river it swims to during the spawning season.- Skin. Some fish have thick, leathery skin. Salmon skin is
some of the nicest around, very similar in thickness and
texture to chicken skin, making it ideal for cooking.
It’s these second two layers—the subcutaneous fat and
the skin—that are of interest to us here. We know that the
role of that fat is to insulate the salmon against rapid
temperature changes, so why not harness that feature in our
cooking method? Just like all meats, the texture of salmon
flesh changes as a direct result of the temperature it is raised
to.
- At 110°F and below, the flesh is essentially raw.
Translucent and deep orange or red, it has the soft, fleshy
texture of good sashimi. - At 110° to 125°F, the salmon is medium-rare. The
connective tissue between layers of flesh has begun to
weaken, and if you insert a cake tester or toothpick into
the fillet, it should slide in and out with no resistance. The
meat is relatively opaque but still juicy and moist, without
any chalkiness or fibrousness. - At 125° to 140°F, we are beginning to enter medium to
well-done territory. Flakiness will increase, and a chalky
texture will start to develop, though it won’t be extreme.
Albumin will start to get expelled from between the
contracting muscle fibers and will begin to coagulate in
unattractive white clumps on the exterior of the salmon. In
the early stages of this clumping, your salmon is still
rescuable, if you stop cooking it IMMEDIATELY.