Last week I picked up a pair of 1.5lb Copper River salmon filets (3lbs total) from the Costco in Niles, where it was $9.99/lb.

Decided to try my hand at making gravlax - cured the salmon with Few gin and dill (and salt, pepper, and sugar, or course). Came out really well, mild flavor, spectacularly bright orange color...it was a hit with our house guests, went well with our bagels, and no one got sick. Success!

Picked up a couple small pieces from Costco, since SueF was going to be out and it's just me and Things. Made a packet of foil with fingerling potatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, and slices of leek, on the hot side of my gas grill, used the leek tops as base for the fish on the cool side (salt, pepper, garlic, butter on top), served with green beans and a beurre blanc.

Wow. Great fish. Happy dog got the skin.

Man, we never *did* get those fish up here...

Of course we get some pretty good *other* kinds of fish: Artic char, anyone?

Geo

"Copper River or at least labeled as Copper River sockeye was $9.99/# at Fresh Farms last Monday and had them fillet a whole fish for me. Part of a fillet is curing as I type and will be served with Mexican sour cream, chopped red onion, capers and crackers of some sort.
Copper River King has been hard to get a a decent price this year.
Actually if the salmon is really freash and high quality, whether King or Sockeye, I don't think Copper river is better than any other Alsakan product, the Copper river Association just does a much better job at marketing!
Some of the Norweigian farmed salmon as been exquisite at times whether cooked or cured.-Dick

Any wine recommendations? I usually go with Sauv. Blanc, and make the salmon with a bit of butter, lemon and capers.

Also, I just picked some up at Fox and Obel. Seems late in the season, but it looks good.

Sauvignon blanc is a good choice. But muscadet sur lies and Picpoul de Pinet are also very interesting choices.

Geo

First batch arrived at the whole foods on Ashland. 24.99 lb. thru 5/22.

Saturday, May 25, Sunset Foods, all stores, is having a Copper River 1 day sale.
Whole fish, $ 9.99. They will fillet it for the same price. Fillets are $ 16.99 a LB. In addition, Costco should have their supply any day.
If you "got to have it", pay W.F.'s price. Or, drive up north & save a few $$$$. Better yet, be patient, wait for Costco and your Copper River will taste even better. Although, Sunset's whole fish price is very good.

Wally Wade

Thank you!-Dick

walter wade wrote:Saturday, May 25, Sunset Foods, all stores, is having a Copper River 1 day sale.
Whole fish, $ 9.99. They will fillet it for the same price. Fillets are $ 16.99 a LB. In addition, Costco should have their supply any day.
If you "got to have it", pay W.F.'s price. Or, drive up north & save a few $$$$. Better yet, be patient, wait for Costco and your Copper River will taste even better. Although, Sunset's whole fish price is very good.

Wally Wade

Wally,

Yes, $9.99 in an attractive per pound price, but don't forget, that includes 40% loss from fabrication (head, skin, frame, tail), so you are paying for more poundage than you might need/want.

For this very same reason, many chefs would rather pay a higher per serving price for portion controlled steaks/fish/ chops, and then not have to deal with the ordeal of selling/getting rid of the byproduct and the added labor costs.

If I get a 3 Lb fish and get 2, 11/4 lb fillets, thats a little less than $ 15.00 per lb. A LONG way from Whole Foods at $ 24.99 per LB.
Also, I'm not a super fan of Costco. All their frozen & prepared foods are filled with a lot of "crap"
Drives my allergies " nuts". Hopefully they DO NOT do anything to preserve the fresh fish.
Sunset's fish are caught & flown in over night for this event. The only way to improve it is to have a pole in the water & the pan over the fire.


Wally Wade

You won't find a 3 lb salmon. 8-10 lb minimum. Approximate yield on a 10 lb fish is 6 lbs of skinless fillet. Your actual cost of fillets is about $16.70 per lb. As you say, a great price compared to Whole Paycheck.

I'll let you know.

Wally

Filleting a whole salmon is not the only prep and criteria for purchase.
A whole grilled or cold poached or hot smoked salmon makes an attractive center piece for a large gathering or party.
See you at Sunset Foods, Libertyville Saturday.-Dick

FWIW, saw CRS fillets at Mariano's Elston yesterday at $21.99/lb.

As an aside, I asked them if their jumbo sea scallops (19.99/lb) were wet or dry pack. After hemming and hawing and asking around, they decided on wet because they came in liquid. I bought a couple anyways, cause, heck, I had a craving, and doubted they knew what they were talking about.

The microwave test via ATK shown them to be dry. They were delicious.

-ramon

Ramon, have you got a link on that ATK microwave scallop test?

