I just found a clip, very similar but they didn't include sugar so probably not the same one. Are you saying they prefer farmed? I can't say I've taste tested it but I only buy wild. Let us know how it works out. And how crispy the skin gets - I like that skin nice and crisp. dcarch-approved crisp.

Better flavor in farm raised??? I can't believe they said that. I think farm raised is awful.

They said the farm raised tasted better because of the higher fat content. I think it's called the "bacon effect."

I see they said that but I don't believe it. I think the texture and taste of farm raised is just awful. Plus all the junk they feed them. Ugh.

eta: and antibiotic use in farmed fish is not desireable for humans or the planet.

I've found many statements from ATK to be real eye rollers. Some of their comments about sous vide were just plain wrong; They said not to use vinegar in a dishwasher to get rid of hard water deposits because it's acidic. They suggested Lemi Shine (which uses citric acid). I tested their pressure cooker cookbook to write a review. It was a disaster of wasted, over-cooked food.

If you want more fat in your salmon, add butter. If you are concerned about the thin edge, fold it over and tie it in place.

I do not want sugar or anything sweet added to my salmon, and I generally sprinkle it with lemon juice after it is done.

I prefer to cook salmon on the grill over wood and charcoal. Because of the high fat content in salmon (including wild), it will absorb a lot of the smoke flavor, unlike a lean fish like swordfish, which tastes pretty much the same whether grilled over charcoal or not.

I start with the skin side up and cook the fish until it will release from the grill, and this way I get good grill marks and smoke flavor. Also, this allows the fat under the skin to "baste" into the fish instead of drip away. If you cook it with the skin side down first, you lose a lot of flavor when the fat cooks out.

For me, ATK is very hit or miss. Most of their recipes use too much salt, and I omit sugar in a lot of them as well, but that is just my preference. You might notice that they will say one thing one year and then a couple of years later say the opposite.

I tend not to buy salmon out of season, but it is one of my favorite fish. I tend to buy opah when I can't get fresh salmon.

Okay, first a correction - no sugar in the brine. I watched the episode again just before cooking tonight. First mistake was using kosher salt in the pan. The finished dish was way too salty because of it. The brown "crust" is actually burnt salt. I'll try table salt next time. No question about it, the fish was super moist and the thin part didn't get overcooked.

I usually grill my salmon on a cedar plank and it comes out consistently great IME. The key is to get the plank smoking over direct heat and then move it over to indirect heat before putting the salmon on. I just season with olive oil and lemon pepper prior to grilling.

I too grill my salmon on a cedar plank. I have made and liked some ATK recipes, but I find I have to completly rewrite them so they make sense.

I read through this the other day and always hesitate to add my thoughts about salmon. Most of our married life I've caught my own. I helped friends with their commercial troller so when sports season came around I was always welcome on the boat. But either type trip resulted in salmon - two per person can be kept on a commercial day.

I'd have to be starving in the middle of a desert to eat farmed salmon. Only line caught wild fish for us. Alaskan sockeye (netted) sometimes being an exception, we don't have a sockeye run here.

Fat content varies greatly by time of year. A late summer early fall coho is a very fat and flavorful moist fish, can hold its own alongside chinook on a plate at any table.

I don't want to eat a fish artificially fed, and likely the same food day in day out. Those penned Atlantic salmon sometimes have dye added to their feed to make the flesh more 'salmon like'....its not red without their natural varied diet.

I do see the farmed Atlantic offered in stores here, I can't imagine why when we are 20 minutes from the Pacific. Farming Atlantic has even been tried here with disastrous results of torn and damaged pens (storms and poor upkeep), escaped fish in huge numbers. Our native American population was up in arms and horrified, and rightly so. The companies with permits to farm lost their local licenses and aren't back in production. But I don't eat farmed shrimp or prawns or any other farmed seafood other than oysters (they are not fed - the tides provide natural food).

If I lived in the midwest I might view it differently. Here, I don't have to. Fish and almost any seafood is a simple cooking process. Fresh, cooked hot and quickly, maybe a pat of butter and some salt and pepper but if a sauce is served, its along side and optional.

https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-grill-salmon-on-a-cedar-plank-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-152412

I had never heard of the technique of grilling salmon on a cedar plank as mentioned by Sherry and Lone Jack. I looked it up and found the above site which explained the process. Thought I’d post it here in case anyone else may not know this way of cooking salmon.

I have an excellent recipe for cedar planked salmon from Jean Pere of Company’s Coming. We always get rave reviews when we make it.

