Trailblazer Grill Notes: "Salmon Sunday" - 9 August 2020

[Sscottfitz]

This was a Late Sunday evening, "Need to cook that Salmon that's been in the freezer way too long tonight or throw it out" cook....... So the wife made up a marinade, soaked the Salmon for a couple of hours, cranked up the Trailblazer, and had a pretty decent Sunday evening Salmon dinner.

• Grill Location: Hot Springs Village, AR.; 34 37 60.0N 92 54 55.4W - late afternoon, under the Grill Gazebo.
• Weather at time of Grill: Normal August Summer weather has returned to Arkansas…..Hot & Humid!, but know thunderstorms, so that’s a positve....Temp ~92F, Humidity ~55% (Heat Index 102)
• Total Grill Time: 38 Min
• Total Event Time: ~2 Hr, 40 Min (Includes marinade time, grill time, and plating)
• Grill Start to Target Temp 350F: 110F to 350F ~10 min
• Grill Plates: No
• Pellets Used: Rec Tec Ultimate Blend
• Temp Probes: Yes, x2

• Meat & Meat Prep
  • Meat: 3 x Salmon Filets of various sizes (taken out of the deep freeze & thawed - use or lose….)
  • Total Meat Prep Time: ~1hr in a homemade marinade that includes Asian Persuasion rub, Soy Sauce, Maple Syrup, Ginger, Garlic, Balsamic Vinegar, & Green Onions)
  • Meat on at 17:23 CDT, at ~69F internal temps,
  • Salmon Target Temps: ~140 F for removal, (+ 5 min post grill cook time during cool down….) NOTE: Got distracted by the NASCAR race, so the actual temps got up to ~158 - my bad - but the Salmon was fine!

• Sides:
  • Asparagus [thin and not the best, but it was what we had……] (Kitchen prepared & cooked in the oven)
  • Saffron Risotto (Kitchen prepared & cooked on the Range)

Misc Grill Observations - all times are CDT

• 350F seems to be the “magic fish cook temp” for this grill
• Used dual temp probes, one per thickest filet, thinnest filet not probed…..(don’t have a 3rd probe…..)

General Comments:

• This smoker/grill is perfect for fish!
• Temp probes reliability & confidence in them continue to improve
• August is HOT & HUMID!

 

[charlesrshell]

Looks good

 

[Mannydog]

Nice cook, Sscottfitz! I've done salmon a couple times since getting my Stampede in June. I used the "Lo" (aka Smoke) setting for about 1/2 hour to get a bit of smokey flavor in them and then cranked it up to ~325 or so for a couple minutes to finish it off and crisp the skin. I think the initial time at Lo helped render some of the fat from the skin, allowing it to crisp up without drying the salmon flesh.

 

[Greg Jones]

Dang that looks good! My wife is allergic to shellfish and really, I mean REALLY doesn’t like fish, and I love both. In normal times, she travels quite a bit for work so I have plenty of opportunity to satisfy my appetite for the foods she can’t/won’t eat. Now with COVID, she’s not traveling and I’m having major withdraws!

@Sscottfitz I sure hope you keep posting your results. I love the attention to detail you have for your process.

 

[Sscottfitz]

Dang that looks good! My wife is allergic to shellfish and really, I mean REALLY doesn’t like fish, and I love both. In normal times, she travels quite a bit for work so I have plenty of opportunity to satisfy my appetite for the foods she can’t/won’t eat. Now with COVID, she’s not traveling and I’m having major withdraws!

@Sscottfitz I sure hope you keep posting your results. I love the attention to detail you have for your process.

Thanks, I'm hopelessly "Anal Retentive" so it helps me remember what I did last time, for the next time I do a cook. My wife does the creative stuff, I just capture what I did, and ask my wife a LOT of questions......