Go to the Recipe: Sous Vide Salmon
I attempted to make this and it was the best salmon I've ever had. That said, it was my first time and I made mistakes. I didn't heat the pan enough before searing so the salmon skin was lightly crispy instead of properly crispy. Also I forgot to score the skin, and I forgot to add oil to the bag. Still, it was very tasty and I can't wait to make this again. Next time, I'll do even better!
By the way, I did 1% salt by mass and I forgot to add pepper. I feel like ~1% salt might be about right in case you skip the dry-cur step like I did. This is perhaps one of my favorite recipes. Especially given the salmon at the local sea food market 😋
The dry brining step give you plenty of seasoning.
Are there any recommendations for seasoning on the salmon when doing it SV?
Thank you so much! Any presential class coming soon?
Hello Fredy, Absolutely. No need to score it when skinless. Proceed and sear on the opposite side from where the skin was for presentation. One side sear is all you need.
Chefsteps, Can I do this with salmon without skin? Thank you
Can I do this with Salmon without skin?
Hi Jack, If you have the joule sous vide app you have the option to select fresh or from frozen. For example an 1 in thick piece cooked from fresh at 122°f takes 40 min, from frozen it will take 70 min. You do have to have that added time to thaw and get to the core temp.
Howdy Jack, we cover the basics here. https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/you-can-cook-frozen-food-sous-vide-without-defrosting-here-s-how Let us know if this doesn't answer your question.
Message for Grant since you’ve been messing with salmon a lot… but, not sure if anyone will see this…. can salmon be sous vide from frozen? Or is it better to thaw and give it a quick brine and then sous vide? anyway hopefully sooner than later someone will see this since the last person that entered something here was seven months ago…🤔
Hello karen, Check out the Joule app and follow the guide for Black cod. This should be spot on for halibut and skin off or on will be the same. 45°C is the fave but you need to choose thickness.
Do I sous vide halibut the same way as the salmon? Is it okay if the halibut doesn’t have skin on it? Thank you.
ok so I've just done my fist ever sous vide. Salmon was good but a little soft in texture so i put mine back in the sear pan - it broke up a bit but was then perfect for me. So I guess I need the 55degrees not 50 like I did for 40mins. Daughter felt the texture was v soft. It was interesting... I worried it wasn't cooked enough and so not safe ! seeing as I was cooking for my child I suppose I worried more - any thoughts? Can i ask though, 2 things. 1. i did the water displacement method but wasn't confident it was a complete vacuum. Does that matter if it felt like some air was still in the bag? (I added the spoon to weigh it down in the pan which worked 2. there seemed to be a lot of juice left in the bag - seemed a waste not to have used it. ( I seasoned and added lemon peel and olive oil). Are there any recipes that can use the jus? thanks everyone
just doing my first sous vide and its salmon, so really interested in the answer to your question here too!
SV fish or meat will vastly change the texture of the protein in question if you go over recomended time. You should always check the thickness of the protein being cooked and find a good equilibrium. If you want to fully cook a fish and then add color always account for pan cook time. So instead of going to full cook, take it out at the ~20 min mark and finish in pan. Your fish should never be cooked through in a sous vide, rather help it get to the desired texture and doneness and then finish in over/pan/torch. Fish also change drastically in texture from species to species. Rule of thumb, the more thick, and firm a piece of fish is, the longer the SV time. The opposite is true.
Hey friends. I cooked this last night. Had an extra bag of salmon. Gave it the ice bath for ~30 min to get it cold and then fridge. How long am I good for? And is there a food safety concern w salmon, given it isn’t technically pasteurized in the bag?
this was a huge success, my fiancee loves the puree especially. We also tried adding some scallions and garlic to the leftover puree which was great!
Will certainly be making more of these and trying the others in this series.
You can always cook the different pieces in same-thickness bags... and put the thicker ones in longer, adding thinner bag at later time
You should set your temperature and duration to the thickest portion of your fillets. Needless to say, the thinner portions will cook to a different texture and level of doneness.
I tried my teriyaki salmon recipe as my first SV attempt - mistake. You warned me that dry is better for salmon and I should have heeded that advice. The wet marinade ended up poaching the beautiful fresh king salmon. It wanted to fall apart as I removed the steaks from the bag, and the skin simply stayed with the pan when I attempted a quick sear. I already cook salmon better than we can get out, on pan, grill, and oven. I don't know that the extra time and effort is worth adding SV to my salmon lineup. On to my next SV recipe...
Does the salmon fillets need to be the same thickness when cooked Sous Vide, most salmon I buy is thick on one end and thin on the other end .
What is the "ideal" internal temp for the finished salmon after the sear?
You're totally good to go direct from frozen, it's just gonna take maybe 50% longer in the sous vide bath. Put some salt & pepper, some herbs (I like dill and/or tarragon), probably some lemon zest, and a little oil on your fish in the foodsaver bag before sealing it up, and you are good to go straight from the freezer. This makes for a real timesaver weekday meal.
Hi,
i dry brined my salmon (wild salmon, previously frozen, bought thawed from WF), and cooked for 40min at 122 as directed. The result was mushy salmon, with a lot of white albumin. What could have gone wrong? This is the second time I try and get mushy salmon.
