Follow just a few steps, and you can achieve perfectly cooked salmon: tender and buttery with crisp skin. We walk you through how to buy salmon (including the different you might see in the grocery store) and three simplest ways to cook it as well.

What to Know about the Different of Salmon

At most seafood counters, you can buy several of salmon, including a whole side, individual fillets and steaks.

A whole side is exactly what it sounds like: it’s an entire side of the salmon. Typically, it’ll weigh four to five pounds and serve about ten people. Sides of salmon are well-suited to grilling because they don’t dry out, but you can also roast them in the oven.

Fillets of salmon are simply pieces from a side of salmon. They can look long and skinny or squarer, depending on the way the side. They typically weigh six to eight ounces and feed one person each. This is the most common type of salmon you’ll find in the store, mostly because it’s the most versatile: you can pan-sear it, bake it, poach it or grill it.

Finally, salmon steaks are thick slices of salmon that are from the entire body of the salmon. They weigh eight to ten ounces and feed one person each. Pan-searing and grilling are the most common preparations for salmon steak.

How to Cook Salmon

1: Bring the Salmon to Room Temperature

Pull the salmon from the refrigerator about ten minutes before you plan on cooking, so it comes to room temperature and cooks evenly. Place it skin-side down on a plate lined with two layers of paper towels to soak up moisture. Eliminating moisture makes for super crispy skin.

2: Brush Both Sides with Olive Oil and Season with Salt and Pepper

When it’s cooked well, salmon is so tasty that you need not add flavourings other than salt, pepper and olive oil (although of course if you’d like to get creative, full steam ahead). Brush the salmon in olive oil and generously season both sides with salt and pepper.

3: How to Pan-Fry Salmon

Pan-frying salmon is one of the fastest and easiest methods to cook it. It makes for super crispy skin and tender flesh. Here’s how you do it. Start with a large nonstock skillet, which will ensure the delicate salmon skin doesn’t stick and tear in the pan. Heat it over medium-high, then place the salmon skin-side up in the pan. Cook until golden brown on one side (about four minutes for five ounce filets). Flip the salmon with a large thin flexible spatula (slotted fish spatulas are quite useful if you plan on cooking salmon often) and cook until it feels firm to the touch and the skin is crisp.

4: How to Bake Salmon

Baking salmon is convenient because it’s hands-off and there’s very little mess or smell. This technique is not only great for fillets, but also larger pieces of salmon. Here’s what you do. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with foil. Place the salmon skin-side down on the baking sheet and crimp all four sides of the foil to create a border around the salmon: this will help collect the juices so they don’t spread. If you’d like, you can place lemon slices on the salmon, brush the surface with Dijon mustard or season the flesh with your favourite spices at this point. Bake until the outside is opaque and slightly firm to the touch and the inside flakes easily. Insert a small paring between layers to check; the colour will vary from bright pink (rare) to pale pink to orange (well-done ).