Science: How Wild Salmon Differs from Farmed Salmon and How to Cook Salmon to the Right Temperature

Science: How Wild Salmon Differs from Farmed Salmon and How to Cook Salmon to the Right Temperature America's Test Kitchen America's Test Kitchen Subscribed254,701 Add to Share More 134,123 views 805 21 ShareEmbedEmail https://youtu.be/GJeWrA8j1M0 Start at: 1:25 Published on Dec 16, 2015 Cook's Science, pre-order now! http://amzn.to/212U0nC The Science of Good Cooking: http://amzn.to/1O8oGw7 Subscribe to our new Cook's Science YouTube channel! http://youtube.com/cooksscience Most home cooks pay close attention to internal temperature when cooking a steak, where we know just 5 degrees means the difference between rare and medium-rare. But few people pay that much attention when dealing with fish. Which is too bad, because even fatty fish like salmon can go from tender and moist to chalky and dry in a flash. In the test kitchen we use an instant-read digital thermometer to tell when salmon is done and we’ve always preferred it cooked 125 degrees for the ideal balance of firm, yet silky, flesh. The majority of the salmon we cook is farmed Atlantic, but as we’ve cooked more wild species we started to wonder if 125 was maybe a bit too high. Learn about our favorite instant-read thermometer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPMGK... To find out, we bought multiples filets of the four most common species of wild Pacific salmon—king (also known as Chinook), sockeye, coho, and chum. We cooked samples of each to both 120 degrees and 125 degrees sous vide, or sealed in a plastic bag and cooked in a temperature-controlled water bath. We also did the same for samples of farmed Atlantic salmon. We then asked tasters, blind to the differences in internal temperature, to pick which sample had the best texture. Everyone preferred the coho, sockeye, and chum samples cooked to 120 degrees and the farmed Atlantic cooked to 125 degrees. While a few folks preferred the king sample at 125 degrees, the majority preferred 120 degrees. These results may sound surprising. After all, salmon is salmon right? Well, not exactly. It turns out that farmed Atlantic salmon differs in two important ways from the half dozen commercial wild varieties caught in the Pacific Ocean: 1. Due to their more sedentary life, the collagen protein in farmed Atlantic salmon contains less chemical cross-links than in wild varieties, which translates into softer flesh. 2. Farmed Atlantic salmon contains more fat than any wild variety and up to 4 times as much fat as the leanest species. Fat provides the perception of juiciness when cooked. So, with naturally firmer flesh, and less fat to provide lubrication, wild salmon can have the texture of overcooked fish even at 125 degrees. By cooking wild salmon to just 120 degrees the muscle fibers contract less and stay moist and tender. If you like us, follow us: http://facebook.com/cooksillustrated http://twitter.com/testkitchen http://instagram.com/cooksillustrated http://pinterest.com/cooksillustrate Category Howto & Style License Standard YouTube License SHOW LESS COMMENTS • 89 Oscar del Rosario Add a public comment... Top comments Jordan G Jordan G1 year ago Also Farmed Salmon is pretty bad for you....they have to add dye to the feed so the flesh isn't gray....I'll take Wild any day of the week. Plus the Omega 3 are much higher in Wild. Reply 10 View all 12 replies novepe novepe1 day ago +Jordan G There is no where in the world where it's legal to raise GMO salmon. You can avoid GMO's if you want to but when you state that they are bad you have to justify it, care to share with us how do you know GMO's are bad or not? Also the salmon dye that is added to the feed can of natural souce, often by products of the shrimp/crab industry and sometimes from synthetic production of the same substance. Are you saying that two identical molecules behave differently because of the source material? If you can't answer those question you should refrain from speaking what you just said because you are sprending missinformation and now that you know that you are you would be dishonest to keep on doing it. Read more Reply mad thumbs mad thumbs1 year ago Salmon is best raw. Reply 9 Bo Zo Bo Zo1 year ago +mad thumbs Gravlax Reply 2 David MN David MN1 year ago +mad thumbs GOOD Salmon is best raw. Reply 6 SilentS SilentS6 months ago Collagen?!? Sorry but your graphic is displaying DNA. Collagen is a pair of spiral protein sheets that do not intertwine but lay side by side. Reply 4 The Boss The Boss3 months ago not dna either. DNAs have a double helix