I did salmon and halibut in the same pot. Salmon was over cooked and halibut was excellent. I noticed the whitish fat forming on the top of the salmon long before the end of cooking time. I should have taken it out then. In fairness, I probably had a fillet thinner than I indicated in the app when I was setting up to cook.
You can sous vide from frozen, I do it all the time. Just add more cook time.
Just reheat to temp with sous vide, it should take 10-15mins to reheat most things.
I suggest not using a very strong tasting olive oil. It can leave quite a weird taste and odour on the fish. Neutral oils or even butter are probably much better suited.
Brining the salmon before cooking it sous vide will help inhibit the secretion of white protein, known as albumen, and will give the fish a vibrant pink color. Because the brine must be ice cold, you should use crushed ice. If brining the salmon, do not add additional salt when cooking.
Can i transfer a piece of salmon that was vacuum packed with a foodsaver and frozen, directly from the freezer in to the waterbath or do i have to let it defrost first and then rebag it ? Trying to save a bag and some time, but I am not sure if this method would kill me somehow with bacteria growth or something.
Why don't you re-heat it using sous vide again? Should be perfect to control the temperature and at the same time keeping all the liquids in the food. You just can't overcook it. I believe that there is a video where Chefsteps is demonstrating that with pork meat or a steak.
Guys!. Have you try to reheat chilled salmon on microwave and then sear it?. If someone has an idea of % power to use please?
50C was perfect! Made some Atlantic salmon with the asparagus gribiche recipe from the Gjelina cookbook, subbing Kewpie mayonnaise for eggs because I straight up forgot to buy any.
Good afternoon everyone! This and most sous vide recipes are meant to be seared and finished as soon as the cooking process comes to an end. But what about if you want to hold it until the following day? A simple sear will not heat the inside. Nuke it in the microwave? Seems counter productive. Convectional oven? Please let me know if any suggestions. Thanks! Absolutely loooove your site BTW.
I absolutely love sous vide salmon !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I made sous vide salmon (Atlantic) for the first time; used the salt and sugar method first, cooked at 122 degrees for 45 minutes with only olive oil in the bag, made a green pea mash; I topped the salmon with a brown butter cream sauce with tarragon, Italian parsley, and leeks.The sauce was balanced with lemon and maple syrup. The meal was unreal; my guests said it was the best salmon they'd ever had. Considering I have never cooked salmon before.....Note: I did use the water displacement method. Thanks again Team Chef Steps
Thanks for the replies! I've been using the water displacement method, and have been letting the filets sit covered in salt and sugar for 10 minutes before cooking. On the last try, I let them sit for 20 minutes, and the texture was improved, but still not as described here. I've been wondering if it's a product issue. I usually buy Atlantic farmed salmon, as it's usually on sale at Whole Foods, and it seems to be a little fragile.
Did you package the fillets with the vacuum method rather than the water displacement method? I find that the pressure of the vacuum method causes most seafood to turn to mush. The water displacement method is perfect.
Sous vide for the first time - stove top method. Totally worth my wait. I look forward to Joule's international release!
Can you give us more info on your process? I've done this twice and it was stunningly good. Try the ChefSteps trick of sprinkling with salt and sugar 30 minutes before cooking.
I've tried this according to the time/temp directions a few times now, and the salmon comes out with an unappealing, mushy texture. Any ideas why that would be the case? Seems to be working out for everyone else!
I am not normally a salmon fan (I like all other fish and LOVE tuna sashimi) but wow. This was so good. I have made salmon via sous vide in the past and it had less of the robust salmon smell that I don't like on a plank, but I think the combination of the crusty skin and the Mash really made the entire experience so much better. The textures of the crunchy skin (which I normally never eat on any fish), the great texture of the fish, and then the mash flavors and textures were amazing complements to each other. It also plates very well - the colors are so distinct. I did not cure ahead so I will try it again using that method to see if there is a difference. The only downside is the fish by itself lacked a lot of flavor so the seasoning post-sear is important unless you are really eating all three (skin, fish, mash) together in one bite.
We had great quality salmon that was caught in alaska on a trip and then flash frozen on site, so I imagine much of my success came from a great quality fish, but I also kept the heat quite high on the sear and the skin cooked up beautifully.
I did get quite a bit of albumin on the surface despite a fair amount of olive oil. I think I needed even more oil.
I'm not a salmon fan. When I eat sushi, I give my salmon to my daughter. With this recipe, I could eat Salmon every day, it's simply amazing! I used the salt/sugar cure ahead of cooking and then cooked exactly to the recipe. A quick sear and they were ready to go. No fishy smell in the kitchen and amazingly perfect salmon on the plate. Follow the directions and you'll be happy!
Typically the white jelly (aka albumin) results from high temperatures while cooking. To avoid this, you can cook with oil in the sous vide back so the albumin will leak off into the oil instead of remaining on the fish. Hope this help!
how can we avoid that white jelly thing when cooking salmon?
Here is my creation: Chu Chee Salmon. So good!
How do you suggest that a home kitchen deals with the left over fishy oil? I would like to recycle the bag to another cooking, but just don't know what to do with the extra oil! Hesitant to even landfill it in the bag. (You can guess that I don't have a "frying" kitchen, so it's a new problem for me!
Loved the results!!!!
