Do you guys grill salmon with the skin on or off?

And if you grill it with skin on how do you serve - with the skin? OK to eat etc?

And any tips on how to prevent it from sticking to the grill??

Thanks - sorry to be so needy!

I grill with the skin on over oiled, and well seasoned, cast iron grates. I get no sticking with my grill. I serve with the skin which, I think, helps keep the meat moist. Some folks eat some or none of the skin as the meat easily "slides" from the skin. I do like a little of the skin if it's a little crunchy.

Drew

I have the fishmonger remove the skin after weighing the fillet. Then when I get home, I don't have to worry about it.

john,

i rub the skin side of salmon fillets with a hi-heat oil like safflower. then i drizzle the meaty-side with some lemon juice & dust them well with kosher salt & cracked pepper.

grill them at 400 degrees, skin side down for about 10-12 min. until the meat just turns opaque. (do not turn them) then you can use the spatula to take the meat right off the skin and set them onto a platter garnished with fresh herbs. after the grill cools you can scrape off the skin.

one of my fav. ways to serve the grilled salmon is topped with a zucchini coulis:
zucchini coulis
INGREDIENTS
• 2-3 large zucchini - chopped
• 1-2 garlic cloves - chopped
• 1 jalapeno - seeded and chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground thyme
• 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
• salt to taste

saute the zucchini, garlic, jalapeno, & thyme in the olive oil until soft (do not brown). allow to cool slightly and then process with a stick blender until smooth. add salt to taste.

To keep the fish from sticking to the grill, cut a white onion in half, dip that in olive oil and with that rub the grill three ties, once when it is barely warm, once when piping hot and just before putting the fish on and then just before turning the fish.

whether whole or in fillets, I always grill salmon with the skin on, but before placing on the grill sprinkling over generously first with fresh lemon juice and then with black pepper. If with fillets, skin side down first and then turn once. The skin is at its tastiest when charred but not yet burned. If grilling the salmon whole, not at all a bad idea to sprinkle the cavity lightly with coarse sea salt and then to fill the cavity with several sprigs each of tarragon, rosemary and parsley, those to be removed before slicing and serving.

Best
Rogov

I always remove the skin from the whole salmon after I first fillet it. By always I mean just a few thousand times as this has been the most popular fish in all the seafood restaurants I've done.

The virtue of doing it in this manner for restaurant use means one may then prepare the salmon in many different ways - grilled, poached, baked, seared, sauteed without having to deal with any possible escaping scales.

Skin on here. Most of the omega 3 in salmon resides in the skin and just under it in those lovely layers of fat that stay with the skin when the fish is flayed.

The omega 3 fish oil capsules made from Alaskan salmon come primarily from the skins, which are removed when the filets are frozen.

[Jenise]

I'm with Chef on this one, I personally won't eat skin so for me there's nothing to save except the possibility of scales (terrible, that, on a finished dish) and trouble. Additionally, I like the taste that actual contact with the grill imparts to the salmon. So I do something like Daniel's method to insure that the fish can be turned and removed in whole, good-looking pieces. I also often occasionally roast big chunks of halibut similar to Patty's method of skin side down, prepping the fish with olive oil on both sides and a heavy coat of seasoning (some mix of herbs and or garlic, salt and pepper) on top.

I do it exactly like Patty minus the coulis. The salmon slides off the skin easily and then when the grill cools, Gene tosses the skin.

SKin helps hold the meat intact. I usually grill salmon steaks, which always have the skin on. Or whole fish. There are better ways to cook salmon filets, whether the skin is on or not.

Skin on here. Most of the omega 3 in salmon resides in the skin and just under it in those lovely layers of fat that stay with the skin when the fish is flayed.

The omega 3 fish oil capsules made from Alaskan salmon come primarily from the skins, which are removed when the filets are frozen.

Yep, I get rid of the skin and buy omega 3 capsules. You're better off getting those omega 3s from fish a little further down the food chain, though.

Or, better yet, if you're looking for a good dose of omega 3s have a grass fed rib eye steak.

I grill salmon filets with the skin on to hold the fish together, but remove the skin before plating.

All you folks talking about using the skin to hold the fish together need to take a grilling course somewhere!

All you folks talking about using the skin to hold the fish together need to take a grilling course somewhere!

LOL! Sign me up and I will even pay and bring the wine and whiskey.

On.
Whether it's steak or filet.
I prefer steak, when I find a good one.
And pinot noir.

