How to get that outside crunch on bbq'd springer

[Jennie@ifish]

My springer is really good, but it's soggy on the outside. Once, Chris Sessions came over and bbq'd salmon and it was moist on the inside with a sugary crunch on the outside.
If anyone can tell me how this is done, exactly, I'd adore it!

I have been bbqing my springer in a foil pan.

I thought if I added something sugary it would crunch, but it just melted like syrup.

Help?

Jen

[cully]

olive oil might help but wih the foil it's a ?. I do mine straight on the grill top to get the crunch with brushing the skin first with olive oil, salt and pepper. Sometimes brushing with olive oil, soy and whisky. Have a good metal spatula that has some flex and keeping it flexed and unside down spat the fish so it doesn't seal itself to the grill ever couple of minutes. When fish is done it should come up in total. Sometimes you'll get 75% of the crunchy skin, what's left on the grill is the best, keep that to yourself :shocked: It may be worth trying the fish grilling basket and use the same method as above. I'd brush the basket with oil too.

[Jennie@ifish]

How bout in the oven? It's windy and cold here. Can I get a crunch like that by broiling, maybe?
I'm in a rainy creative mood. Maybe I'll do a web search.
Thank you for the tips!
Jen

[Buck]

Hi Jennie. I don't think this is exactly what you want, but it is definitely worth a try. First, you need to cool your fillets in the fridge. Bring the fillets out and place them skin down on a cookie sheet or pan. Then, melt about a half a stick of butter (Tillamook butter of course), mix in 2-3 tablespoons of brown sugar and brush it on the top of the fillet while the melted butter is still liquid and quickly sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Then, place directly on the grill, skin down and cook for 18-20 minutes. The 25 pounder I caught this morning is pretty thick on the shoulder and may require a few extra minutes (had to throw that little tidbit in - I won't mention the one that hammered me only to come unpinned at the boat or the two slack bites that I somehow couldn't catch up with in time).

I'm also interested in a recipe that results in a crunchy, sugary crust. The recipe above does form a nice crust (I think it is the parmesan that does that) and the brown sugar does make it kinda sweet, but it doesn't sounds like that is exactly what your friend did. Anyway, this one is worth a try. Hard to go wrong with springer!

[FishFood]

Not completely sure of how you're cooking the fish with the foil, but maybe this will help.

When you cook any meat, the heat will cause moisture to be released from it. If the meat is wet on the outside when you start cooking, this will be amplified. If the meat is enclosed in any way during cooking, the moisture will be trapped and you will essentially be steaming it. People are sometimes confused about what's happening when they try to fry meat in a pan and want a nice seared outside, but instead end up with boiled meat. Usually, it's because the meat is wet when they put it in (often because they washed it first, which is a good thing, but dry it after!).

If you're using a sugar-based glaze or barbecue sauce with high sugar content, then in the presence of moisture from the enclosed meat, the sugar will dissolve in the water and you'll have syrup.

To avoid this, you must do two things.

1. Your meat must be dry to begin with.
2. You must not enclose the meat while trying to get the crusty glaze.


This can be a challenge if you're trying to get the meat cooked and the crustiness on the outside. If you have the glaze exposed to heat too early you end up with either glazed sashimi (raw fish) or cooked fish with a nice carbon exterior.

Given this, you may want to start the fish cooking without the glaze (this will make sure it's dry and cooked internally), then, when you are at an appropriate point (about 2/3 of the way to internal cooking), put on the glaze and turn up the heat. This way you will sear and crystallize the sugar (heat crystallizes sugar in the absence of moisture). You should end up with a properly cooked fish with a nice crunchy glaze. You might also increase the fat content of the sauce a bit, which will help "fry" the outside some. One other thing--too much moisture in the sauce can be a problem, too.

Hope this helps, and bon appetit!

P.S. There is a terrific magazine called cooks that explains the science behind cooking beautifully and gives tons of tips--I would heartily recommend it.

[FishFood]

If you want to get a crunchy glaze in the oven, the broiler can work, but it isn't necessary. The most important issue, grill or oven, is moisture. Make sure the salmon is dry, first (if it's wet, your oven will fill with moisture and you'll get steamed fish). Use an oiled rack, so that the fish will be completely surrounded by dry hot air. Rubbing the fish with oil is not a bad idea, since the heat/oil will sear the outside of the fish and keep moisture inside the fish. When the fish is about 1/2 done, put on your glaze, and the hot oven air should crystallize it.

Another good way to go is braising the fish first. This is done in a braising or frying pan.

Dry your fish, and rub it with oil.
Put some oil in the pan, and just get it to smoking.
Put your fish in the pan, and sear it on both sides quickly (about 20 seconds per side).

This means your fish is sealed, dry, and all the nice juices are inside. Now transfer it to a rack in the oven and let it cook until it's half done, apply your glaze, and finish it with high heat.

