Turning America’s Favorite Fish Into Succulent Salmon Burgers

Straightaway, I found that using the food processor to chop the salmon was problematic: The heat generated by the friction of the whizzing blade started to melt the fish’s fat, making it so goopy that it slipped through my fingers when I tried to form patties. That’s probably why many recipes call for tediously chopping by hand. Instead, I fortified the fat by par-freezing chunks.

This enabled me to pulse them to a ¼-inch mince that wasn’t too slick to shape. 

After mixing the chopped fish with a spoonful of mayonnaise as a binder, I stirred in Dijon mustard, shallots, and lemon juice to give a sharp edge to the rich flesh; bread crumbs would capture juices.

Because the blend was cold, the patties were easy to shuttle into a hot skillet, but they broke when I flipped them. 

When I make beef burgers, I salt them mostly on the outside. That’s because when raw beef is mixed with salt, a protein called myosin dissolves out of the muscle and into the surrounding moisture, forming a sticky gel. Too much activated myosin can give a beef burger a springy, sausage-y texture.

Salmon has myosin, too, but the myosin in aquatic animals is less rigid than in land animals because fish need to maintain flexibility in cold water. Wondering whether developing this more supple myosin might help the salmon cohere, I sprinkled salt over the par-frozen chunks so it blended in as the blade spun.

These patties held together beautifully and were not at all bouncy.

I’d been searing my burgers in a hot skillet until the centers hit 125 degrees, our preferred temperature for salmon, but they shed more than a tablespoon of fat per batch. What’s more, carryover cooking drove them to 140 degrees, rendering them dry. So I switched to a cold-skillet method. Starting with an unheated pan slowly increased the patties’ temperature, so they held on to precious fat as they developed an alluring crisp crust.

Now less than a teaspoon of grease pooled in the skillet. 

Finally, I transferred the burgers to a plate when they hit 110 degrees and let them climb to—and stay at—a succulent 125 degrees. On a plush bun with zesty sriracha mayo and fresh Bibb lettuce, this salmon dinner has never been better.