What temp to cook salmon to?

[crankin]

Here's a pretty basic question: What temperature do I cook salmon to? Would 135 for med. rare be accurate? Or is it different with fish?

 

[GrillingFool]

Alton Brown of the Food Network said take it off at 131 degrees.
Works for me.

 

[Andy M.]

It all depends on how well donw you want the fish. 135 F will give you a medium to medium rare texture. If you want it cooked completely, you have to go for a higher temp. in the vicinity of 150-160F

 

[Robt]

Crankin, I am in Washington State so I don't know about farmed or other Atlantic Salmon but I cook to 115 degrees because I like it very rare. 120 to 125 might be more acceptable to many. If you are doing a whole fillet, The thin section at the tale would likely be about 145 when the thickest front part is rare.

My wife doesn't use a thermometer, she says the fish is done when it starts to show little white cooked out oil on the pink surface. I think that too done. Even if it is too done, its still good.

 

[cjs]

I used to cook fish to 140 F. but lately been pulling it at 135 F and like it much better!!

 

[Robo410]

salmon filet? steak? whole fish? stuffed?

 

[crankin]

salmon filet? steak? whole fish? stuffed?

A 1.5 lb. filet. (Approximately)

 

[Robo410]

I usually portion them out...and broil about 10 min ... a whole fish stuffed with aromatics already sauteed I do at 500* for 1/2hr. again has come out perfectly.

I have always eyed and touch tested fish...saving the thermometer for meats. just the way I was trained

 

[crankin]

If I am cedar plank cooking it on a grill, would it be best to keep it as a whole filet (about 1.5 lbs) or cut it into single portion filets?

Also, does fish not carry the same risk of food poisoning as beef/poultry/pork? It seems like cooking to only 115-120 would be too rare (for safety's sake) unless salmon / fish is different.

 

[Andy M.]

I'd keep it in one piece for plank cooking. Consider fish as you would beef. It can be cooked rare to well done.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Perfection for me is 135 to 140* Never higher.

 

[Robt]

115 degrees is well above the 34 or 35 of suschimi. Yes there are some concerns with too low a temp with some fish.

There are some fish that may have parisites like the occasional wormy Halibut caught in inland waters. These should never be commercially caught fish because they are not caught in commericial areas.

To kill those parasites the fish is brought down to 32 and held there a day or so. I've never actually done this except with Tuna caught real close to shore in Costa Rica and then only because we made ceveche out of it rather than heat cooking.

 

[lindatooo]

Overcooked Salmon is so very sad! It was salmon, however, that finally allowed me to demonstrate "carry-over cooking" to my DH! My advice is to take it early, tent it, and let it finish for 10 minutes. The fish will be juicy and just right!

 

[Easton]

Wait a second, are we talking about the oven temperature to bake the salmon? 'Cause I always set it to 400 F.

 

[Andy M.]

Actually, we're talking about the internal temperasture of the fish. I use a 400 F oven too.

 

[ironchef]

If you're cooking your salmon to medium rare, there's actually no need to finish it in the oven. Heat the oil in a pan until smoking on medium high, add the salmon, and then turn the heat down to medium after about 1 minute. For the average fillet thickness (not steak cut), it will only take 3-4 minutes on the first side and then 2 minutes on the second. Hopefully you're using wild salmon. Whatever you do, don't use the farm raised ones.