You can also use a rub, which means using dry spices instead of a sauce. The dry spices will absorb moisture from the fish and the natural oil of the fish (salmon being quite oily) will get it nice and crisp.

[tysdad]

Buck had it right, I also use the real butter method with brown sugar. After I brush the butter/sugar combo onto 1 inch wide strips I'll sprinkle Johnnys seafood seasoning and lemmon pepper on top of the butter so that the seasonings stick. I spray the grill with non-stick spray and start with skin side down. After about 15 min. on the grill I turn to one side and grill each side to that golden brown crunch....... YUMMY :bigshock:

[RvW]

Check this out Jen...another option ...brown in a frypan with butter lemon and sugar prior to grilling them. when youve sealed the outside you dont have to worry about the fish sticking to the grates of the grill. No foil required. if broiling in the oven, its all about whats underneath it, cook directly on the grates with a drip pan on the shelf below it after youve sealed/browned it in a hot frypan.

Glazing is done rite BEFORE you flip a BBQ fish, and rite AFTER you flip an oven broiled fish.

What time is dinner?

[12pulls]

Jenny, I just place the fillet skin down on the BBQ rack, a little butter or olive oil on the top and let it cook. The outside will be crunchy. Take fillet off when done with leaving the skin on the rack, crank up the BBQ to burn off the crude, let cool and the skin will lift right off ready to toss in the garbage.

[Jennie@ifish]

OK... nice tips, all. However, I went creative.
I'll tell you how it turns out.
I took some dijon mustard, (about two Tbsp.)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 ground pecans

First, I brushed olive oil and honey, mixed together, on the filet... salted it with Johnnys. (I love that stuff!)

Then, I pressed on the sugar/nut mix. I am baking it at 350 for about 25 minutes.

Thick filets, may take longer!

Also, STGRule has our family stuck on roasted asparagus!
My kids didn't like asparagus, until they had it STGrules way. Now, I can't keep enough of the stuff.
Simply take the asparagus, nip off the ends, and put in an oblong pan. Drizzle with olive oil, and salt well.
Roast at 400 for 20 minutes.

Oh my gosh. I could eat that stuff all day long!
Or-- to do what Pete suggests, take it out early, take a sheet of phyllo dough, and wrap it around, and put it back in. You can make little bouquets of them in puff pastry, too!

YUM!

Jen

[TheRogue]

0

[WyEm]

Do you flip the fillet when bbq'g? My fish always seems to fall to pieces if I try and flip it halfway thru the cook. :mad: That has been my hang up Q'g directly on the grill. I've taken to Q'g fish on cedar planks where I don't have to flip them, but I'd like to figure out how to cook them without the planks.

[STGRule]

The asparagus recipe belongs to my son (Acuta). He's the master chef in the family.

[Uglygreen]

If you want to do it like they do a honey baked ham, you need to carmelize (sp?) the sugar on the surface with very high heat. Cook as normal, then when almost finished put a thick layer of brown sugar on the surface and go get Bills handheld propane torch off of his workbench and melt (almost burn) the sugar into a crispy sweet coating. Thats how they do the hame, and I dont see why it wouldnt work on a fish.

UG

[FishFood]

A little tip on asparagus when they're not completely young is to take a potato peeler and peel the root end's tough skin off. That way you have a fairly consistent thickness and good tenderness.

[Gus Orviston]

Sear it fast.. with a lot of heat.. 550 on the weber.. 1 minute a side, use a fish rack to keep it all together, back off the heat to medium and cook til done. it will be crispy no matter what you do for a marinade.

gus

[Mikeymoto]

I agree with UG a propane torch is the ticket. Not just for lighting birthday candles anymore.
MM

[FishFood]

One reason your fish might fall apart is that you start with too high a heat without oil (causing sticking and falling apart). When your grill is cold rub it with oil (if you put oil on when hot it just vaporizes--when cold it penetrates the metal). Also put some oil on the fish (a little bit goes a long way). If you start with too much heat and no oil the fish will bind to the grate, causing it to fall apart when you try to turn it.

An alternative (if you don't want to use oil) is to start with low heat to cook the outside of the fish just enough that when it contacts the grill at higher heat it won't bind. You start the grill at low heat, put the fish on for about a minute each side (it won't cook that much, and it won't bind). Then remove it and crank up the heat. Put it back on to finish and it shouldn't bind or fall apart. This is similar to braising, which others have mentioned. Braising in a frying pan toughens the outside so it doesn't bind.

Also, be gentle when you are going to turn the fish. Gently nudge the fish with little motions until you feel it loosen from the grill. Essentially, you want to bump it from each side along the direction of the grill bars. Once it's loose, you can turn it without damage.

