Best Ways To Reheat Salmon

When there is salmon from the last night, this can be a bit stressful to deal with it, especially when you don't have pets at home. There is no way to throw the food in the bin. Here comes the only option to reheat the food and serve it with other side dishes. 

You might wonder, why reheat? why can't I directly eat the cold one? Here we go. Eating cold salmon might affect your gut health. This happens due to the excess cooling moisture in the fish, which goes into the stomach and disturbs its function. As a result, you may have to suffer from stomachache. 

On the other hand, when the salmon is reheated the heat activates the flavors more intensely. This is why most leftover food tastes better than freshly made. I have personally experienced this thing. 

Among the 5 best ways, choose a method that suits your current situation and reheat to enjoy deep and hot flavors. 

The oven is an ideal option to reheat leftover salmon. Although it might take a slightly longer time due to its size. But restores the freshness and flavors just like it's freshly made. Here is everything that you need to do to reheat leftover salmon in the oven: 

1. Bring salmon to the room temperature

Take the salmon out of the fridge. Let it sit for about 20-30 minutes. During this time, refrigerated salmon gets back to room temperature. The room temprature melts the icy moisture in the salmon.

2. Preheat the oven

Set your oven to preheat to 400°F (200°C). This creates a heated atmosphere inside the oven and helps to reheat salmon evenly. 

3. Ready the baking sheet 

Make the baking sheet ready by cleaning it. Then, apply oil to the sheet and add a layer of baking paper on top of it. This prevents salmon from sticking to the baking sheet and also secures its structure. 

If you have a baking rack, place it over the baking sheet. Here, this helps to circulate air easily and quickly cool down the reheated salmon. 

4. Place the salmon on the baking sheet

Here, lay salmon on the prepared baking sheet and ensure some distance among them. This is important to prevent sticking to each other. This also maintains the original shape without letting them split or tear while serving. 

5. Reheat the salmon

Put the salmon filled baking sheet inside the oven and let it reheat for 10-15 minutes. By that time, the internal temperature should be 145°F (63°C). As this indicates the readiness of the fish. 

5. Cool and serve

Since you don't want your hands to get burned, wear heat-resistant gloves and remove the baking sheet from oven. Resting is important so let the salmon rest for about 3-4 minutes. After that, serve it on a plate and enjoy the fish. 

Pros

• Even heating: The baking rack on the baking sheet let the heat spread equally in the salmon. Salmon is exposed to heat from up, down, left, and right sides. This ensures even heating. 
• Convenient: Oven can be found in most households, which makes it easier for people to use for reheating. 
• Retains juice: Since the heat is equally distributed in the oven, it helps to maintain moisture by reheating evenly. 

Cons

• Longer time: An oven is comparatively larger in size. This takes a longer time to generate and distribute the heat evenly. As a result, make the reheating slightly longer. 
• Extra preparation: Since you can't directly reheat salmon in the oven. You need to do some preparation like preheating the oven, and ready the baking sheet. This can be daunting for some.
• Risk of overcooking: The salmon are prone to the risk of overcooking if you don't pay close attention to the reheating time. 

Airfying the leftover salmon is another useful way to reheat. This is easy and convenient because you don't need too much preparation for this. Here are the steps that you need to follow to reheat salmon in the air fryer:

1. Bring the salmon to room temperature

Remove the refrigerated salmon and place on the kitchen table for about 20-30 minutes. This allows the salmon to adapt to the room temperature. At this temperature, the icy moisture in the salmon gets melted. 

2. Preheat air fryer

Preheat the air fryer to 375°F (190°C). This allows the air fryer to be fully dry and creates a heated environment inside to facilitate even and quick reheating. 

3. Place the salmon

Arrange the salmon in the air fryer basket. You need to make sure the salmon are not overcrowded and are placed with some space from one to another. This is important to prevent them from sticking and splitting while serving. 

4. Reheat the salmon

Before placing the salmon to reheat, spray some oil slightly. This helps to stop the fish from drying out. As a result, the fish turn out to be tender and juicy. 

Place the air fryer basket in and reheat for 3-4 minutes initially. After that, switch the sides of the salmon and again reheat for 3-4 minutes. 

5. Cool and serve

Turn off the air fryer and take out from the fryer. Leave the reheated salmon to rest for 3-4 minutes with a basket. Then, proceed to serve on a plate and enjoy the same flavor and slightly crispy texture as the last night.

Pros

• Quick and less time-consuming: Air fryer quickly reheats salmon. This saves your time and gets your food ready within a few minutes. 
• Even heating: Since the air fryer is small in size, this helps in even distribution of heat and leads to even reheating of salmon. 
• Healthy option: It doesn't require the use of excess oil or any fatty substances and makes salmon healthy comparatively. 

Cons

• Costly: Not everyone may have an air fryer due to its high price. So it can be an expensive method if you need to buy it. 
• Noisy: The air fryer makes a noise while it is functioning. This could be a bit annoying for peace lovers. 
• Limited capacity: Due to their small size, a lot of salmon can't be reheated at once. You have to separate them in batches to avoid overcrowding. 

Reheating salmon in the pan is a cost-effective and most-used method. The main tool you need to have is a pan. So, let's know how to reheat salmon in the pan: 

1. Bring the salmon to room temperature

Allow the refrigerated salmon to adjust to the room temperature. During this time, the cold moisture in the salmon gets back to its liquidy form and reheat evenly. 

2. Heat oil in a pan

Turn on the stove and place a pan to heat. Pour the minimal amount of oil to create moisture on the surface of the pan. Allow the oil to get heated. 

3. Sear the salmon

Once the oil is heated, add salmon one by one. Don't overcrowd the pan. Arrange in a way that one fish doesn't touch another. This is important to prevent from sticking and splitting them. 

