Oven-Roasted Salmon: The Little-Known Secret to Flavorful, Tender Results
When it comes to tender, flavorful salmon, we found that the inclusion of one easy, but not often considered step can take your salmon from good to great!
What is that secret step? Brining.
Why Brining?
If you haven’t brined meat before, now is the time to give it a whirl. The folks at America’s Test Kitchen have performed extensive research on the subject of brining multiple types of meat (note: this link is killer but requires a subscription to read. Here is more information about brining: How Brining Works from Cooking for Engineers).
Brining readjusts the protein molecules in the meat, creating a matrix of gaps where water is able to fill and will be less likely to evaporate during cooking. The process of water moving from the brining solution (in our case, salt dissolved in water) to the lower water concentration mass of the salmon is called osmosis. The result of brining can be meat that is more tender, juicy, and flavorful. It works with turkeys and it works with fish.
Brining also does your salmon an aesthetic favor. As un-brined salmon’s protein fibers become more firm during cooking, it can express albumin to the surface of the meat where it coagulates, leaving unsightly white patches. A soak in a brining solution, however, helps keep the albumin inside the meat, rather than being squeezed out to the surface.
Preparing Our Brining Test
Monitoring temperatures is critical to success in any kitchen. In his book Cooking for Geeks, Jeff Potter asks food guru Harold McGee what the home cook needs most to understand about what they’re doing in the kitchen. Harold’s response is classic:
“A scale and a good thermometer are absolutely essential if you’re going to try to understand things and do experiments carefully enough to draw real conclusions. You need to be able to measure, and temperature and weight are the main variables.”
The simple fact is that precise temperature measurement helps you realize what’s going on inside your food. Suggested cooking times should be seen as general guidelines because many variables can alter the speed of any cooking process; but accurately measuring temperature is the one foolproof way to know when it’s time to remove a protein from a heat source.
Because of the thinness of salmon filets, the tenderness of the meat, and the need for a precise monitoring, the ChefAlarm oven thermometer with a needle probe is the perfect tool for roasting salmon. Fish protein is more delicate than beef or chicken, and needs a more delicate probe. And pulling the salmon from the oven at precisely the right temperature is absolutely critical to success.
The Test
Step 1: Brining
Following commonly accepted practice, we soaked the salmon filets individually in ziploc bags with a solution of 2 tablespoons of salt and 2 cups of water for ten minutes, then removed them and patted them dry with paper towels.
Each filet was weighed before and after brining. They had individually absorbed about 5 grams of water—a 2-3% increase in overall weight. The osmosis worked! Next, it was time for the oven.
Step 2: Placing the ChefAlarm Probe
For our test, we had multiple salmon filets we were tracking at a time, so we decided to use a different color of ChefAlarm for each. This made the tracking much easier. We found that the ChefAlarm needle probe was super easy to insert into the fine, delicate meat, and that it stayed put. (Not only is this ultra-fine probe perfect for delicate foods, but it’s completely submersible in water, as well—perfect for sous vide cooking.)
Step 3: Preparing the Bed of Herbs
We had already baked some filets without brining and were anxious to see the difference it would make. The salmon filets were placed on a bed of sliced fennel, orange and lemon slices, and parsley on a sheet pan drizzled with olive oil. The top of the filets were brushed with honey that had been thinned with a little water. All those fresh ingredients were a thing of beauty.
Step 4: Roasting
Both the brined and un-brined filets were placed into an oven preheated to 200ºF (93.3ºC). We ran a few tests with these filets and chose to cover them with aluminum foil to conserve as much moisture as possible. Our preferred final temperature was 130ºF (54.4ºC). With our preliminary experiments, we judged 125ºF (51.7ºC) to be the appropriate pull temperature when oven-roasting at 200ºF.
The filets that had not been brined took approximately 55-60 minutes to reach the target pull temp, while the brined filets came to 125ºF (51.7ºC) in just 50-52 minutes. We kept the salmon covered during the resting period, still monitoring the temperature with the ChefAlarms.
Step 5: Resting
There was a slight difference in the carryover cooking factor with the brined vs. un-brined salmon. The un-brined salmon increased in temperature by 2.8 degrees (peak temperature of 127.8ºF {53.2ºC}) over 9 minutes, while the brined salmon increased in temperature by 6.1 degrees (peak temperature of 131.1ºF {55.1ºC}) over 7 minutes. It would seem that the brined salmon increased in temperature more quickly during cooking and during the rest. This makes sense, since the salmon that had been brined presumably had more water content to conduct heat through the mass of the fish. Brining seems to affect how quickly heat moves from the exterior to the interior of the meat.
