Salmon is a common favorite among fans of seafood, but unfortunately it is frequently overcooked by both home and professional chefs. Whether you’re cooking king, coho, sockeye, steelhead, or Atlantic salmon, one rule applies: Don’t overcook it. Its proteins begin to coagulate at low temperatures, so precision is important. Sous vide cooking is ideal because it allows you to maintain just the right doneness—producing tender, custardy salmon that still tastes of the ocean. If you’ve sworn off salmon before, this method might change your mind.
First, it’s best to choose the right fish, and at the right quality. There’s a dizzying array of salmon options, but knowing a few key facts can help, such as purchasing the right fish during the right season. Salmon isn’t one fish. It’s a group of seven species, each with their own flavor, texture, and seasonality. Most begin life in fresh water, travel to the ocean to grow, and return home to spawn.
Below are some of the most common salmon eaten in the United States:
- White king (ivory king): The Chinook or king salmon is one of the best-tasting salmon varieties. Its succulent, oily flesh is usually bright pink or red, but about one in 100 have white flesh. Marine biologists think that these white specimens are missing a protein that absorbs the pink pigment of the krill that are a mainstay of the salmon diet. These fish are usually in season between April and September. Regular king salmon is usually in season from May to October.
- Steelhead: Technically a variety of rainbow trout, these fish are related to salmon and cook similarly. Just like salmon, they were born to live in the ocean. In season November to August.
- Copper River salmon: Salmon that spawn in the Copper River in Alaska must swim upstream as far as 200 miles. They do not eat during that journey, so their bodies must store lots of energy as fat. This makes them delicious to eat! Both king salmon and the smaller sockeye and coho are harvested from the Copper River during a short catch season each year. In season May to October.
- Farmed Atlantic salmon: Atlantic salmon is the most common type sold at retail. More than 95% of farmed salmon are of the Atlantic variety. Salmon are often farmed in ocean pens, and their feeding regimen and waste tend to decimate their local ecosystems; consider your options. The natural color of farmed salmon is a lighter pink than that of wild salmon; some farmed species are injected with dye to enhance their color. Tank-raised fish are the most sustainable kind of farmed salmon. Available year-round.
Tips for Cooking Great Salmon
- Brine first. This seasons and firms the fish and helps prevent the unsightly white albumin from rising to the surface.
- Sous vide for control. Cook salmon to a core temperature of 51 °C / 124 °F for a firmer texture, or slightly lower for something silkier.
- Finish with hot butter or oil. Just a few seconds in hot fat after sous vide adds flavor and improves surface texture.
- Use oil, not butter, if serving cold. Butter will congeal at cool temps, but oil keeps the fish looking and tasting appealing.
- Pick high-quality fish. This is one case where sourcing really matters—whether you’re serving it raw, sous vide, or seared.
Our Sous Vide Salmon recipe is featured in Modernist Cuisine at Home on page 276. If you don’t have sous vide equipment yet—or the book—you can still get started by trying our Sous Vide Salmon in the Kitchen Sink recipe.
This salmon recipe is a fun and approachable way to start exploring the benefits of low-temperature cooking—no sous vide equipment required. A pot of water can maintain a steady temperature for up to an hour, which is more than enough time to cook fish (and even some steaks). For longer cooking times, a picnic cooler can keep water temperatures stable for up to 5 hours!
Keep in mind that the more food you add to the water bath—or the colder it is—the more the temperature will drop. To help maintain the heat, bring the food to room temperature before cooking, and use your largest pot with plenty of water.
We love serving this salmon with sautéed asparagus and peas in the spring, or with cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, and thyme in the winter.
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