Poached Salmon is Like Cardboard!

I poach salmon often and have used orange juice and water, orange juice straight or white wine. I find that if you keep it really, really low it helps, also cover the salmon with slices of cucumber / orange / lemon. However, if the salmon was previously frozen it does end up dry and not as pleasant. Using fresh seems to be the key.

Try my recipe for Swedish Fish: https://food52.com/recipes/35918-swedish-fish. The poaching liquid is boiled to concentrate the flavors, but once you had the fish it simply sits in the hot water. Moist (!) every time.

I swear by Cook's Illustrated Oven-Poached Whole Salmon --https://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/834-oven-poached-whole-salmon

If you don't subscribe --

1 whole salmon (5 to 8 pounds), gutted, scaled, washed well, and fins trimmed away with kitchen shears
3tablespoons cider vinegar, rice vinegar, or white-wine vinegar
1tablespoon table salt
½teaspoon table salt
2 lemons, one sliced and the other squeezed to yield 3 tablespoons juice

Wrap in a foil tent; bake at 250 degrees for 2 - 2.5 hours until it's 125 - 130 degrees inside. Even ho-hum farmed salmon comes out nicely -- especially if served with Mrs Larkin's Special Sauce.

in my own experience, i have had lesser quality (less fatty salmon) and find it to be too dry for my tastes. try to find out the type of salmon (king is great; keta or dog salmon not so good in my and others' opinions) before you buy it. here is a link to epicurious on salmon: http://www.epicurious.com/ingredients/how-to-buy-salmon-at-the-grocery-store-article

The acidity of the orange juice could mean the cooking time needs to be less. Think of what lemon juice does to ceviche. That's a guess but it could be a factor.

Sounds like you're poaching at too high a water temp - it should be just simmering, not at a hard boil - and/or for too long a time.