DiningBuzz! - Copper river salmon season 2011

Alaska Air Cargo Delivers Season's First Copper River Salmon To Seattle
Top Restaurant Chefs Compete In ‘Copper Chef Cook-off'
5/17/2011 7:05 a.m.

SEATTLE — Alaska Air Cargo delivered the season's first shipment of Copper River salmon today to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The arrival of Copper River salmon marks the start of the summer salmon season and is anticipated by seafood lovers throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

please post when(and if) copper river salmon shows up in your costco.

Time to break out a bottle of pinot noir.

dh

Guess what, I'm in CVG and I saw it in MY grocery store last weekend! (Not a Costco, Kroger.) At $19.99 a pound I didn't buy any.

Guess what, I'm in CVG and I saw it in MY grocery store last weekend! (Not a Costco, Kroger.) At $19.99 a pound I didn't buy any.

The Costco in Wenatchee has had Copper River Salmon for $12.99/lb. for the past two days.

At $19.99 a pound I didn't buy any.because of the price or you don't like salmon?

BTW, thanks for posting slawecki, I haven't been to my Costco yet, but Whole Foods in Chicagoland has it.

$11 / pound in Coeur D'Alene, ID

Just bought 2 pounds at a place in Pike Place while I was in Seattle this week. Put it in a travel bag - planning on marinating it tomorrow night and grilling. Will make a salad with some of it for later in the week. Pricey but this salmon is sooo yummy! I'm looking forward to having it. I was planning on pairing it with a nice Sauvignon Blanc actually due to the hot weather!

I'm going to play the contrarian here. As much as I like wild Alaska salmon, particularly sockeyes, this is just a big marketing gimmick, not unlike the beaujolais nouveau hysteria generated by France. Don't misunderstand me. I love the salmon and I love beaujolais. I just don't like paying premium prices for the very first of the season.

It's down to $8.99/lb at the Costco in Wenatchee this week.

I'm going to play the contrarian here. As much as I like wild Alaska salmon, particularly sockeyes, this is just a big marketing gimmick, not unlike the beaujolais nouveau hysteria generated by France. Don't misunderstand me. I love the salmon and I love beaujolais. I just don't like paying premium prices for the very first of the season.

Actually, Copper River Salmon is a different type of salmon with a different flavor to it (much richer imo).

I'll have to look around for it here... however, most of the seafood that's readily available in New England is Atlantic stuff (for obvious reasons) and I don't really know if it makes sense to buy fish from 5 thousand miles away.

I'll have to look around for it here... however, most of the seafood that's readily available in New England is Atlantic stuff (for obvious reasons) and I don't really know if it makes sense to buy fish from 5 thousand miles away.

if you cannot tell the difference between atlantic farm raised salmon and copper river salmon, stick to the atlantic stuff.

if you cannot tell the difference between atlantic farm raised salmon and copper river salmon, stick to the atlantic stuff.

+1, and extend that to "If you can't tell the difference between any wild Alaska salmon and farm raised salmon, stick to the farm raised salmon."

I'll have to look around for it here... however, most of the seafood that's readily available in New England is Atlantic stuff (for obvious reasons) and I don't really know if it makes sense to buy fish from 5 thousand miles away.



Check Legal Seafoods..."If it ain't Wild Alaskan Salmon, it ain't Legal."

You can also call Stavis Seafoods, or the John Nagle company in Boston to find out where Copper River is being sold.

Bristol Bay is open now, so you need to specify Copper River.

I'm going to play the contrarian here. As much as I like wild Alaska salmon, particularly sockeyes, this is just a big marketing gimmick, not unlike the beaujolais nouveau hysteria generated by France. Don't misunderstand me. I love the salmon and I love beaujolais. I just don't like paying premium prices for the very first of the season.

Actually, Copper River Salmon is a different type of salmon with a different flavor to it (much richer imo).

Without specifying if you're talking about Kings or Reds, this is kind of a weird subject.

Copper river fish tend to have more fat stored than some other fish of the same species because the spawning grounds are farther upstream than in other places; however on that basis the Yukon fishery is the clear winner, since some of the Yukon fish go a long way - over a thousand miles, maybe two in some cases.