structure, not a triple helix shown in the video. Reply 1 Profingus Disquessor Profingus Disquessor2 months ago That is most likely what he meant by "a pair" Reply SamDM1 SamDM11 year ago The more I watch this channel the less I like it, I'm sick of the paid endorsements and unsubscribing. Why would anyone eat farmed over wild?? Farmed salmon have a higher fat content because they're fed processed high fat feed so they grow larger. Reply 3 Ramon O Ramon O1 year ago +SamDM1 Why? Because farmed salmon is 1/2 the price of wild salmon. Furthermore, farmed salmon will never be extinct, but wild salmon will become rarer and rarer, if continually caught by commercial fishermen. The same statistics apply to eating wild ducks, wild turkeys and wild deer. Reply 2 ThatGuy ThatGuy1 year ago He didn't say you should eat farmed salmon instead of wild salmon. He simply explained the differences and how to cook each type. Reply 5 ArisCamp6 ArisCamp68 months ago Salmon is the only food in the world that lets you know when it's cooked to perfection. When you see the white stuff coming out of from the flesh, that means it's cooked. That white stuff is just melted far from inside the fish. Cook salmon 5-10 minutes past that point, you're gonna have dry tough salmon. I'm not a chef, or a trained cook. I'm just a simple guy from Alaska who is enjoying catching, cooking, and eating salmon. Specially this summer when it's salmon season. Read more Reply 3 Mr. Nice Guy Mr. Nice Guy2 weeks ago Is it always a guarantee catch where you from? Reply ArisCamp6 ArisCamp61 week ago Unfortunately no, there really is no guarantee when it comes to fishing Reply Sven Bolin Sven Bolin1 year ago Please use C! Reply 3 sandra feldman sandra feldman4 months ago Whatever the science, the wild cooked to 120 and the Farm cooked to 125 is a good thing to know. Reply 1 Edgar Pifflewiff Edgar Pifflewiff9 months ago where is the best place to buy decent wild salmon from? i'm going to stop eating farmed salmon but i also want to avoid mercury and other bad stuff possible in the wild salmon Reply 1 Sijoon Jang Sijoon Jang7 months ago Costco has pretty decent wild caught salmons (not cut into fillets though), but probably differs in quality a little bit by location. Reply Kevin Simmons Kevin Simmons2 months ago Mercury is NOT an issue in ANY salmon. Mercury is only an issue in long lived apex predator fish such as shark, swordfish, tuna, king mackeral, tilefish. Reply Ambrosiapples Ambrosiapples1 year ago Hi, I wanted to mention something without trying to be a word nazi, just in case you wanted to know. Chinook is pronounced "shinook" (well, really it's sorta like halfway between "shinook" and "shinuck"). Reply 1 Chaz Dadkhah Chaz Dadkhah7 months ago totally a word nazi. . Reply Josh Blake Josh Blake1 year ago Sorry, I don't use fahrenheit, but isn't 120 degrees way under the temperature needed to properly cook fish/meat? To kill bacteria, you're meant to allow meat to reach an internal temperature of 73 degrees celsius. 120 fahrenheit equates to 48 degrees celsius, which is below the 'safe temperature'. Wouldn't customers in a restaurant be concerned if their salmon was raw in the centre? Read more Reply 1 View all 16 replies Josh Blake Josh Blake2 months ago Freezing does not kill off bacteria Kevin. Reply helpfulnatural helpfulnatural1 year ago He missed a very important distinction between wild caught salmon and farmed Atlantic salmon. Wild salmon are, for the most part, healthier to eat. Farmed fish are fed a diet to make them grow faster and fatten them up for market. Usually not a natural diet they'd eat in the wild. Their pink color is artificially created. If you look at the 2 salmons side by side, the farmed fish are more of a peachy orange color, not pink at all. I wouldn't touch an Atlantic salmon with a 10 foot pole! Read more Reply 3 Sijoon Jang Sijoon Jang7 months ago FYI, Sockeyes are super pink and this video isn't about important differences between wild and farmed salmons. They just did a simple taste testing and was showing the results, but it's great that you shared your knowledge about the difference between wild and farmed salmons. Reply Kevin Simmons Kevin Simmons2 months ago Actually NO, sockeye are bright red. wild King may exhibit a pink flesh color Reply Josh Green Josh Green1 year ago Wildly irresponsible video! Farmed fish should be promoted. You people should be ashamed recommending wild food over farmed. SHAME ON YOU Reply 1 okto5 okto51 day ago fu*# your cooking, I am not eating poison fish. you call farm raised, edible! it is not true. look it up! famed salmon is toxic. please