What is the perfect internal temperature to cook salmon?

How to cook salmon. Hint: don't overcook your salmon.
Salmon Temperature
The USDA recommends cooking fish to an internal temperature of 145 degrees F (62.8 degrees C)1.
However many find that at that temperature the salmon will be overdone. Once you remove the salmon from the heat the internal temperature continues to rise resulting in well overcooked fish.
According to America’s Test kitchen, to avoid overcooking the salmon you should cook to about 125 degrees F (52 degrees C).
Here at the RecipeLand.com kitchens we like to cook our salmon to just 130℉ (55℃) and the results are just about perfect after a 5 minute rest.
The center should still be a bit translucent but still flake along the muscle fibers.
Albumin
Have you ever noticed that white, sometimes foamy, substance coagulates on the surface of your salmon? It's called albumin.
Albumin is a protein that is pushed out of the muscle fibers of the fish as it cooks. It can collect on the edges and surface of the salmon. Overcooked salmon, especially when poached and canned salmon are particularly prone to this effect. However, even perfectly cooked salmon can form some of albumin on the surface.
The best way to avoid the white stuff is to cook your salmon to the perfect internal temperature.
Some tips to curtail the formation:
- bring the fish to room temperature before cooking
- glazing the salmon helps keep albumin formation in check
- cook just until the center of the salmon is translucent and no more
Comments
Indianapolis, United States
over 8 years ago
Brine the salmon and there will be little to no Albumen
UAE
over 8 years ago
yeah this is in fact one of the best informative fact that i have ever read. Salmon is one of the fish used commonly...so your blog is indeed a useful tip for readers like me.
Thanks!
The FDA’s recommendation cooks the fish to a temperature that kills parasites that can be in any meat.
about 1 year ago
Phoenixville, United States
about 8 years ago
there is a typo in your opening line, "The USDA recommends cooking fish to an internal temperature of 145 degrees F (62.8 degrees F)." no body likes to proof.
Thanks so much for your comment! I did not realize that it was F instead of C, even though I read it over and over again. Appreciated your comment very much :)
Toronto , Ontario, Canada
about 8 years ago
I know this is seven years later but someone who doesn't use capital letters and spells words wrong shouldn't be too critical.
Basking Ridge, United States
over 1 year ago
Jupiter, FL
about 8 years ago
You still haven't corrected the typo in the opening line. It should read "...62.8 degrees C..."
I know. My salmon still isn't ready after 14 hrs! WTF!
New York, United States
3 months ago
Toronto , Ontario, Canada
about 8 years ago
Thanks so much for your comment! I did not realize that it was F instead of C, even though I read it over and over again. Appreciated your comment very much :)
over 7 years ago
great
over 7 years ago
The word "no body" in the comment "no body likes to proof" is spelled wrong. Nobody is one word. Nobody likes to proof!
Hahahahaha
, United States
10 months ago
over 5 years ago
"No body likes to proof" ...
Nobody*.
And "proof" what? You mean _proof read_ ?
Way to be a grammar Nazi while failing the subject yourself.
:-p
Also, people should be aware of something known as "caching". In order to save system memory (RAM) and increase load times a server will not update or refresh the contents of a website for an amount of time specified by the web developer. A user can get around this by deleting this browser cache on their computer. This way the new content will be loaded rather than your browser waiting for the server to tell it that "it's time to refresh the cache".
This is probably why many of you (for some reason ) became unjustifiably irritated that this minor typo was not remedied with unnecessary haste.
about 5 years ago
I appreciate the post. Helped me a ton with my salmon. And I would tell all the grammar nazis to eat a bullet. So many people who only have time to pick apart something that was meant to help folks. Seriously this world is full of assholes.
over 4 years ago
I agree.
over 4 years ago
Funny stuff, everyone! The article is good, but the comments always add so much in the way of information and also humor. Good stuff.
over 3 years ago
Heyo,
Really great tips and temp suggestions! I appreciate the info from America's Test Kitchen being provided as well, since it gives us a few different options for our preferred sweet spot.
I really enjoy the 125-130° F range as well.
As an aside, toward the end of the page with the bullet list of tips, "glazing the salmon helps check albumin formation in check" may mean to say "help keep albumin formation in check" I believe. It's tough to catch all the little ones, but great info and really well written.
Thank you for sharing =)
about 3 years ago
You perfect grammar teachers need to get a life. Can you spell boring?
about 3 years ago
What a bunch of bullshit
about 3 years ago
I find it’s hard to get in the temp range of 125-130 when serving. We take it out of the oven and broil for a few minutes. Then it spikes like 10 degrees F!
I have terrible grammar when it comes to typing so I appreciate a very polite correction, but not a mean one.
almost 3 years ago
Sous vide at 120 F for 45 mins is delicious.
almost 3 years ago
wow, just scrape the white stuff off with your fork and eat your fish.
Green Bay, United States
over 2 years ago
I love the white stuff that comes out of salmon, chicken, and pork chops!
over 2 years ago
130F with 5 min rest on the baking sheet worked perfect to get it to 145 in the end.
Washington, United States
about 2 years ago
You guys who are down on the grammar correction people are crazy.
almost 2 years ago
Hello, I will follow your How to cook Salmon. I thank you very much for your time and your knowledge. After cooking my salmon the center is still pink not translucent at 140 F. In future i will cook to 130 F and rest for 5 min. and check the middle for color. Mike
almost 2 years ago
Hi guys.
In the Uk we go for an internal temp between 110f to 125f. But i do like it on the less cook side.
over 1 year ago
Thanks for the tips! Ain’t got time for no grammer corrections here me got some fish to fry!
Gerald, United States
over 1 year ago
never saw a time frame? wth?
over 1 year ago
I pull my salmon from the ice. at 125 and it usually reaches 140-141 while resting on the sheet pan while I get the rest of dinner plated. It doesn’t overcook that way and comes out moist and tender.
Basking Ridge, United States
over 1 year ago
I know this is seven years later but someone who doesn't use capital letters and spells words wrong shouldn't be too critical.
about 1 year ago
The FDA’s recommendation cooks the fish to a temperature that kills parasites that can be in any meat.
, United States
10 months ago
Hahahahaha
Ottawa, Canada
9 months ago
Salmon on a cedar plank on the grill is definitely the best.
New York, United States
3 months ago
I know. My salmon still isn't ready after 14 hrs! WTF!