There's one other interesting and somewhat sophisticated method, in which you don't turn the fish at all--you just cook it with the skin side down (skin's oily so doesn't stick as easily). In this method you use high heat at first, searing the skin side against the grill. You then put a moderately thick coating of a thick sauce on the top (non-skin) side. Close the grill cover, reduce the heat, and bake the fillet until finished. You get a nice crispy grilled skin as almost a crust under moist (the sauce keeps it moist) fish flesh.

Hope this helps you!

[lorchs]

Have you ever used the ceder plank method. Soak the plank in water, put the fish skin down season to taste add some butter adn let it cook. I will never cook it any other way.
If you have never tried this, you should.

[B-run]

I have a fish grill that I put the fillets in, close it then set that on the grill. Got it @ Kitchen Kabootle.
Or you could out fillet in-between smoker racks, out tem on grill, and flip racks over.
I also like to brown my filetts with XVOO and pan fry.
Very crunchy outside.
Rub with your favorite top secret rub prior to frying, then gril or bake.

[Jennie@ifish]

Scuzeme, but don't you mean the famous "E V O O?"

Love that show!

Jen :laugh:

[B-run]

I stand corrected :bowdown:
Yea, she rocks.

[Digifish]

I think Gus hit it. Number one lessen in BBQ is the heat. How much and for how long---and all the combinations there of.

To get the crunch, there are two types. Crunch by overly dried meat (crispy brown) and crunch by crystalized sugars. The sugar route might be what your refering to. I prefer the unabashed crispy brown meat and no sugars but thats just me.

A few of my "always do's":
1. Never take fish cold from the fridge and put 'er right on the grill. The temp rise to overcome is too much and you run risk of burning the outside before the inside gets done. Set it out on the counter for an hour and let the internal temp come up.

2. Give the meat a good dose of salt and pepper before you grill. The salt will pull some moisture to the surface and help creat the crust you are looking for.

2. Keep a spray can of canola oil at the grill. It burns a a pretty high temp so I spray the grate with it. Some will vaporize off but a good amount will stay. Next, <font color="blue">spray your fish on both sides </font> .

4. Cook with <font color="red">flesh side down first</font> on high heat. Then, turn the heat down.

Good luck!

[ko]

Do you flip the fillet when bbq'g? My fish always seems to fall to pieces if I try and flip it halfway thru the cook. :mad: That has been my hang up Q'g directly on the grill. I've taken to Q'g fish on cedar planks where I don't have to flip them, but I'd like to figure out how to cook them without the planks.



Always make sure your grill is clean. A clean grill is a happy grill. Get a good grill brush and use it often.

Then as others have mentioned oil it. I keep an oil soaked rag next to the grill to keep it oiled. After a while your grill should "season" , kinda like a cast iron pan. Do not use extra virgin olive oil, it has a very low smoke point and will burn over high heat. Canola is better. Pan spray works well, and is convenient.

Next make sure your grill is rippin' hot. It will stick if it cold. Sear it on high heat then move it to a cooler spot to finsh cooking. If you are doing it in the oven, put one rack close to the heating element, and one lower. Start high, them move it to the lower rack to finish.


Try your asparagus with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Lemon goes great with asparagus.

[River-Dweller]

asparagus done correctly;

hit it with olive oil, salt and pepper then on to the Char-Broil just until soft. Grilled asparagus, I'm telling you I would not eat the stuff it it were not for this newly found technological advancement. great stuff!

[jcarufo]

Jennie,
We use the best virgin olive oil we can find on a rag to oil a clean bbq grate. Place the fish flesh side down on a hot bbq just until seard(sp?) with black lines on the flesh; a couple of minutes. We then flip the whole fillet with two spatulas to skin side down. Like 12pulls, we then just let it cook over medium heat until just opaque. It depends on the thickness, but about 10-15 minutes for a medium thickness fillet. Since we usually marinate in Yoshidas original, dusted with mcCormick's herb and garlic and cajun spice, we just baste with the marinade every 5 minutes until done. We get a nice sugary glaze on top and the fillet just lifts off the burnt skin that is stuck to the grate. Just start a spatula between the skin and flesh and gently slide it the length of the fillet. It lifts right off or slide on a platter. Once cool, the skin pops right off the grill and we leave it out for the racoons to enjoy at night. The only thing you have to watch is not to over cook. Once it's opaque it's done. It's easy, no pans or foil, and a great finished product.
Also, a trick to try with asparagus: grab the tip and the base of the stock and pull in an arc until it snaps. It breaks right at the woody border leaving the tender stalk everytime. Grill, saute, steam, whatever with a little butter; the best.
Hope this helps,
Jean

[lurking_out_loud]

All of the recipe's above look really good. I'm impressed with some of the skills shown above, but I'm going to go really simple here and tell you how my wife and kids love BBQ salmon.