people find out what your eating! Reply Politically Incorrect Politically Incorrect6 days ago 145 degrees is more proper for cooking fish instead of 125. Reply Douglas Lawson Douglas Lawson1 month ago (edited) chalky? Been cooking since I was 6 y.o. and i never seen "chalky" salmon. If you're making salmon that gets chalky you probably shouldn't be giving lessons on how to cook lol and I'll take that farmed salmon over that dry "wild caught" anyday. Fat is not only where the flavor is, but where the health is. Reply K B K B1 month ago Excuse me, ist dass echt F° oder du meinst C°? Reply Profingus Disquessor Profingus Disquessor2 months ago 1) Farming salmon turns many pounds of fish (baitfish for fish meal) into few pounds of fish (salmon) 2) Farming salmon requires antibiotics and pesticides to keep the concentrated fish from becoming sick 3) Farming salmon pollutes because the salmon can't range wide, and so eliminate in a small area and degrade the habitat for other animals 4) Farming salmon degrades the quality of the genetic stock when pens are damaged and salmon escape, then interbreed with wild fish 5) Farmed salmon have a less healthy lipid profile and less of the good oils for human diet Farmed salmon sucks. Eat wild salmon (caught and processed in America) if you want delicious, sustainable, and healthy salmon. Read more Reply View all 15 replies Didier Morin-Laprise Didier Morin-Laprise2 months ago I'm not from Europe, but from Québec, where salmon population are endangered for a variety of factors, including of course historic overfishing. I am glad to hear that Pacific populations are in better shape than North Atlantic ones. I fear, though, that they will suffer the same fate with the rise of the demand and the overall lack of care for animal populations and their environnement. Read more Reply 2 Profingus Disquessor Profingus Disquessor2 months ago Thanks Didier. I am extremely concerned about these issues myself, as I assume is evident. At the same time, I do think attitudes are changing, and as the public becomes more educated about resource management good things are possible in the future. As difficult as it is, I try to stay optimistic. Reply daveheel daveheel5 months ago other than the health benefits, salmon is one of my least favorite fish to eat. Reply wavyRiv Ric wavyRiv Ric7 months ago wow and I was cooking salmon bake at 270 and + Reply Gerald Lee Gerald Lee3 weeks ago It's not the temperature it's cooked at, it's the internal temperature of the meat. Reply Hayuhi Hayuhi9 months ago was very interesting to know, thanks! Reply 1 Show more Autoplay Up next Farmed Norwegian Salmon - World’s Most Toxic Food Hardcore Bodysculpting 223,187 views 54:28 Wild Salmon Isn't The Right Color and Tastes Bad Marcus Guiliano 12,903 views 8:49 Should You Avoid Farmed Fish? Seeker 123,085 views 4:10 MAKE THE OLDEST BREAD IN THE WORLD - 3 INGREDIENTS - SO EASY!!! OFF GRID with DOUG and STACY Recommended for you 11:48 25 VIDEOS The Science of Good Cooking America's Test Kitchen 10 Best Anti Aging Foods Daily Health Tips Recommended for you 4:44 How To Fillet a Whole Salmon - How To Make Sushi Series Hiroyuki Terada - Diaries of a Master Sushi Chef 11,398,248 views 6:17 Cooking Salmon at Home Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen 989,778 views 5:27 10 Amazing Websites You Didn't Know Existed! TechGumbo Recommended for you 6:39 Science: How to Slice Steak and Make Cheap Cuts Tender (with Your Knife) America's Test Kitchen 967,306 views 2:37 Farmed Salmon vs Wild Salmon Rachel Lovrovich 10,867 views 1:43 See What Happens To Your Body When You Press This Point For 1 Minute Direct Trend Recommended for you 3:08 Inventor Jailed for making this video? 36Nick4Truth Recommended for you 2:57 Butcher Fillet and Deboned Salmon - How to Butcher Whole Salmon - How to Deboned salmon Worldwide Culinary Apprentice 1,857,447 views 5:06 Ask, Seek, Knock Chinkee Tan Recommended for you 7:46 Network Expansion Training in West Africa & Kuwait by Sir Adrian Del Rosario KNIGHTS ISABELA Recommended for you 2:33:09 Giant 60 Pound King Salmon Almost Knocks Guy in Water Captain Quinn 712,612 views 3:25 Alaska Copper River Sockeye Salmon Cooking Demonstration | Market District MarketDistrict 240,971 views 4:07 How to Gut a Big King Salmon TheMaddozz 1,248,892 views 5:53 How to Fillet Chinook (King) Salmon David Buchanan 85,282 views 3:33 SHOW MORE Language: English Content location: Philippines Restricted Mode: Off History Help About Press Copyright Creators Advertise Developers +YouTube Terms Privacy Policy & Safety Send feedback Test new features