I was going to comment yesterday about the video but haven't tried their recipe. I could see the salmon getting too salty. Different species of salmon have different fat content, depending on when they were caught (as pointed above). Farmed salmon do have a lot of fat, due to their altered, carotenoid-enhanced diet. But wild chinook/king has more fat naturally, and is miles ahead in taste of farmed atlantic, no matter the preparation.

Cedar plank salmon is part of the Native American cooking tradition in the PNW. It is common on menus as well.

I found this recipe a while back and now never use any other method. We like our salmon wild-caught, and on the medium-rare side. Using this recipe the salmon is butter-soft and delicate:

SLOW-ROASTED SALMON

This startlingly simple recipe is from restaurateur John Ash, who teaches that cooking salmon at 250 degrees gently melts the natural fats, while allowing it to stay trapped in the flesh. Serve with an olive tapenade and good bread. Leftovers are excellent with a green salad.

This technique works extremely well for the filets that are uneven in thickness!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mixed fresh herbs such as lemon verbena leaves, chervil, basil, and chives (see Note)

2 shallots, peeled; or 2 small green onions, minced fine

4 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

4 fillets of wild salmon (6 to 8 ounces each), skin on**

INSTRUCTIONS: Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

1. Combine herbs and shallots in a food processor, add olive oil. Process to a paste, about 30 seconds. Or, mince finely, and add olive oil by hand.
2. Salt and pepper the filets. Rub herb paste on the top of the salmon filets. Place skin-side down on a baking sheet covered with foil and lightly sprayed with Pam or olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes, or until fish is translucent in the center.
3. Serve warm or at room temperature. Serves 4 (doubles easily)
4. Note: Lemon-scented herbs are especially good in this mix: lemon thyme, lemon sage and lemon mint. Sage has a very strong flavor, so use it sparingly in this mixture. Fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley is also very good.

** larger pieces take longer: 9-10oz bake for 25-30 min, 12oz filets take 35-40 min.

I've cooked on a cedar plank in the oven. Works, but boy it sure fills the house with the aroma. Not sure I'd do it again, but it was interesting.

This is my current favorite for salmon: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/slow-roasted-salmon-with-harissa

Slow-Roasted Salmon With Harissa

The first time we ran a recipe for slow-cooked salmon poached in olive oil, surrounded by fennel and citrus slices, and casually pulled apart, readers swooned. We swooned! It became an instant, oft-imitated classic. We’ve riffed on it ourselves, running flavor variations over the years, including this new one. The reason it has become such a staple: The low temp and abundance of olive oil make it nearly impossible to overcook. You’ll forget there’s any other way.

Ingredients

4 servings

⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup harissa paste (our favorite is New York Shuk)

1 garlic clove, grated

1 lemon, halved

1 2-lb. skinless center-cut salmon fillet

Kosher salt

Mixed tender herbs (such as parsley, cilantro, dill, and/or chives; for serving)

Preparation

Step 1
Preheat oven to 275°. Whisk oil, harissa, and garlic in a medium bowl. Pour half of harissa oil into a 2.5-qt. baking dish and swirl to coat. Thinly slice a lemon half and remove any seeds; scatter slices in dish.

Step 2

Season salmon on all sides with salt and place in dish. Pour remaining harissa oil over salmon, spreading evenly over flesh with a pastry brush or spoon. Roast 15 minutes. Remove from oven and baste fish with harissa oil pooled in dish. Return to oven and continue to roast until flesh flakes apart easily with a spoon but is not quite cooked through, 10–20 minutes longer.

Step 3

Use spoon to break up salmon into irregular pieces. Arrange salmon and lemon slices on a platter. Drizzle with any harissa oil left in dish, squeeze remaining lemon half over, and scatter some herbs around.

The plank is to be used on the grill. You soak in water, put the fish on it and the grill chars it. I would never use in the house.

Planks can also be used in the oven ;)

https://recipeforperfection.com/cedar-plank-oven-salmon/

I actually didn't know that. One day, last summer, we were surprised by a rain shower, but I decided I'd go forward with the plans we'd already made for dinner. It works.

What I like is the smoky flavor from the charcoal and the charred plank. If I was cooking in the oven, I would just use a pan.

It imparted the flavor of the plank. It was still smoky. Which is why I am borderline sure if I'd do it inside again. It can be done. Should be done? Less certain.

We recently tried cooking salmon in the oven on a salt plank and it came out very similar to a poached salmon. We put the plank in the oven and slowly increased the oven temperature until we reached 350F and then left it in for 20 minutes or so. We coated our salmon with olive oil and seasoned with pepper (no salt as they absorb that from the plank) and a squeeze of lemon then placed them in the oven on the salt plank. We left them 4 minutes on each side and they came out perfect.

When things warm up we will try the same technique on the grill. We often make cedar plank salmon on the grill but haven't tried it in the oven.