one fish, two fish

the semi-clean spot in the middle was where my salmon was cooking

This is why I don't cook fish. Every time I cook fish, my pan ends up looking like this and I can never get it all off. Does this happen to you? I know I must doing something wrong, but I don't know what. I get the pan hot, use a minimum amount of oil, and don't move the fish during the advised time (about 7mins for salmon). The fish was tasty, but at what cost? I've probably spent an hour trying to restore this pan to its original condition. I've tried all sorts of chemical concoctions (de-glazing and boiling combos of dishwashing liquid, baking soda, vinegar, etc) praised on the internet, to no avail. Any suggestions?

Later that day, I baked a fish encased in salt, aka salt coffin, and it would have been great if I had paid attention to the recipe and realized the cooking times were for a 2-3 pound fish, not a 3/4 pound one. I'll try this method again though, much cleaner.


my single serving fish in his salt coffin