topped with a round of lime cillantro compound butter. This time of year siding with grilled veggies and a salad works, a bit cooler rice pilaf is nice, and it pairs well with fettuccini alfredo for a heavier side.
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/cilantro_lime_herb_butter/
 
Josh-
In icing my fish I start with a good quality ice chest using several (2 or 3) gallon jugs of frozen salt water. Usually put them in the ice chest several hours prior to fishing to assure a nice cold chest. With fragile fish (like pinks) or warm weather or water also include a bag or two of frozen of crusted ice to belly pack the cleaned fish. With the crust ice make sure to allow the chest to drain.

Curt
 
I'm accepting the fact that I am a terrible fish snob, especially with salmon. Only dime bright fish will do, no matter the species (since I fish mostly in-river, I don't catch more than a few worthy of the table in a typical season). As @Smalma says, when you start with premium fish, you usually end up with a premium meal.

That aside, I like to keep it simple with all fish, but sometimes salmon can hold up to more "bold" flavors. My favorite, hands down, with a really great piece of fish, is grilled, on a cedar plank, with only olive oil, salt, and pepper on the fish. Maybe some melted butter and a little lemon with that, but really good salmon doesn't need any help. Sometimes, I like to use a little Dijon mustard, garlic, shallots, and dill, especially if grilling. And no foil when grilling... you might as well bake your food in the oven if you're going to cover it in foil; it will make zero difference. (Not to say I don't like baked salmon using foil; the foil helps retain moisture.)

Like I said, I'm a snob when it comes to fish, and I seem to like anything but ultra-premium salmon less and less every year. That said, if you've got really great fish, don't go crazy on the seasonings, and as someone else mentioned, DON'T OVERCOOK IT!
 
Butter melted in a cast iron skillet. Not too hot you don't want to burn it

Season filets with salt and pepper
Place in butter skin side down
Cook for 3-5 minutes cooked about 2/3s through
Flip and finish the other 1/3..
 
Josh said:
Interesting! Talk more about the ice process please.
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Having fished commercially in AK, this is how they do it in the fish processing plants.

They freeze the fish to -22F in about 4 minutes in freezer wind tunnel with 120mph winds. Then it get dunked into a tank that is a mixture of saline with 1 tablespoon of salt with 1 tablespoon of bleach and 1 tablespoon of sugar added, per gallon of water.

Then they get packaged up and put into freezer within a minute or two after dunking.

I’d not recommend freezing them for a month before doing this as it’s very noticeable how much it degrades in that time.

Also ice cubes floating in the solution help maintain it at 32f, so it doesn’t thaw the meat due to being in the latent heat area of the phase change on its way to ice already
 
For grilled fish, I coat both sides with olive oil, season and cook meat side down at high temperature first, flip and finish. My brine recipe comes from my uncle who lived on Willipa Bay. In the morning, start with a large bowl of cold water and put a raw egg in the bowl. Stir in kosher salt until the egg floats. Remove egg and set aside. Add filets and soak in the brine for 12 to 18 minutes, depending on the thickness of the filet. Remove and put on trays. Do not rinse! If desired, sprinkle a light coating of brown sugar and other spices. Mostly I just use a small amount of ground pepper. Let salmon sit to allow the salt to begin soaking in and then add to smoker. Fry the egg and enjoy it for breakfast. According to my uncle, this is the critical step. :cool: The heat from smoking draws the salt into the fish. The comment that I always get is that my smoked fish is never too salty.
 
Alright hear me out. This sounds sick and inhumane but trust me.

Lightly, I mean lightly season salmon with your fav stuff. Then mix mayo a touch of soy and white pepper, just a dash. Smear on fish. Put in oven at 425. Pull once glazed and fish is hot. It's stupid easy and really good.
 
Dustin Chromers said:
Alright hear me out. This sounds sick and inhumane but trust me.

Lightly, I mean lightly season salmon with your fav stuff. Then mix mayo a touch of soy and white pepper, just a dash. Smear on fish. Put in oven at 425. Pull once glazed and fish is hot. It's stupid easy and really good.
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We do the same but in the air fryer and it's excellent. Mayo, soy sauce, salt, pepper, some spices. All on foil so once done just lift the whole thing out.
 
My wife eats salmon 4-5 times a month. I eat it 2-3 times a month. Her favorite preparation for salmon as a main course with sides, or for salmon Caesar’s is pan seared in olive oil with salt, pepper and about 1/2 lemon to finish it off. I usually squeeze the lemon on top at the end and cover it to cook fully through but not make it dry.