What I do is heat up one side of the BBQ to about medium. Then I take a sheet of foil and make a boat to hold the salmon and all the juices. Place the foil on the cold side of the grill, place the salmon skin side down on the foil, lightly coat the fish with mayonaise (coating should be clear) and sprinkle some brown sugar over the top. Close the cover and bake the fish until just done.

The mayonaise works with the brown sugar to give the fish a great sweet crunchy top. The oil in the mayonaise keeps the fish moist, and the cold side of the grill lets you regulate how fast the fish cooks. For variation, marinate the fish in whatever you like and do the same. This recipe is really simple, but really good.

[Fish_N_Russ]

Marinate in something sugar based before cooking.......you will get a carmelized crust on the outside every time. Try regular Yoshida's sauce, soak overnite and grill.

[fishing is life]

I havegood luck getting a crust using kosher salt.

[West Linn Wader]

Jen,

Hope this will eventually land in the "How To's"

[greenbuttskunk]

Jennie, I have a good one for you. marinate in terriyaki, garlic, pepper. Dry off filets and lay in baking dish. Spread honey over the top of the fish. Make a dry rub of powdered ginger, dry mustard, pepper, dill, and garlic power, along with a little cornmeal. Sprinkle mixture over the fish coating the whole honey surface. add the marinade back to the dish, so it just keeps the meat moist at the bottom of the fillet, but does not get on the top. Now bake at 350 till almost done, then turn to broil and watch the top bubble, brown, and crust up (about 1-2 minutes). One of my favorites, and the crunchy top and tender meat is a great combo.
Enjoy!
GBS

[StinkyH]

What about throwing it in the smoker(with or without smoke) to dry the coating of whatevah for about 15 minutes and then onto the grill? The lower heat will dry the outside without heating it to the point where it pushes out moisture?

I noticed when I smoked my baby back ribs for 15 minutes before going to the grill that they formed a nice light 'shell'.

just a thought...

StinkyH

[yankemnbankem]

Jennie and everyone else in here. HERE is the method for making your salmon turn out extra crunchy and really flavorful.

Make up a glaze of olive oil and everything else you can think of from your spice rack...and some brown sugar and teriaki sauce maybe. anyways, this is the secret, cook your fish MEAT SIDE DOWN, until you see the skin(scale side) bubble, peel off the skin and its ready to eat, or you can lather the skin side down after you remove the skin, and let it bake a little longer. Experiment with different spices,sugars, and times. Ive done this in my smoker cooker, and in the oven, as well as the barby. It will give you a good quick smoke salmon taste if cooked in smoker or BBQ.

[harley]

reading all these great methods is really makeing me hungry-I am not a gourmet anything--I make sure that the BarBQ is clean--then I spray the grill with Pam--I lay the fish directly on the grill and pour on any kind of creamy salad dressing,honey mustard sauce or even plain old mayonaise,sprinkle on lots of garlic-very little salt--keep checking till the fish easily flacks apart-usually one and 1/2 beer----then enjoy----

[Tyeebuster]

For springers, I start by letting the fish fillets come up to room temperature. Then I spray and pre-heat the grill to around 400 (if you do not have a thermomiter heat until you can't hold back of hand over grill for over 3 seconds). While the grill is pre heating I drizzle Olive Oil on the fillets and salt with Kosher Salt (sticks better to grilled meats) and fresh ground pepper (sprinkle this garlic optional).

Place fillets meat side down on the grill for 5-7 minutes. Turn fish to skin side down and back-off heat to 300-325. The fish skin will blacken and stick to the grill. Sprinkle alittle lemon juice on the fillets while cooking. Remove from the grill when the fish starts to flake. Let rest for 5 minutes and serve (letting the fillet rest will allow the fillet to cook alittle longer and will help to lock juices into the fillet).

For Fall fish I cook much the same way except I coat the fish while cooking to keep it moist due to the lower oil content of the fish. Start the same as above only sprinkle with Lemon Papper prior to grilling. After turning, to skin side down, coat the fillet with a thick mixture of Mayo, Walla Walla sweet onion, minced garlic, and lemon juice. Smear mixture on the fillet and let the fillet cook. The mixtue will darken and cook down as the fish cooks. Remove from grill when the fish starts to flake and let rest for 5 minutes, then serve.

[pksgundogs]

Jennie,

I never use foil to cook fish on the barbecue. I have some large fish baskets that trap whatever you put in them, so you can easily flip your delicate fillets or steaks without them falling to pieces. You then have total control. Cant remember where I bought them, but they are big and have a long wire handle with a wood grip area. This year I cooked halibut and salmon fillets I brought back from AK for over 50 people with all of my baskets on 5 barbecues, all at the same time. My mother-in-laws 70th birthday. Was a snap. I usually marinade overnight in the large Ziploc freezer bags.