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What’s the Ideal Temperature of Cooked Salmon?

The best internal temperature of salmon depends on whether you’re cooking farmed or wild fish.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) states that salmon (and all fish) should be cooked to an internal temp of 145 degrees. But at 145 degrees, salmon can be overcooked, dry, and tough. 

When conducting taste tests, our test cooks and taste testers agreed that the ideal internal temperature for farmed Atlantic salmon is just 125 degrees, at which point its flesh turns firm yet silky.

And when we cook with wild varieties, we make sure to pull the fish off the heat even sooner, when its internal temperature reaches 120 degrees. 

Here’s how we tested these preferences.

How We Tested Salmon Temperature

To determine the best salmon internal temperature, we cooked two batches of farmed Atlantic salmon alongside four species of wild Pacific salmon—king (Chinook), sockeye (red), coho (silver), and chum. We cooked one batch to 120 degrees and the other to 125 degrees in temperature-controlled water baths. 

The majority of tasters preferred the wild salmon samples cooked to 120 degrees, while they confirmed our preference for cooking farmed Atlantic salmon to 125 degrees.

Why Farmed and Wild Salmon Should Be Cooked to Different Temperatures

Thanks to their significantly more active life, wild varieties have more collagen, the protein that makes up about 90 percent of the connective tissue in salmon, than farmed Atlantic salmon does, and more importantly, more chemical crosslinks between collagen molecules. The flesh of wild salmon therefore turns noticeably firmer when cooked, making it taste drier. Wild salmon also has about half the fat of farmed salmon, so there is less of it to provide lubrication and the perception of juiciness when cooked.

Cooking wild varieties to just 120 degrees helps to offset their leaner, firmer texture, since the muscle fibers contract less and retain more moisture. With more fat and less collagen, farmed salmon can be cooked a few degrees higher.

Is Salmon Safe at 120 Degrees?

Just like eating undercooked beef in a rare burger or consuming raw egg in tiramisu, there is risk involved in consuming salmon that’s been cooked to less than the USDA-recommended temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Doing so should be avoided by immune-compromised people. (Alternatively, because killing pathogens in food is a matter of both temperature and time, holding a 1-inch-thick salmon fillet at 131 degrees for 5 hours would make it food-safe.)

Ultimately, if you are comfortable eating raw salmon in sushi, you may also be comfortable eating it cooked to a low internal temperature. 

But this risk tolerance is a personal decision. If you would prefer to cook your salmon longer, check out our doneness temperature ranges.

Salmon Doneness Chart

Though we have a strong preference for cooking farmed Atlantic salmon to 125 degrees and wild salmon to 120 degrees, here are the internal temperatures for other levels of doneness. We do caution against cooking salmon to well done, which would take its temperature to 155 degrees or higher and result in extremely dry flesh.

To accurately check temperature, we recommend using an instant-read thermometer.

  • Rare: 110℉
  • Medium Rare: 120-125℉
  • Medium: 130-135℉
  • Well Done: 155-160℉

How to Prepare Salmon for Cooking

Cut your own fillets. To ensure evenly sized fillets, cut your own from a larger center-cut piece of salmon. For four portions, that piece should weigh 1½ to 2 pounds.  

For lopsided fillets, fold over the thin side for even cooking. Often precut fillets will have a thin, fattier side that comes from the belly portion of the salmon. That thinner section will easily overcook before the rest of the fillet is done, so we recommend folding the flap over and securing it with a toothpick. This will make the entire fillet more even in thickness and help it cook through at the same rate. 

To remove pin bones, use a bowl . While most fish are sold with the pinbones removed, they are sometimes missed by the fishmonger. Thus, it’s always a good idea to check for bones before cooking. Drape the fillet over an inverted mixing bowl to help any pinbones protrude, then gently remove them with tweezers.

Salt salmon before cooking. Whether you use a salt rub or brine, this step ensures that the salmon is evenly seasoned and retains more moisture. When we roast a side of salmon, we like to rub the whole piece with salt then let it sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour. When we pan-sear salmon, we brine the fillets for 15 minutes. A salt treatment also helps reduce the presence of albumin, a protein that can congeal into an unappealing white mass on the surface of the fish when heated. 

Tips for Cooking the Best Salmon 

If roasting salmon in the oven , preheat the sheet. We preheat the baking sheet in a 500-degree oven and (carefully) add the fillets to this sheet to jump-start the process of rendering fat from the skin. Then, we lower the oven temperature to 275 degrees. By finishing in a more moderate oven, the fillets cook gently and evenly for silky flesh. 

For pan-seared fillets with a moist interior and crisp crust, start them skin-side down in a cold pan. The skin protects the fish from drying out while cooking and is easily peeled off and discarded once the fish is cooked. It also releases fat into the pan as it heats, which is then used to sear the second side until it is golden brown.

To “poach” a whole side of salmon, steam it in a foil packet . Wrapped in foil, the fish steams in its own moisture. Seasonings such as citrus or herbs added directly into the packet provide more flavor. Placing the foil-wrapped salmon directly on the oven rack prevents the bottom from cooking more rapidly than the top. 

Look for visual cues in ideally cooked salmon. When cooked to 125 degrees for farmed salmon and 120 degrees for wild salmon, the center of the fish should still be translucent when checked with the tip of a paring knife.

To get rid of white albumin , brine and swab the fish. As noted above, a protein called albumin can congeal on salmon’s surface during cooking. It can also appear after you take salmon’s temperature, which releases a small amount of juices containing water and this protein. As the fish continues to cook, the water will evaporate, but the albumin will dry and turn white. It is harmless, but if aesthetics matter, brining the fish for 15 minutes before cooking will help reduce the presence of albumin. In addition, you can swab the puncture site with a paper towel before continuing to cook the fish. 

Recipes To Cook To the Perfect Temperature

Teriyaki- Glazed Salmon: Glazed salmon usually falls victim to the harsh heat of the broiler. We turned down the heat to bump up the flavor.

Double-Glazed Salmon with Maple and Liquid Smoke: It’s crystal clear: Thoughtfully calibrated glazes bring sparkle—and tangy, savory dimension—to silky oven-roasted fillets.

Saumon Aux Lentilles (Pan-Seared Salmon with Braised Lentilles Du Puy): This is a classic coupling of rich, moist fish and earthy pulses.

Oven-Poached Side of Salmon: Poaching is a moist, gentle cooking method that produces a softer and more supple texture in the finished fish. This light poached salmon is tasty enough to serve to company.

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