TIA!

Geo

Geo wrote:Ramon, have you got a link on that ATK microwave scallop test?

TIA!

Geo

Here's a link to a video of it, but you need to be a subscriber to see it.

Basically they just say to put a scallop on a paper towel-lined plate and microwave it on high for 15 seconds. If it's wet packed, there will be a ring of moisture around the scallop. If it's dry packed, it will have exuded little moisture.

Tnx Darren72, good to know (I'm a Cook's member : )

Geo

Ramon wrote:FWIW, saw CRS fillets at Mariano's Elston yesterday at $21.99/lb.

Following up on this tip, I went to the Elston Mariano's today and bought some CRS. I'll be grilling it for dinner tonight. The strange thing is that all they had were approx. 6oz portions of CRS tails. It looked beautiful, and I bought some, but it made me wonder where the nice meaty center cut fillets were. It was almost as if Mariano's only bought these particular pieces rather than whole fish that they filleted themselves. Very odd.

Wally Wade isn't the only one recommending the Sunset sale. My most recent "suggested post" on Facebook was by Sunset Foods with this pitch:

WHOLE COPPER RIVER SOCKEYE SALMON SALE! This Saturday, May 25th, at all stores, 10am–4pm. Catch big savings on Whole Wild Copper River Salmon, flown in overnight exclusively to Sunset Foods from a family-owned, sustainable fishery in Cordova, Alaska! Averaging 5–7 lbs, we’ll cut them into fillets or steaks for you for free. Only 9.98 lb for an entire salmon (whole or filleted). While supplies last.

stevez wrote:

Ramon wrote:FWIW, saw CRS fillets at Mariano's Elston yesterday at $21.99/lb.

It was almost as if Mariano's only bought these particular pieces rather than whole fish that they filleted themselves. Very odd.

I'll bet you are exactly right. Probably got them at a great price too.

(One of my fish purveyors mentioned to me that the majority of salmon now comes in already filleted. Makes sense. Lower shipping costs and saves the fishmongers money on labor.)

Darren72 wrote:

Geo wrote:Ramon, have you got a link on that ATK microwave scallop test?

TIA!

Geo

Here's a link to a video of it, but you need to be a subscriber to see it.

Basically they just say to put a scallop on a paper towel-lined plate and microwave it on high for 15 seconds. If it's wet packed, there will be a ring of moisture around the scallop. If it's dry packed, it will have exuded little moisture.

TBC a normal subscription to the ATK site is free, requiring an email address only, unlike Cook's Illustrated or Cook's Country.

-ramon

I shop Marianos on Milwaukee in Vernon Hills.
They hace good prices on produce & some dairy. The balance of store items is nothing special.
Tried meats & bakery. Not any more.
Deli has some good items, but the majority of prepared salads affect my alergies.
BE CAREFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.

Wally Wade

About dry pack scallops, retailers don't know, most consumers don't know, if either the source or someone along the way is dishonest or passes on incorrect information, the scallops get labeled 'dry pack'. If there is ANY liquid, the scallops are not dry pack, period.
Last weekend picking up soft shells at Grash's in Milwaukee which is usually a very competent fish retailer, the soft shells were moving but the bay scallops labeled as 'dry pack' had liquid.
Purchased soft shells which were sublime but no scallops.
A few times a year, I purchase a gallon container of Day Boat scallops from Browne Trading. The scallops have absolutely no liquid and they actually look dry with just a little glisten from moisture.
Caveat Emptor.-Dick

Mettawa Costco had CR sockeye filets for $14.99/lb this morning. Now off to find some alder chips - have never been happy with planks on the grill they don't impart enough alder smoke into the salmon for my taste.

I just got a 4 lb salmon at the Sunset Foods salmon tent sale in the parking lot of the Northbrook store. The fish ranged in size from 3-6 lbs. There were two fishmongers there to fillet the fish for you on the spot, and they were both working harder than one armed paper hangers.

ETA: The final tally: Based on the weight after filleting, this came out to a little under $14.50/lb for the fillets, plus I have the frame for making stock for "free".

Salmon at Libertyville Sunset Foods were head off, nicely gutted.
Purchased three, one whole for smoking and filleted two myself, the scrape makes good salmon patties and the bones and skin for the trash. Nice deep red salmon, not sure whether sockeye or what but on the small side.-Dick

Yes. No head in Northbrook, either.

budrichard wrote:the bones and skin for the trash.-Dick

I'd prefer to make a fume and >later< requisition the bones to the trash. What a waste! I know it won't be clear, nonetheless

I never use an oily fish for a stock.-Dick