Baking Salmon instead of cooking it. Advice needed

amother

OP ↓

Tue, Oct 22 2024, 12:51 pm

So I always bake my fish instead of cooking it in a pot.

I put it into a bekele and bake it on 400 or so for 2 hours.

The taste is delicious and I love the practicality of it but I always have this issue that it gets these white puffy things.

I wonder if I am missing something or anyone has advice on how to avoid it.
Thanks!

I'll post a Pic

amother

Molasses

Tue, Oct 22 2024, 12:53 pm

I also bake my salmon and sometimes it gets these white fatty bits too. I think it needs to be fully submerged in the sauce so it shouldn’t happen.
We don’t mind the white fat, it actually means it’s a good quality fish.

amother

Yolk

Tue, Oct 22 2024, 12:56 pm

I don't know what a bekele is but sounds like you're really overcooking it. At 400, salmon should be done in about 18 minutes. If it's very thick, maybe 25 minutes. 2 hours, I can't even imagine how overcooked that would be!

internationalma

Tue, Oct 22 2024, 12:58 pm

Fish cooked very fast.
To get the salmon to real ease the white stuff before , you put the fish with lemon juice and salt for a bit in the fridge then you cook it .

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Oct 22 2024, 1:00 pm

amother Yolk wrote:

It cooks in water.

When I bake it for dinner it's about 19-21 minutes depending on the oven I use.

But this is the regular shabbos fish with lots of water.
It takes about an hour for it to come to a boil in the oven.
In any case the taste is divine and everyone loves my fish.

My question is about aesthetics.

amother

Hawthorn

Tue, Oct 22 2024, 1:01 pm

Two hours is way too long even at 250. Salmon slices are baked in 20 minutes at 350 or in half an hour at 325.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Oct 22 2024, 1:01 pm

internationalma wrote:

Fish cooked very fast.
To get the salmon to real ease the white stuff before , you put the fish with lemon juice and salt for a bit in the fridge then you cook it .

Interesting. I am going to try this.

imaima

Tue, Oct 22 2024, 1:02 pm

amother OP wrote:

They make no difference in a taste. It’s not really big deal for me

Last edited by imaima on Tue, Oct 22 2024, 1:04 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Clover ↓

Tue, Oct 22 2024, 1:03 pm

amother Yolk wrote:

Yes came to say this as well
You need 25 mins tops no longer than that
Those white things come out when it’s overcooked

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Oct 22 2024, 1:05 pm

mom2dkay wrote:

Turn over the slices, skin side up.

I used to bake it that way.
Wait why did I stop?
I can't recall.
Did it eliminate the white foam? I mamash can't remember.

Thanks for this! I'll try it too.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Oct 22 2024, 1:06 pm

amother Clover wrote:

Yes came to say this as well
You need 25 mins tops no longer than that
Those white things come out when it’s overcooked

I can tell by the onions that they aren't cooked before 2 hours.
Have you tried baking fish in lots of water for 25 minutes?

↑ Brit in Israel

Tue, Oct 22 2024, 1:06 pm

amother OP wrote:

My mother cooks salmon in cold water, once the water boils it only needs 3 mins of actual cooking in that water -maybe 5-8 mins in an oven, she does it on a stove. It will continue cooking if you leave it in the hot water out the oven.
She was told this by a chef, and every week we had soft delicious fish, unless the person in charge would forget to turn it off and then the fish looked like your photo....

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Oct 22 2024, 1:12 pm

Brit in Israel wrote:

Ok I don't like that taste. My mother used to make that type of fish.
It has a very rubbery taste.

I started cooking my fish for 2 hours and it has this soft buttery taste.
Then I switched to baking it.

I am baking it for so many years I can't recall if I had this situation when I cooked it.

ladYdI ↓

Tue, Oct 22 2024, 1:13 pm

You can easily scrape away the white stuff with a plastic spoon while it’s still warm
I heard that it’s fat
It tastes good

amother

↑ Clover ↓

Tue, Oct 22 2024, 1:15 pm

amother OP wrote:

I can tell by the onions that they aren't cooked before 2 hours.
Have you tried baking fish in lots of water for 25 minutes?

I cover with a bit of water not as much as you and do the salt/lemon juice thing and it comes out super tender and yummy
I think it would also go well with a diced veggie sauce (tomato/colored peppers/basil/spices) or a mayo or pesto based sauce.

↑ ladYdI

Tue, Oct 22 2024, 1:15 pm

ladYdI wrote:

You can easily scrape away the white stuff with a plastic spoon while it’s still warm
I heard that it’s fat
It tastes good

To add, I put all ingredients in pan (aka bekele in Yiddish!) except for the fish.
Once water boils and onions a little soft, like after an hour I add the salmon for 40 mins

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Oct 22 2024, 1:26 pm

Ok hey I think that this is it!
I think that when I cooked my fish I used to cook the sauce first and then add the salmon when the water was boiling.

I guess I will have to crawl out of my comfort zone and start cooking/baking the sauce first then adding the fish.

Can't just roll it all into the oven and walk away for 2 hours unless it's a shas hadchak. Wink

Thank you everyone.

For now my fish with foam is cooked for the second days.

Starting parshas Noach we are going to have beautiful fish iyh.