Cooking With Salmon

Salmon is a beautiful pink fatty fish that is very versatile when it comes to cooking it.

It can be baked, broiled, grilled, smoked, poached, fashioned into fish cakes and burgers, whipped up into dips, spreads or add to salads.

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There are are many types of salmon that come in different thicknesses. The most common found sold at your local market can include:

• King/Chinook
• Sockeye/Red
• Coho/Silver
• Atlantic/Salmo Salar

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Salmon can be packaged either as wild caught or farm grown. What is the difference?

Wild salmon is caught in natural environments like oceans, rivers, and lakes. Whereas, farmed salmon is salmon raised or breed in fish farms a process called aquaculture.

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Wild salmon feed on what is naturally found in their environment making the meat higher in omega-3 fatty acids and a natural pink to red color.

Farmed salmon are fed processed fish feed that’s high in omega-6 fatty acids with a pale white colored flesh. An artificial red food coloring is added during processing before sold at market.

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Cooking With Salmon

Before cooking your salmon fillet or steak, pat the fish dry with paper towels. This will discourage the moisture on the surface from steaming your fish.

Cooking times will differ depending on the thickness of your salmon. Use the following diagram as a guide.

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If you’re cooking salmon bought frozen, you’ll need to increase the cooking times shown above by about 50 percent.

To ensure your salmon is cooked fully and safe to eat, the Food And Drug Administration recommends a cooking temperature of at least 145 degrees.

Keep in mind that the fish will continue to cook after you remove it from the heat.

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If you are cooking fish in a skillet, you can use a fork to prick it. If the salmon flakes, it’s done. You can do the same if baking the fish.

Salmon fillets are best cooked starting with the skin-side down. This prevents over-browning the meat and drying it out.

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You should also cook it skin-side down when baking the fish as well.

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You have the option to cook your salmon breaded or crusted as this can help to retain the moisture of the fish.

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If using frozen salmon due to convenience or availability, do not thaw it. Rinse the frozen fillet under cold water, remove any ice crystals, pat it dry, and cook as you normally would.

The Difference Between A Fillet & Salmon Steak

Salmon steaks are cut perpendicular to the fish’s spine and include the spine, whereas the filets are cut parallel to the spine, with many of the bones removed.

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Since the filets are cut along the spine, you can get a more significant cut of fish for more servings.

The filets are often flakier because they are leaner, the fattier parts are often towards the belly of the salmon, which are cut out and disposed of.

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Salmon steaks have meat from both the lean and fatty parts of the fish and can offer different textures and flavors of the fish when cooked.

What Is That White Stuff Oozing Out of My Salmon While It Cooks?

It’s called albumin. And it lives in your salmon whether it’s cooked or not, no matter where it’s from, how it’s raised, or how much you paid for it.

Albumin is a liquid protein that solidifies when the fish is cooked, seeping out as the muscle fibers contract under heat, becoming thick and a bright white.

All salmon types will ooz this white substance. Albumin may be off-putting, but it’s completely harmless and it’s flavorless.

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More Salmon Recipes

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Try These Side Dish For Your Salmon Dinner

• Wild Rice With Cranberries & Almonds
• Roasted Cheesy Asparagus
• Cheesy Roasted Garlic Green Beans
• Roasted Red Potatoes with Garlic Parmesan
• Roasted Charred Sweet Potatoes

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More Deliciously Yummy Recipes

• Chorizo & Egg Breakfast Croissant
• Mason Jar Salad With A Homemade Vinaigrette
• Cranberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
• French Apple Cake
• Two-Hour Turkey