Im not much of a cook and am always trying to figure out new and different ways to cook salmon and steelhead for the fam and friends. So if you got any good tecniques or recipes you dont mind sharing, i'd like to hear them.

i like a salmon roast in an oven baking bag

Wrap it in baccon.

Many people have issues preparing salmon, and many people get turned off from eating fish because it is prepared poorly. When thinking about seasonings & additives, the goal should always be to bring out the flavor of the fish. Keep it simple, especially with high quality slabs of springer. A little salt & pepper go a long way. I also play around with small doses of brown sugar and garlic powder. Here's a few good'uns...

-Salmon, Brown sugar, light salt & pepper: bake at 400 until almost cooked then switch to lo broil for a minute to lightly carmelize the sugar.

-Grilled salmon, light salt & pepper with a hot sweet mustard/bbq sauce glaze (easy and delicious, makes great salmon burgers)

-Grilled salmon, nothing but a little salt & pepper

***regardless of recipe, focus on producing a meal that is overcooked, it doesn't matter how great your seasoning is if you present an overcooked, dry salmon fillet.

I do the brown sugar thing except substitute Cajun Blackening Season for the salt & pepper. Really brings out the taste of the Slab.

I like to soak mine in a light salt water brine for 12-24hrs before grilling. This helps take away any fishy flavor the fish might have. I like to take minced garlic, and saute it until brown in some butter, then pour the garlic and butter on the fillet and then add your favorite spices. For me that is Mcormics steak seasoning, garlic salt and red pepper. Throw it on the grill skin side down, let it cook until the meat is flaky and the same color all the way through, let

I really like Moravec's advice .... good fish is good eats without much of anything.

Something I've found over many trials and errors is that it's the skin side that produces "fishy" flavor, so baking, unless the fish is skinned, is out for me. For this same reason, BBQ-ing is excellent, because the skin is seared dry. The same can be accomplished broiling by putting the fish under the broiler meat side down and broiling the skin dry FIRST, then turning the fish over on a clean piece of foil and seasoning (minimally) and finish the broil with the meat side up. It's quick, clean, delicious.....and most importantly.....not fishy tasting at all.

This is a crazy good recipe;

Take a whole salmon or steelie 15-20 lbs and flavor it with your usual seasonings. Double wrap tight in aluminum foil and place in top rack of a dishwasher. Now go ahead and wash those dishes. Run the dishwasher through a complete cycle, including drying cycle, and while the plates are still warm, take out the salmon and serve. Moist and tender, and cooked perfectly every time.

It's weird, but it works.
ib.

I made springer twice last week.

The first time, I just salt and peppered it, topped it with fresh dill and lemon slices, and baked it in the oven at 325 for about 20 minutes.

There were no leftovers.

The next night, I salt and peppered it, basted it with butter and brown sugar, and baked it at 325 until it was just about ready, basted it once more, and finished it under the broiler.

Again, there were no leftovers.

The consensus was that the batch done with with butter and brown sugar glaze was the superior batch of the two. I was in agreement with those findings.

+1 My sentiments exactly. Why goop up some of the world's finest salmon?

Save all the heavy stuff for coho, or . . .

I didn't see much go on the Vedder springer at Sol's memorial, and it tasted like licorice to me......less REALLY is more

Got a smoker? Stick it in the smoker for one pan of chips and then finish it under the broiler. Salt and pepper only.

makes me mouth water.....

To avoid that off putting fishy aroma and or flavor, use good fish, as in fresh, not frozen. Unless it's flash frozen and vacuum sealed.

Good salmon doesn't need goop to taste good. I use only salt and alder chips and charcoal. And why skin side down first? That's totally bass ackwards. Flesh side down first to sear and seal in the juices, then finish off skin side down on the grill. OK, I've revealed too much, probably gonna' have to kill you.

Sg

You learned from the same place I did, Sg. And that makes it a common mistake. Try it my way and let us know how it works out.

I was referring to meat side down first for broiling so the skin dries and you don't end up turning the meat over and putting it right in the slime......
On the bbg it doesn't matter as the slime will drip into the coals and not onto the meat....but I'll still put the skin down to dry it first.
Of course, if you blast off all the scales and slime and wipe it clean and dry(which I don't), it's probably not an issue.

searing fish?....OK....frying pan?

Searing over a hot fire. Frying pans are for bacon and eggs, never fish or steaks.

Sg

Just throw some shizz on it and cook it til its done. I'll do a top rack bake to achieve the glaze. That's only if I don't feel like going out to grill. This time of year, grilling season has started. With cooking fish, just like with catching them, you need an arsenal. If I stuck with one recipe my life would be hell. I got a bag of tricks, and I will list them.

Primary ingredients:
Salt
Lemon
Pepper/seasoning salt

Seasoning aresenal:
Dill
Rosemary
lemon pepper
brown sugar
garlic powder
onion powder
Anything that says grilling seasoning, or grilling salt, or salmon rub
Kirkland makes a pretty good no salt seasoning
red peppers (I only combine with sweetness)

Other junk:
butter
soy sauce
fruits, apples or pinapple (go crazy!) -occasional, use with Bsugar

Methods:
Hot smoke on charcle barby with alder chips
gas grill
top rack bake at 400
Alder wood campfire (best)

skin on, set it in foil. I like to put my meat in a bath. I like juices and fats. I like it to coat my lips. I never trim my meat. Belly meat is the best tasting, and most fortified in omega 3's.

Now if I did all these things at once It would be nuts. I just combine different stuff and throw shitt around for variety. Lighter seasoning on quality fish. My favorite summer run recipe is just grilling salt, a square of butter, and a few drops of lemon juice. Springer is thick so I'll go a little heavier on the goods, but avoid dominant flavors. My cousin is a head chef and he made a sweet and spicy salmon for me once using a jam. It was killer, I don't recal the recipe.

Eat the collars and belly of the Feb/March upper columbia fish.. Or fillet off skin, light olive oil in pan and cut to 1/4" thick strips and flash fry in pan with salt and pepper, pretty much to die for... Then the rest go in the pressure cooker....

Once the summer kings roll in it's back to the frying pan with the 20+ pounders... Tough to beat those fish!

Keith

Those Summer Chinook are amazing! Need to get my summer spinner selection together for that fishery..