Wild Alaskan Salmon: Buying it where???

[brewer12345]

Dad worked in the Fulton fish market for north of 30 years (don't ask) and I was spoiled rotten with the best fish from childhood on. We also fished fresh and saltwater nearly to the point of compulsion and dad continues to do so. Fresh is fresh only if it is fresh. If you don't have access to a top shelf fish market, you would probably be better off with frozen. We had lovely dry scallops for dinner tonight here in Colorado, but I searched out one of the better/best retail fish markets here, drove out of my way to get there (in a raging thunderstorm), and turned my nose up at half or more of what they were selling. In contrast, when I go to Costco I can buy salmon or (to my surprise locally) wahoo in flash frozen, cryo-vacced individual servings that are perfectly acceptable (to my standards), if not up to the level of the really fresh fresh stuf.

 

[braumeister]

Dad worked in the Fulton fish market for north of 30 years (don't ask) and I was spoiled rotten with the best fish from childhood on. We also fished fresh and saltwater nearly to the point of compulsion and dad continues to do so.

I can sure relate to that. Growing up near Sheepshead Bay, we ate more fish than meat, much of it caught ourselves.

Another source of good fish I just thought of. We have an Asian supermarket in Cincinnati, and I suppose many cities do. They usually have a truly awesome supply of frozen fish of all kinds, and most of it seems to be very good quality.

 

[youbet]

The salmon we eat is primarily coho from the Great Lakes. Trout is from the White River system in northen Arkansas.

We haven't been doing as much salmon/trout fishing as in the past so currently the freezer is stocked primarily with the usual "Up Nort" gamefish: walleye, northern pike, crappie, perch and bass.

We're packing for a trip to northern Minnesota right now. Despite August not being prime fishing time, we always do well on this lake. Fishing was so good on the early June trip this year, we had limits in the freezer and were catch-and-release fishing by mid-week.

We'll be trout fishing in southern Missouri (Current and Jacks Fork rivers) and northern Arkansas (White River system) this autumn.

We enjoy a variety of commercially caught fish and seafood, but when fishing is one of your hobbies you don't get many chances to partake at the seafood counter at the local market.

 

[skyvue]

if you know what these different fish look like, you cannot be fooled. To the best of my knowledge, the only US farmed salmon is Atlantic salmon. Sockeye, king, silver (coho) are all wild.

Look at the filet- if it has big whitish fat separating the myotomes, it is farmed Atlantic salmon. It may be farmed in BC, but it is still Atlantic Salmon. If it is a deep ruby red, and it looks as if the fish might have weighed 4-8 pounds whole, it is sockeye, always wild.

Learn to recognize what fish looks like and you will be fraud proof.

Same goes for meat. I see shoppers who are plenty old enough to have figured out what they are buying ask the butcher amazing questions.

There are places for trust( like mutual fund salesmen) , but not meat or fish counters.

Ha

Absolutely true. I can tell simply by looking at it whether it was Wild or Farm Raised.

I am telling you all, try cooking the salmon on your George Foreman. It does a great job at it and you only need to lightly spray the surface with some Pam. No added calories from butter, oil, etc....

 

[Brat]

Here is my husband's favorite salmon fishing photo, Kenai River:

 

[Orchidflower]

You folks that grew up getting fresh fish...how lucky!!! I'm jealous. Not much fresh fish in the Midwest...unless you're into catfish with all the toxins in it which I love regardless, tho.

 

[TromboneAl]

I can honestly say that I didn't notice the difference between the taste of this fish,



that couldn't have been fresher, and the taste of farmed salmon that the grocery store got from Chile.

I'm good at telling how fresh a fish is (e.g. zero smell versus fishy smell), but the very fresh fish don't taste much better. I've even had previously frozen fish that taste great.

IOW, I think there's a significant placebo effect here, and I no longer worry if the fish I buy isn't super fresh.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

Went to Costco this morning for some shopping. After reading this thread, I was especially interested in fresh wild salmon. They had both the wild salmon and farm raised. Boy, the wild just looks so much better, probably the nice red coloring to the flesh whereas the farm raised looks more of a coral color. We're used to the farm raised. Decided to buy both. The wild was $7.99/lb and the farm raised was $6.99/lb. What I do like about the farm raised is that there is no skin. I can grill this in baskets, rotate it on the grille easily and get it browned on both sides. With the skin on, I put it skin down on aluminum foil and grille until it's done and then use a spatula, slide the flesh off the skin which sticks to the aluminum foil. I prefer the grilling in the baskets, but now that I have both on hand, I'll see if there is much difference. I'm kind of in T'Al's corner. Don't know if I'll be able to tell much difference.

 

[TromboneAl]

You can get good at removing the skin. I almost always do it. Use a sharp filet knife. You can also buy a tool that does it.

If I spray the grill with Pam, and use a monster spatula, I rarely have trouble flipping it.

You probably know that the red color comes from pigments in the crustaceans that the wild salmon eat. When the packaging says "color added" it means that the farmers add those pigments to the food pellets that they feed to the fish.

 

[HFWR]

The skin is "good fat".

 

[braumeister]

I don't know about the nutritional aspects of the skin, but as someone who has eaten a lot of fish all my life, I've always eaten and enjoyed the skin. I've never understood why anyone wouldn't.

 

[frank]

"he best wild Alaskan salmon I have had is caught by yours truly.
Also halibut. What we sent to Trappers Creek for smoking was out of this world.
Course the price was a bit more but included a lot of great scenery and bear watching. Going again in a couple of week." where did you go salmon fishing? have always wanted to go but never had the chance. do you use some service or guide to set it up? let me know.

 

[MichaelB]

I don't know about the nutritional aspects of the skin, but as someone who has eaten a lot of fish all my life, I've always eaten and enjoyed the skin. I've never understood why anyone wouldn't.

Crispy salmon skin. Ummm. That is a dish in itself in Japan. Tasty and nutritious.

 

[TromboneAl]

Went to Costco this morning for some shopping. After reading this thread, I was especially interested in fresh wild salmon. They had both the wild salmon and farm raised. Boy, the wild just looks so much better, probably the nice red coloring to the flesh whereas the farm raised looks more of a coral color. We're used to the farm raised. Decided to buy both. The wild was $7.99/lb and the farm raised was $6.99/lb. What I do like about the farm raised is that there is no skin. I can grill this in baskets, rotate it on the grille easily and get it browned on both sides. With the skin on, I put it skin down on aluminum foil and grille until it's done and then use a spatula, slide the flesh off the skin which sticks to the aluminum foil. I prefer the grilling in the baskets, but now that I have both on hand, I'll see if there is much difference. I'm kind of in T'Al's corner. Don't know if I'll be able to tell much difference.

What's your report?

 

[JOHNNIE36]

What's your report?

Haven't tried it yet Al. Decided we had a lot of leftovers to get rid of first. I'll be sure to let you know our opinion when we do the first grilling.
I guess the best way to compare is to grille both types on the same day using the same seasoning. The farm raised will be grilled in the basket and the wild salmon will be done on the aluminum foil, both methods we have used before. Don't want to introduce anything new. My prediction is that I will like the wild and DW will like the farm raised just because of the grilling in the basket. We've used that method for the last two years and DW loves it. She doesn't like change: except when it comes to furniture. That's different. Stay tuned.