Her other favorite is a salmon pasta dish I make. Pan seared salmon (cooked the same as above), pasta, olive oil, white whine, Calabrian peppers, basil, tarragon, paprika, salt, pepper…topped with grated Parmesan and red pepper flakes.

Other preparations we like.

Pesto with cherry tomatoes and grated Parmesan

Butter, salt, pepper, white wine and dill. Pan seared or baked.

I also smoke a good amount and make smoked salmon sandwiches or my favorite, smoked salmon chowder.

Another related question I have is why do you all do with the carcasses?

C44F6ACA-87A8-47C9-B683-3EA0FA9C3CC4.jpeg

Mine go in the garbage but it seems like a nutrient waste. Fish stock? Fertilizer? Raccoon food? Or are most of you just annoying the garbage man like me?
 
Access to fresh caught salmon is the first step....
 
jasmillo said:
My wife eats salmon 4-5 times a month. I eat it 2-3 times a month. Her favorite preparation for salmon as a main course with sides, or for salmon Caesar’s is pan seared in olive oil with salt, pepper and about 1/2 lemon to finish it off. I usually squeeze the lemon on top at the end and cover it to cook fully through but not make it dry.

Her other favorite is a salmon pasta dish I make. Pan seared salmon (cooked the same as above), pasta, olive oil, white whine, Calabrian peppers, basil, tarragon, paprika, salt, pepper…topped with grated Parmesan and red pepper flakes.

Other preparations we like.

Pesto with cherry tomatoes and grated Parmesan

Butter, salt, pepper, white wine and dill. Pan seared or baked.

I also smoke a good amount and make smoked salmon sandwiches or my favorite, smoked salmon chowder.

Another related question I have is why do you all do with the carcasses?

View attachment 31016

Mine go in the garbage but it seems like a nutrient waste. Fish stock? Fertilizer? Raccoon food? Or are most of you just annoying the garbage man like me?
Click to expand...
Smoke the backbone and cut head and tail off
 
jasmillo said:
Another related question I have is why do you all do with the carcasses?
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I bury all parts in the garden. Late winter / early season stocker trout carcasses go where I will be planting, otherwise they go in a fallow bed. Wire fencing laid over the top deters diggers until it breaks down a bit.
 
Crab bait for hillbilly shore crabbing.
You can also either cook or scrap the meat off the carcass and use it for salmon patties, on Caesar salads, in pasta etc.
SF
 
A friend grills the backbone, another uses it for fish stock ingredients.
 
I've grilled my share a fish flesh over the years. "Charbroil infrared" BBQ... Hands down... the best option for a tasty filet. The "infrared" thing is used in almost all high end steak houses. It's simply just better than a "grill". It's not hi- tech, just better. The best thing about this "grill" is that you can put wood chips directly onto the "grill" and they won't fall through. No other bbq grill allows you to do this (smoker boxes suck!). Take a handful of hickory wood chips throw it on the "grill". When the smoke starts,, toss on the filets. No flareups! and complete control of the heat. .....And.. whatever fish and seasonings you have,, it will be infused with the smokey flavor. This method of cooking fish is a game changer. You'll likely buy several types of wood chips, and enjoy discussing the culinary differences.
 
jasmillo said:
My wife eats salmon 4-5 times a month. I eat it 2-3 times a month. Her favorite preparation for salmon as a main course with sides, or for salmon Caesar’s is pan seared in olive oil with salt, pepper and about 1/2 lemon to finish it off. I usually squeeze the lemon on top at the end and cover it to cook fully through but not make it dry.

Her other favorite is a salmon pasta dish I make. Pan seared salmon (cooked the same as above), pasta, olive oil, white whine, Calabrian peppers, basil, tarragon, paprika, salt, pepper…topped with grated Parmesan and red pepper flakes.

Other preparations we like.

Pesto with cherry tomatoes and grated Parmesan

Butter, salt, pepper, white wine and dill. Pan seared or baked.

I also smoke a good amount and make smoked salmon sandwiches or my favorite, smoked salmon chowder.

Another related question I have is why do you all do with the carcasses?

View attachment 31016

Mine go in the garbage but it seems like a nutrient waste. Fish stock? Fertilizer? Raccoon food? Or are most of you just annoying the garbage man like me?
Click to expand...
Crab bait.

Crab pots set at the beginning of a day’s fishing guarantee a good dinner even if the fish don’t show up.
 
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