An air fryer provides an excellent and easy way to cook healthier foods fast. You can cook everything from burgers to vegetables to seafood, and more.
Salmon is popular and provides a lot of health benefits.
You can cook salmon in an air fryer at 350°F in just 8 to 12 minutes. You may want to adjust this time depending on the thickness of your fish or your doneness preference. Also, if you set your air fryer to a different temperature, you’ll need to adjust the time.
In this article, we’re looking at salmon cooking times and comparing them to other methods for cooking salmon.
We’ll look at helpful tips for seasoning salmon, too. Read on to find out everything about cooking salmon in your air fryer.
Cooking Salmon in An Air Fryer
It’s easy to cook the perfect salmon in an air fryer. Set your air fryer to 350°F and allow it time to preheat.
While it’s preheating, season your salmon with your choice of spices. You can go simple with some salt, pepper, and lemon. Or, you can do something with a little more pizzazz. Season the fish before you put it in the air fryer basket.
Place the basket into the air fryer and close the lid. Cook the salmon for 8 minutes. You don’t even need to flip the fish over during the cook time.
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Should You Defrost Fish Before Cooking in an Air Fryer?
You don’t have to defrost fish to cook it in an air fryer. In fact, you could make the most perfect textured fish by putting them frozen into the air fryer.
Cook a frozen salmon fillet in your air fryer for around 12 minutes. If you’re cooking breaded fish fillets, you’ll just need to add a few minutes to the cook time to make them come out crisp and delicious.
How Long to Cook Thawed Salmon in an Air Fryer
If you do end up cooking fish that’s been defrosted, don’t cook it as long. Thawed fish should only cook for around 8 minutes in an air fryer at 350°F.
Thawed salmon cooks in just 8 minutes and does not need to be flipped half way through cooking like many other foods do.
Though you don’t need to defrost salmon to cook it, it’s nice because then you can easily season it the way you want without having to cook it part way first.
Should You Rinse the Fish After Thawing?
It’s best to rinse your fish after you thaw it. One thing it ensures is there are no patches of ice anywhere on the outside of the fish.
Rinsing your fish also removes germs sometimes that may have come in contact with the fish before you got it.
Once you’ve rinsed the fish off, make sure to pat it dry before seasoning or placing in the air fryer to cook.
One thing to note is do not thaw breaded fish fillets before cooking them in an air fryer. It’s not necessary and it causes the breading to fall off in some cases.
Can You Refreeze Salmon After Thawing?
Sometimes, we find ourselves in a position where we thawed something out and then decided to go in a different direction for dinner.
So then, you’re left wondering if you may be able to refreeze the thawed meat, poultry, or fish.
The answer to whether you should do this or not depends on how you thawed the food. You can thaw meats on the counter or in the refrigerator. If you thaw the meats on the counter, you should not refreeze them.
Those thawed in the refrigerator are ok to refreeze.
You can also cook the salmon and freeze it afterward. Make sure you don’t put it straight into the freezer while it’s still hot or even warm. Allow the salmon to cool all the way down before packaging it to freeze.
How Long to Cook Salmon by Other Methods
You can cook salmon by a few different methods. You can bake it, pan fry it, or even grill it.
Bake salmon at about the same temperature you set your air fryer to, 350°F. Ultimately, you can cook it for about the same amount of time as the air fryer, but it may take closer to 15 minutes.
Pan-fried or pan-seared salmon doesn’t take as long as baking or air frying. You can take your salmon fillet and lay it skin-side up in a hot pan.
It’ll take about 4 minutes to cook the fish on the first side. Then, flip it over and allow it to cook for another 3 minutes.
Some people serve the salmon with the skin still on. If you’d rather not, you can remove the skin easily with a knife or even a fork.
Salmon is also extremely good grilled. It’s a heartier fish so it doesn’t fall apart on the grill if you’re careful.
You can line your salmon fillets up on the grill with the skin-side up. Close the lid and allow it to cook for about 6 or 7 minutes. Open the lid and carefully flip the fish over.
Cook for another 6 or 7 minutes. Carefully remove the salmon from the grill and serve immediately with your favorite side dishes.
Is Salmon Good for You?
Salmon is known for being good for you. It’s high in protein. It also has a lot of Omega-3 fatty acids that are good for your heart and brain.
Salmon helps you maintain good muscle mass and function. It also helps with your skin, hair, and nails.
This fish is high in a lot of good vitamins and minerals. You’ll also be happy to know that one serving of salmon can provide your body with 25 grams of protein.
What Should You Season Salmon With?
You can make any combination of seasonings you want for your salmon. Much of the food seasoning technique is to use flavors that pair well with each other and the food you’re putting them on.
Salmon tastes good with garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, paprika, chile powder, and ground ginger.
You can also throw in salt and pepper to almost any recipe you’re making.
What Temperature Should I Set My Air Fryer to For Salmon?
The optimum temperature for salmon in an air fryer is about 400°F. You can cook a salmon fillet in an air fryer for 6 to 8 minutes at 400°F.
You don’t have to flip the fish over, either.
It’s really up to you what temperature you set the air fryer to. Just remember if you adjust the temperature up or down, then adjust the cooking time down or up accordingly.
How Do You Stop Salmon from Sticking to the Bottom of Your Air Fryer?
There are a couple of options to keep your salmon from sticking to your air fryer. You can coat the pan or basket grate with cooking oil to keep it from sticking.
You don’t want to spray it or dump oil in. Just use a paper towel to lightly wipe the oil on.
The other option is to put a piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the air fryer to keep the salmon from sticking. Once you’re done cooking the fish, remove the parchment paper along with the food.
Conclusion
An air fryer is a good little appliance to have in any kitchen. You can cook most foods in the air fryer that you can in an oven or pan but the air fryer does a better job at it.
Foods come out of an air fryer with amazing texture and crispness. The flavors are strong and the food is kept moist and nutritious. Salmon is easy to cook at 350°F in an air fryer for just 8 to 12 minutes.
References
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/salmon-nutrition-and-health-benefits