The Easiest Way to Remove Salmon Skin, According to a Chef

Even after formal culinary training, I still get a little nervous about cooking fish at home. First, the stakes are high. These days, a high-quality piece of fish is hard to come by (and pay for!). The last thing I want to do is overcook it, or worse, stink up the whole house in the process. One of the questions I get asked the most about cooking salmon at home is how to remove the skin. 

My first response is usually that skin helps keep your fish moist as it cooks, acting as a bit of an insurance policy to prevent the fish from drying out. Once the skin is seared off you can easily just flake all of it off before serving if you don’t want to eat it. 

This said, I have three kids to feed, and the very sight of salmon skin sends them running for the hills. If you simply must have it gone before cooking, I get it, and I have a foolproof way to remove it that I learned way back in culinary school. 

The Foolproof Way to Remove Salmon Skin Before Cooking

The first thing I do when preparing to cook a salmon fillet is to double-check the flesh for pin bones. Even at the fanciest fishmonger, I usually find one or two forgotten bones. All you need to do is rub your fingers against the flesh. The bones can be found in the white lines of the fillet and you can usually feel them with your fingers. Use a pair of tweezers and get a firm grip on one side of the bone. Give a hearty tug (as if you were plucking an eyebrow!) and the bone should slide right out, leaving the flesh intact. 

Once the salmon has been double-checked for bones, the only tools you need to remove the skin are a few sheets of paper towel and a sharp knife. 

First, place the salmon skin side down on a cutting board. Next, use a sharp knife to make a small incision as close to the edge of the fillet where it meets the skin as possible. You want to cut down deep enough that you can position the edge of your knife between the flesh and skin membrane. 

Use paper towels to firmly grasp the cut edge of the salmon with your nondominant hand. Carefully position your knife with the blade parallel to the board with just a slight downward angle so the blade is resting on the exposed skin. Once your knife is in place, strongly tug on the skin with your other hand while slowly moving the blade of the knife away from you with the same slight downward angle. 

You may have to shimmy your hand that is holding the skin to make sure it detaches cleanly from the flesh, but take care not to pull so hard that it tears the fillet at all. 

You’ll be left with just the skin conveniently held with a paper towel, so all you have to do is toss it in the trash and get cooking!