looks like the healthy eating thing has already started!

Great tip Ron.  Thanks for sharing.

buzd504 said:

I love salmon skin.  The bloodline doesn't bother me.

This. I would never toss the skin! Didn't even know there WAS anything called a bloodline. 

Good tip Ron.  Typically when we buy big pieces like that the skin is already removed.  If nothing else that part doesn't look as appetizing. 

RRP said:

The other night @LKNEgg posted his delicious looking and I'm sure quite tasty wild sockeye salmon supper picture. Well - I too love salmon, but more so than my wife. That is until I read the helpful - life altering hint from Chris C at Dizzy pig. I have been following this simple change ever since and now my wife even asks for salmon, unlike when she hated it! 

In short form there is a blood line that runs horizonally down the skin side of salmon. When left in as most recipes tell you to cook with the skin on that blood or mud line as I call it taints salmon! Using a sharp filet knife I carefully remove the skin. The more you practice the better you get! Here's what the removal will reveal.


Then take your knife and carve a valley out to remove the vein. Trust me - or I should say Chris - it will make you appreciate salmon! Don't believe me? Try it!

Me too Ron. No brainer, right?

Some people don't like bread crust either.



Fresher fish will have a pinker bloodline.  Sushi chefs will leave it in to show off the freshness of the fish.

From that coloring that does not look wild.

Dyal_SC said:

It is all personal preference.  No one way is better. 

agreed.  just shedding a little light on an internet-misunderstood topic

the only issue i had is that i don't think it is accurate to say it "taints" the fish.  it's part of the reason the salmon tastes like salmon, and it is healthy, and not a defect of handling or processing, nor innately 'undesirable'

i season my salmon to enhance the flavor that suits me. I also remove the skin and bloodline, most of the time, as it does not suit my taste. Sometimes i go as far as to glaze or marinate the fish. I suppose others just leave it plain and grill it. That's just fine with me, as they don't want to disturb the flavor that suits them.

I agree...whatever taste you like, cook for it.  Some people like to coat their salmon with a few ounces of various sugar and cook it well done.   Seems like a popular method.  You have people that like stuff sweet, and those that like savory.  Those that like fish well done or rare to medium rare. I fall in to the latter camp, although SWMBO doesn't like any translucent meat in her fish.  

wasn't correcting.  just clarifying. i don't question whether a dude prefers (or doesn't) the yolk or the white of an egg. 

anyway...  we have another dude on the forum getting relatively minor grief because he eats tongue.  jeeze people, expand the mind a bit.  as adventurous as most of us are around here, we still see people saying "ick!" because something is different.

my point wasn't that anyone was wrong for trimming it.  just that it would be good to know what it really is, because terms like "blood line" can really carry emotional weight.

@fishlessman, new chinese food place near me serves cheek as the appetizer.  good stuff.  had it three times in a week.  i could get the heads at MB for a buck a pound, but i am lazy.

one last thought... kids today are so sheltered and afraid of their food, that i think it is a sad situation.  sad for them? nope.  they are perfectly happy.  but still seems sad.

almost fifteen years ago i was working with some folks to design a servery/common for a college.  we toured all sorts of comparable facilities at other colleges.  the rage then and now was to do all sorts of separate stations: stir-fry, pasta, pizza, veggie, etc. The places were phenomenal.  food of all types everywhere. ( ....one of the reasons your tuition is so high, all the expansion!)

the head of dining services kinda leaned over at one place and said "you know, the kids eat nothing but chicken fingers and fries, to be honest.  i swear, all this is really for the parents, for when they tour the place... "

@Darby_Crenshaw said: the head of dining services kinda leaned over at one place and said "you know, the kids eat nothing but chicken fingers and fries, to be honest.  i swear, all this is really for the parents, for when they tour the place... "

That is so true-it's all the Madison Avenue pitch to help justify the ever-increasing $$ for the experience.  (And I won't get into the way the feds throw loan $$ at students these days-talk about an excuse to keep jacking tuition).
Apologize for the hi-jack but a soap-box topic for me.  

RRP said:

Carolina Q said:

buzd504 said:

I love salmon skin.  The bloodline doesn't bother me.

This. I would never toss the skin! Didn't even know there WAS anything called a bloodline. 

Seriously Michael? You even eat the skin? 

What do you mean, "even"? That's almost as good as the salmon if it's done nice and crispy. Brown the other side just a bit then flip it skin side down on a hot CI pan. Cook to about 135°ish. Delicious.

I'm certainly not a doctor nor did I stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night. But with that said, I have cleaned thousands of fish before. The so called bloodline is not a bloodline at all. It's nerves. It gives a "blood" appearance while in the meat. A optical illusion of you will. Rather to remove it or not is a personal choice. I do not. However for certain species of fish, removing the "bloodline" does have one great benefit. All of the pin bones come of with it. For certain fish, especially if little children will be eating the fish, this is a cool trick to ensure the safety of the novice eater. Short of that, I leave it.  

Since it has nothing to do with blood, and 'blood' is often a negative w/r/t consumers and their food [witness negative references to 'bloody' steaks when in fact there's no blood at all in steaks], i propose renaming it

since it's where the best omega-3 fats are, maybe the 'omega line'?

nah. Let's just keep callin it something 'icky' sounding. Maybe "the poop trail"

seriously tho. It's good for you. Tastes like extra salmony salmon. Try leaving it in. Honor the animal

soapbox dismounted (got on it too many times already in this thread. Apologies to RRP)

This thread is a prime of example of why I love this forum so much. What started as a simple tip has evolved into a full-fledged education on how to prepare and eat salmon. As a relative newbie (last 5 years or so) in trying to incorporate salmon into my diet, I, like @RRP , have never considered trying to eat the skin. I also have never much cared for the darker, stronger tasting parts of the flesh. But since I now know that the skin is edible and the darker flesh is the healthiest part, I've got to give this a try. Thanks everyone for all of the knowledgeable input on this topic. I'll be getting some salmon to Egg this weekend. I really like @buzd504 's idea using the cast iron pan to crisp the skin. Bookmarked!