Our Results
This experiment has really only brought up more questions! If we see these kinds of effects with a 10-minute brine bath, how much water will the fish potentially absorb if left in the brining solution for a full 30 minutes? How might brining affect the cooking time and carryover temperature increase with other meats, like chicken and beef? How might the addition of sugar to the water mixture affect brining? Stay tuned. These are all questions we intend to explore in the future.
Now for the real question: How did the salmon taste? Both the brined and un-brined filets were good; but the brined salmon was far more moist, soft, and succulent. No sauce or other accompaniments are needed when the fish tastes that good. The covered and brined fish also retained its pink color better than un-brined filets, or those that were cooked at a higher temperature. As for the coagulated albumin factor? The ten minute brining did not eliminate the whitish patches entirely for us, but it definitely reduced it. The brined fish was much prettier.
Creating a brining solution of water and salt is simple, and the soak is such a short period of time for fish with its more delicate protein fibers. Brining your salmon along with precise temperature monitoring with the ChefAlarm and needle probe make the end results almost effortless.
Give this method a try and see how you can step up your fish game at dinner tonight!
“osmosis”? are you sure it is not just diffusion? that’s an honest question, by the way, i really am not sure which is taking place in the example cited.
It really is osmosis. Did you check out the link from Cooking for Engineers? It gives a great explanation as to what is going on during brining. Here it is: http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article/70/Brining, and another great article on the brining osmosis topic here: https://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/meat/INT-what-makes-flavor.html. Thanks for the question, and happy cooking 🙂
The photos og your brined salmon look as if there is LARGE pat of butter on each, but you don’t mention it. Everything tastes better with butter, but fatty salmon ! Please explain.
I throughly enjoy your cooking tips using the Chef Alarm and the Thermopen.
I have the Chef Alarm, Thermapen, and The DOT, I often use these in combination.
I’ e used the tips you have published for Steaks, Chicken, Ribs, to name a few and I will definitely make use of this tip on Salmon.
I seldom prepare anything for the grill or oven without brining according to your information, and I wouldn’t prepare anything my Thermoworks equipment.
Great article on salmon; one of my favorites. I wonder what kind of salmon was used for the test cook? A 130 degree final would be 4-5 degrees high for Chinook (King) salmon but just about right for Sockeye from cold waters. Other kinds of salmon and farm-raised salmon are best left in the sea. 🙂 Cheers and good eating!
We used wild Alaskan King Salmon for the test cooking, thank you for the question!
I’ve always been a bit disturbed by the release of the albumin, even though I understood what it was. I’ve brined fish and shrimp in the past, but have not tried it with salmon. I think I may split the difference and try it for about 20 minutes and see what that does. Good article. Thanks.
I’ve always been a bit disturbed by the release of the albumin, even though I understood what it was. I’ve brined fish and shrimp in the past, but have not tried it with salmon. I think I may split the difference and try it for about 20 minutes and see what that does. Good article. Thanks.
I have high blood pressure , BRINING anything is bad for me. What are other methods to brine or is salt the only way.
Thanks
Absolutely best salmon EVER after brining.
Thank you for cooking for engineers…
Love thermoworks and have purchased again and again… for work (kronz dental laboratory) too!
So glad to hear it! Brining makes a huge difference with nearly any protein, and Cooking for Engineers is a great site. Happy to hear you’ve had good experiences with our company 🙂
It really is a bit off-putting, isn’t it? I saw a small difference with ten minutes, of brining, but I’d be interesetd to see what happens after 20-30 minutes. Happy cooking!
Glad to hear you’re enjoying our content! The products really are best used in combination with the Thermapen for accurate spot-checking during the cooking process. Happy cooking!
Thank you so much for your comment. The goal of brining is to have a tender juicy result; and you can achieve that result in other ways. Check out this article from sodiumgirl.com, she addresses this exact topic in reference to Thanksgiving turkeys, but the principles can be applied to other proteins. http://www.sodiumgirl.com/low-sodium-thanksgiving-turkey/
Happy Cooking!
I’m an experienced cook, but certainly not a professional. I have never heard of baking salmon at anything other than a high temp; e.g., 400 degrees. for say 15-20 minutes
Am I interpreting your instructions correctly? Thank You
P.S. New to Thermapen!
That is a generally accepted method, yes! But we find that cooking more slowly gave us flakier, more tender fish without overcooking the outside of it. Give it a try, you may find that you really like the results. And we’re excited for your adventures with your new Thermapen!
You wrote:
> It would seem that the brined salmon increased in temperature more quickly during cooking and during the rest. This makes sense, since the salmon that had been brined presumably had more water content to conduct heat through the mass of the fish.
Maybe… but I think a simpler theory is relative evaporation rates. As you yourself wrote earlier, the water in the brined ones “will be less likely to evaporate during cooking”. The greater loss of water from the unbrined salmon = greater evaporation = more heat loss.