Perfect Pan Seared Salmon

The trick to perfect pan seared salmon is simple and quick with these tips at your fingertips.

Preparing the salmon: On a plate, use paper towels to dry both sides of the salmon. Generously oil, salt and pepper both sides using your hands to ensure it is evenly covered. If you are using frozen salmon, make sure it has thawed all the way through before this step. Note: To prevent cross-contamination, make sure you wash your hands before touching the oil canister and salt and pepper.

Preparing the pan: Place a dry sauté pan over high heat and allow to heat, approximately 2 minutes. Ensuring there is ample space for the salmon to cook – work in batches if you need to – place the salmon presentation side down (touching the pan) and allow to sear until golden brown in color, approximately 3 – 5 minutes. Flip, and cook the second side until the salmon is cooked to your desired doneness, an additional 3 – 4 minutes for medium rare. Alternatively, my personal favorite method, is searing the first side and immediately after searing and flipping, transferring the salmon to a preheated 400ºF oven until cooked through. This allows the salmon to cook in an almost convection like environment as heat is fully surrounding the salmon ensuring even cooking throughout. When cooking salmon on a burner, the only heat source is direct from the bottom up making it hard to cook the inside before burning the outside.

However you prefer to cook your salmon, the most important thing to remember is starting with dry salmon fillets, lots of oil and a HOT pan before the salmon ever makes contact.

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Cheers to starting a new tradition around The Table Together!

Sincerely,

Tiffany Lewis

Founder and true believer in the power of bringing people around The Table Together!