John

Just as I like meat on the bone, with a bit of fat that I would prefer to trim myself, I like my fish with the skin on. I remove the skin before plating, unless I am cooking a whole fish (like grilled trout), then I serve it as is.

Yep, I get rid of the skin and buy omega 3 capsules. You're better off getting those omega 3s from fish a little further down the food chain, though.

Chef, I understand completely that professional chefs have to cook to please customers, and I take the capsules as well. Janet doesn't like the skins, and I cook with them on, then remove the flesh from her fish and eat the skins from her fish as well.

There's a bit of philosophy at work on my personal eating habits. My folks insisted that we kill at least one of the animals we were raising as farmers and eating: chickens, ducks, calves, pigs. My mom talk me out of the Old Testament, and we were very impressed with kosher techniques -- killing animals without stress which incidentally improves the taste. [One of my ever lasting shames is killing a chicken with a dull axe one time; my own shame was worse than what my mother told me.]

In any event, salmon are noble fish, a wonderful gift, and I simply can't throw away food that tastes good and is good for me nutritionally. It dishonors the animal in my mind somehow.

This is clearly a personal choice and not one I would ever impose on anyone else. I just had to respond to your comment that it's "better" for me to eat further down the food chain.

Keep cooking! Best, Bob

Bob, I did not articulate well. I'll get to that in a minute.

I have absolutely no problem with your food philosophy. It doesn't seem to be very different from mine. Food animals humanly raised and slaughtered. As natural as possible. Waste as little as possible. I think if more children were exposed to what you were on the farm the world would be a better place. If one is not willing to deal with one's food - and face the facts of it's origin - perhaps one should be eating something else.

Now, I'll try to articulate better what I meant to say before.

I wasn't asking you to eat down the food chain at all. I was recommending that you take the omega 3 capsules derived from the smaller fish species as they have fewer heavy metals and contaminants in their oil. I don't think there's a problem eating most wild salmon. I only worry when all the garbage we've dumped in the ocean - and continuing to dump - gets concentrated into the oil extracted from the larger predator species.

I wasn't asking you to eat down the food chain at all. I was recommending that you take the omega 3 capsules derived from the smaller fish species as they have fewer heavy metals and contaminants in their oil. I don't think there's a problem eating most wild salmon. I only worry when all the garbage we've dumped in the ocean - and continuing to dump - gets concentrated into the oil extracted from the larger predator species.

We are in complete agreement, Chef. I've eaten only capsules from Alaskan salmon for just that reason. So far, all the tests have been very good for heavy metals. The Monterey Aquarium still gives it a clean bill.

But, that can easily change. Any suggestions for suppliers if alternative fish oils? Thanks.

Skinning salmon is like de-boning osso buco, in my opinion.

Scales are a non-issue on the grill, because they fuse together and get crispy.

Walt

Skinning salmon is like de-boning osso buco, in my opinion.

Scales are a non-issue on the grill, because they fuse together and get crispy.

Walt

Priceless, Walt. I'll remember that next time Janet doesn't want the salmon skin.

Thank you. Bob

All you folks talking about using the skin to hold the fish together need to take a grilling course somewhere!

LOL! Sign me up and I will even pay and bring the wine and whiskey.

I took a fish grilling class last year at the local kitchen supply store that was taught by the fishmonger we patronize. A couple of notes:

According to the fishmonger, the cook needs to be patient. The biggest mistake made when grilling skinless side down is attempting to flip the filet too soon! The flesh of the fish needs to firm up from the heat before you can successfully flip it. Before hearing this, I always cooked salmon skinside down and never flipped it, ending up with a grill-roasted filet. I have been pretty successful using his waiting technique.....at least 60% of the cooking time is with the skinless side down.

Clean the grill cold. Clean the grill again when hot. Then oil the grill. Despite the obvious danger, I will spray the hot grill with a cooking spray, at least until my feet lose their nimbleness and the back of my hands, their hair. Safer methods exist, like oil-soaked paper towels being held by long grill tongs.

Fish like salmon takes approximately 10 minutes per inch of thickness to cook. If you're doing tuna medium-rare, less time.

We usually just put oil, sea salt, and ground pepper on both sides of the fish before cooking. As noted elsewhere, the salmon will slide right off the skin when finished.

Skin on. When I grill salmon, I usually do it "on the plank."

Skin on. Like many others, I slide the spatula between the flesh and skin after it's cooked for a skin-free serving. I have never found fish skin to be the least bit appetizing.