Leave one side of the salmon to get heated for 3-4 minutes. Then, switch their sides using a tong and sear them for another 3-4 minutes. The salmon will have a deep brown color and will be slightly crispy on the edges. 

4. Cool and serve

Turn off the stove and take out the heated salmon from the pan to a plate. Let them rest for 3-4 minutes. This time allows the remaining juice to redistribute throughout the meat. 

After cooling time ends, serve the hot and tender salmon along with sauce or a glass of wine. 

Pros

• Crispy texture: Searing both sides of the salmon along with some moisture of oil, creates a slightly crispy texture on the edges of the fish meat. 
• Even heating: It evenly reheats the salmon due to direct exposure to the heat.
• Easy and cost-efficient: A pan can be found in every household, so it becomes an easy and low-cost method to reheat leftover salmon. 

Cons

• Risk of overcooking: Salmon gets overcooked if you don't monitor the reheating time correctly. 
• Limited capacity: If you have enough leftover salmon, then it may not be possible to reheat all at once. This is because of the limited space in the pan. 
• Need focus: You need to pay attention to the color and texture while reheating. Otherwise, the fish may get burned down. 

One of the most common methods to reheat salmon is in the microwave. This is because these days almost all of us have a microwave at home. This helps to bring back the tender and juicy flavor of the fish.

Let's learn step-by-step how to reheat salmon in the microwave:  

1. Bring the salon to room temperature

Take out salmon from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes. The reason behind doing this is to let the icy moisture turn into a fully liquid form, if any.

This will help in even reheating salmon in the microwave. Whereas, direct reheating may take longer time and salmon may be unevenly reheated. 

2. Place the salmon on a microwave-friendly dish

Clean the microwave-friendly dish and line the dish with a paper towel. Place the salmon on that dish and cover it with a paper towel. The lined paper towel will absorb unwanted moisture and make the fish firm and tender. 

3. Reheat the salmon

Place the salmon in the microwave and let it reheat for about 1-2 minutes. The reheating time changes, if the salmon is thicker than the usual one. In case you don't know the exact reheating time, run the microwave until the internal temperature reaches 145°F (63°C). 

4. Cool the salmon

Lastly, remove the tray from the microwave wearing heat-resistant gloves. Leave it to cool down for about 2-3 minutes. after that, serve the salmon with a side dish of your choice and enjoy the more intensified flavors. 

Pros

• Efficient: It takes less time to reheat salmon in the microwave comparatively. This saves your time and is suitable if you need to reheat the food quickly. 
• Easy: It doesn't require you to flip or move the salmon. All you need to do is place the food inside it and it will do its job nicely. 
• Ideal: Mostly salmon comes in boneless. It becomes an ideal option to reheat in the microwave which doesn't make the fish too dry and tough. 

Cons

• Overcooking: The fish might be overcooked if you don't pay attention to the correct reheating time or internal temperature. 
• Uneven cooking: The most heat in the microwave is concentrated in the upper part of the salmon. This can make the downside part less prone to the heat. As a result, it causes uneven cooking. 
• Change in texture: Microwave-reheating may bring change to the texture by making the fish less flaky and more chewy. 

Using the grill method to reheat salmon definitely is not very quick and easy. This option is ideal when you want to spend some time with your loved ones, outside the house, and enjoy some light snacks.

Here's how to do it: 

1. Bring salmon to room temperature

Remove the refrigerated salmon from the fridge and leave it for 20-30 minutes at room temperature. During that time, salmon adjust to the room temperature. This helps in the even distribution of moisture in the fish meat. 

2. Preheat the grill

Before you prepare the salmon, set your grill to heat to 350°F (177°C). This is necessary to generate heat to ensure even reheating.

3. Spray some oil on the salmon

Spray or apply some oil to the salmon. This helps to prevent salmon from sticking to the grill. Also, it preserves its shape by not letting the fish fillets tear or split while flipping. 

4. Grill the salmon

Place the prepared salmon on the grill and let it heat for 3-4 minutes. Once that time reaches, flip the salmon to the other side for another 3-4 minutes. The fish turn into deep and dark brown color. 

5. Cool and serve

Remove the salmon from the grill and leave it to cool for 2-4 minutes. After that, serve them on a plate and enjoy. You can use some green herbs to garnish the fish. 

Pros

• Crispy texture: Grilling salmon makes the texture slightly crispy, especially on the edges. 
• Even heating: Heat is evenly distributed throughout the meat and reheats the salmon properly.
• Deep flavor: The salmon gets directly exposed to the fire. This brings deep and smokey flavor by reheating the existing flavors. 

Cons

• Extra preparation: This method requires you to be prepared beforehand like cleaning and adjusting the grill and preheating it. It makes reheating in the grill a time-consuming method. 
• Not convenient for all: This method is not ideal for those of you, who don't have the grill at home. Buying it becomes costly. 
• Risk of overcooking: The salmon may get overcooked if you don't look at reheating time with attention. 

Salmon lasting days depend on its type: cooked or raw. The cooked salmon normally lasts up to 3-4 days if stored properly. Whereas, raw salmon last for up to 2 days. This totally depends on the way you store them. 

How To Store Leftover Salmon

Leftover Salmon can be kept in the refrigerator. The first thing to do is to leave cooked salmon to cool completely. After that, transfer them into a sealable plastic bag or airtight container. It is important to ensure the plastic is airproof to prevent the air pass. Since air pass may cross-contaminate the food. 

Place the bag in the coolest part of your fridge. Avoid placing it close to the fridge door. As it fluctuates the temperature, leads to spoilage of the food. 

This way you can store leftover salmon by keeping its freshness and quality the same as that of fresh ones.