Cookaholics Bulletin Board

So apparently we're doing a whole salmon for the 4th. I'm wondering if anyone has any tips or cooking times to make sure it's done all the way through -- I'm concerned that the meat near the spine will be undercooked. I was thinking of starting it in a low oven and finishing it on the grill, but advice welcome!

Don't cook on too high a heat...and leave the scales on to help prevent sticking to the grill. Just peel the fish prior to serving. Another technique (which I've not tried ) is to wrap the fish in grape leaves prior to grilling. Kind of a grill en papillote.

Amy

Amy,

Yeah, I actually thought of the grape leaf thing ... we have a grape vine. However, the leaves have to be steamed first, and how do I make them stick to the fish? Even fig leaves (which we also have) would have to be tied on with string.

One thing I was thinking was cooking the fish (and the chicken), covered, in a low oven, like 200F. Then throwing it on the grill for 10min per side to finish. Anyone think that would work?

Fuzzy
I haven't tried this, but I would imagine you could wrap it in corn husks that you soaked.
Might add some interesting flavor,too

My take --- I've done whole salmon on the grill. Indeed, you tend to end up with 'underdone' spine or overdone belly. BUT, the great thing about salmon is that underdone it is delicious, and it is more tolerant of overdone then most other fish. In particular, the belly has lots of fat and is tolerant of a bit too much heat, so if my guests were queasy or immune depressed I'd let the belly be overdone a little and if they weren't, I'd let the spine be underdone a little. I've not tried the low oven, but that makes sense too, but can't *personally* condoned it due to lack of experience. The skin and scales definitely help slow heat penetration and even out the heat, but as you suppose, the big differential in thickness between the spine and other areas dooms traditional techniques some. But it salmon, it is tasty no matter what! And a whole salmon makes quite an impact...

I would wrap it in foil and cook it low and slow on the grill till nearly done, then finish with whatever smoke flavor you desire.

I talked to Amy on chat about this. Going to go with "wrap in fig leaves", since we have lots of fig leaves.

So, the fig-leaf wrapped salmon went great. I got compliments from both of the fishermen at the 4th party, and they eat a lot of salmon! About 10 of the 13lbs of salmon disappeared.

Here's what I did:

1. Cut the fig leaves off the tree (around 18), washed and dried them.
2. Stuffed the body cavity of the salmon with rosemary branches and lemon slices.
3. Cut slits crosswise on the body.
4. Basted the outside of the salmon with Noyo Harbor BBQ Sauce.
5. wrapped the salmon in overlapping fig leaves, and tied them on with twine.
6. Let sit for 1/2 hour.
7. Cooked for around 15 minutes per side on a medium-hot grill, putting down some extra fig leaves when I flipped the salmon.
8. Peeled away the burned fig leaves and skin, and served.

So thanks Amy for the fig leaf suggestion!