Step 1

Before cooking it, make sure salmon is cold, straight from the fridge.

Step 2

Set pan over medium or just a little below medium heat. (Every stove is different especially comparing gas and electric, so you will know your stove best. Just don’t set the heat higher than medium.) It will take about 5-7 minutes to preheat the pan.

Step 3

Pat salmon dry with a paper towel and gently rub it with a little oil all around. Don’t add salt and pepper to the skin until ready to place in the pan. Salt draws out moisture so salting salmon long before cooking will make it wet.

Step 4

Add a couple of tablespoons of canola oil to the pan, spread it around, and add salmon to the pan, skin down. (If the pan is smoking a lot after adding oil, it’s too hot so turn down the heat a bit.)

Step 5

Let salmon cook on the skin side until it’s 90% done. Check the skin by gently lifting salmon once in a while to make sure it’s not burning.

Step 6

Turn off the heat and flip salmon. Let it cook for another minute- minute and a half and take out of the pan.

Step 7

Total cook time will always depend on the thickness of salmon fillets. For a nice juicy salmon the center temperature should be around 125°.

Step 8

(Note: more details and tips can be found in the post.)