But go into the Costco (in a month or two) and ask for Yukon Kings or Reds and you'll likely get a funny look, and the reason is that the Yukon fishery's marketing efforts pale by comparison to the campaigns run by the Copper River/PWS marketing association.

I cooked up a CR Red filet yesterday and it was excellent. But NOT worth the premium price being paid, much of which is going straight to the marketing association, and more power to them.

Without specifying if you're talking about Kings or Reds, this is kind of a weird subject.


I cooked up a CR Red filet yesterday and it was excellent. But NOT worth the premium price being paid, much of which is going straight to the marketing association, and more power to them.


what's a RED? i have never before seen CRS referred as a red. all types seem to be bright red.
i think the only other one that we see is a coho. the one we cannot afford is a king, and there is a sockeye.

costco in dc area does not have them yet. harris teeter does.

i once ordered a whole king from a wholesaler. it was well over 2' long, and weighed some 30 lbs, gutted and with the head off.

what's a RED? i have never before seen CRS referred as a red. all types seem to be bright red.
i think the only other one that we see is a coho. the one we cannot afford is a king, and there is a sockeye.

costco in dc area does not have them yet. harris teeter does.

i once ordered a whole king from a wholesaler. it was well over 2' long, and weighed some 30 lbs, gutted and with the head off.
There are two species caught around the same time in the Copper River fishery, King (aka Chinook) and Red (aka Sockeye) salmon. They are different fish, with different levels of fat content. There are usually many more Reds caught than Kings in the Copper River fishery.

The price paid to fishermen for Reds is less than for Kings - this year around $4 per lb. for Reds vs. $6.50 for Kings. These differences usually filter through to the retail level in the form of 30% - 50% markup for Kings over Reds. If the merchant can sell you "Copper River Salmon" without telling you which species, you can pretty well assume it's Red salmon priced like it was King; why wouldn't they? Most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference once the fish is cooked.

IIRC Costco usually says which it is; other fish retailers (and many restaurants) don't.

Without specifying if you're talking about Kings or Reds, this is kind of a weird subject.

Copper river fish tend to have more fat stored than some other fish of the same species because the spawning grounds are farther upstream than in other places; however on that basis the Yukon fishery is the clear winner, since some of the Yukon fish go a long way - over a thousand miles, maybe two in some cases.

But go into the Costco (in a month or two) and ask for Yukon Kings or Reds and you'll likely get a funny look, and the reason is that the Yukon fishery's marketing efforts pale by comparison to the campaigns run by the Copper River/PWS marketing association.

I cooked up a CR Red filet yesterday and it was excellent. But NOT worth the premium price being paid, much of which is going straight to the marketing association, and more power to them.

A good friend of mine is a chef. He buys CR every year as early as he can for his own use (not his restaurant). This dude is of the "cheap doesn't mean bad, expensive doesn't mean good' way of thinking. But he will pay the premium for this salmon.

Spotted at Costco in YUL yesterday - 11.99$ a pound.

Just had some here in TX this week, and it was great, made a 90% salmon spread for bagels with the leftovers and it was mostly devoured this morning.

There are two species caught around the same time in the Copper River fishery, King (aka Chinook) and Red (aka Sockeye) salmon. They are different fish, with different levels of fat content. There are usually many more Reds caught than Kings in the Copper River fishery.

The price paid to fishermen for Reds is less than for Kings - this year around $4 per lb. for Reds vs. $6.50 for Kings. These differences usually filter through to the retail level in the form of 30% - 50% markup for Kings over Reds. If the merchant can sell you "Copper River Salmon" without telling you which species, you can pretty well assume it's Red salmon priced like it was King; why wouldn't they? Most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference once the fish is cooked.

IIRC Costco usually says which it is; other fish retailers (and many restaurants) don't.


I actually tried white king salmon for the first time last year and loved it! I'm looking forward to purchasing some more of it.

Mine was red but I didn't know the difference, thanks for the education :)

Going for $4.99/lb at YVR.

Usually I just wait until my local fishermen can hook me up with Sockeye for $10 a fish for 12-15 pounders and fill up the freezer. $20 a pound for real?

We're heading up there to fish for some, and according to my calculations, it will be about $1,000 per pound...