Knowledge Base > Eric Wynkoop - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)
Eric Wynkoop - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)
This event was on
Tuesday, May 13, 2025 at 11:00 am Pacific, 2:00 pm Eastern
Join Chef Eric Wynkoop in his virtual office as he welcomes all of your questions. This event was created for you and we encourage you to Ask Anything – from cooking techniques to co… Read More.
Question:
How can I bake salmon without a white substance appearing on the skin after baking ?
— Constance Duckworth
Answer:
So the white substance is albumin, which is a protein, um, that we all possess, uh, just like the salmon and, um, the, the, the number one cause of the albumin coming to the surface is gonna be a high temperature. And, uh, if you lower your temperature, and to start off with, you know, I would say not more than 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and it could well be less than that, you know, 340, 3 33 25, uh, degrees Fahrenheit. Uh, keeping in mind that you'll need to extend the, the cooking time, which is the, the premise here. It, it's a, it's a more gentle cooking experience for the fish, and that will mitigate, uh, some or all of the albumin that is being, um, pushed out to the surface as the muscle fibers contract, uh, in the, the hot environment of the, uh, of the oven. Now, other things that, uh, people will do sometimes, uh, is to treat the salmon with brining, and that is to, you know, soak it in a salt water solution. 5% salinity is pretty common. It could also be at, uh, what's called a dry brine. You'll apply salt directly to the filet, or, you know, however, uh, you, you cut that salmon and salt starts to change the structure of protein, at least that, uh, protein on the surface that it can access. It's drawn into, uh, the muscle through osmosis. As it draws out moisture, salt is drawn in, as salt is drawn in it, it starts to work on the protein molecules, it changes its structure. And by doing so, the result is, uh, less of the albumin that's released during cooking. So that's another, um, you know, addition to the, the food handling that some people will use. Um, but the big one is gonna be to mitigate the heat, dropping the temperature, extending the cooking time for a more gentle cooking environment. And, uh, you should be able to start to control, uh, that white substance that appears on the salmon. Thank you. Next up is from Sue. Hi, Sue. Uh, do you have any suggestions for Saing while working on a glass top oven? I get the temperature up to the mercury ball test and then have to drop it down quickly.
