Simplest Grilled Salmon

Put an entire salmon filet (skin side down) on an untreated cedar shake. Rub with olive oil and season with salt and pepper (or whatever -- I like adobo). Lay the shake on a hot grill, close the lid, and cook for 12 minutes. The edges of the shake will burn away, creating a nice smoke in the process. The portion on which the fish rests will not burn. Slide a spatula between the skin and the meat and lift onto a serving platter. The meat will be moist every time, with a slight smoky flavor.

Actually, the rule of thumb is 5 minutes per side per inch of thickness. i.e., a 1 inch thick slice of salmon (or any other fish) should cook in 10 minutes total

A silicone grill mat makes it a cinch. Put the mat on the grill, put the fish on the mat, 5 minutes a side more or less depending on thickness, and no sticking problem or fire flare-ups. Fish comes out with a nice char and grill marks. Find them on Amazon.

Our rule: high heat and 10 minutes for each inch of thickness.

No need to flip. Grill skin side down over medium heat to 130 degrees.

We found that a good way to keep fish from sticking to the grill is to put it on a (perforated) grilling pan -- either non-stick or lightly oiled. It's easier to clean the pan than to get all of the debris off the grill itself.

Or use a thermopen thermometer and take off the grill when center gets to about 125 or 130.

Living in Florida, we grill salmon about once a week. A little oil on the skin side, salt and pepper on the meat. Skin side down for the entire time, we never flip it. About 20 minutes on medium-low for a pound of farm raised, less for wild (we use the touch test for doneness, plus color). Rest on a warm platter a few minutes, cut into servings. We get compliments every time we serve it.

Hi. Maybe a dumb question. What's the best and safest way to oil a heated grill? Thanks!

Make sure you grill it medium rare and make plenty of extra so you can have the Barefoot Contessa's salmon salad the next day with leftover grilled salmon. Just add fresh dill, onion, celery, capers, lemon juice, raspberry white wine vinegar and olive oil and prepare for total bliss. I actually enjoy the salmon salad more than the grilled salmon!

Also basting with mayonnaise...did not have oil the grill.

Having tested many approaches for gas grilling fish, this is now my favorite; grill the salmon meat side down for 4-5 minutes then flip it over to cook skin side down for the balance. This will give the meat side good coloring and make the skin nice and crisp to serve. Or, if guests don't like salmon skin, it is very easy to slide the meat off the skin since it tends to stick to the foil anyway.
BTW, foil also makes it easy to grill fish that falls apart such as cod, halibut, etc.

The recipe should call for wild caught salmon, not that anemic, colorless, tastless farmed stuff.

You may consider letting the fillets bask in blood orange juice for a few minutes prior to seasoning/grilling. Beats plain old lemon.

I take a small condiment dish and put about 1/4"+ of canola or sesame oil. Then I fold a paper towel down until it fits into the bottom pretty much. Next clean the grill with 3M grill scrubber which works great when the grill is hot. (If you don't have a scrubber, use a good wire brush.) Now take tongs and grab the folded paper towel and wipe the grill down well, dipping back into the oil as needed. Just my 2cents of course.