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

My bad, then. Sorry, I'm poor but resourceful.

Knowing that the CRS season is here, I pulled the last two filets fro 2012 out of the freezer and saw that the Costco price was $8.99 per pound in June '12. Dare I hope for the same price this year?????

If I recall correctly, Costco receives their shipment on Tuesday and Saturday so I will head over to Niles. Crossing my fingers.

budrichard wrote: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

-->Mods. Can we port this discussion to a new thread please about scallops in general or specifically dry vs wet.

So, did I buy wet or dry scallops at Mariano's?

Facts:
They were pink -- not white.
They were not displayed in liquid.
They were not labeled wet or dry.
The counter people clearly did not know the answer finally answering "wet" because they seem to vaguely (now in my opinion) remember that they arrived at the store in liquid.
The ATK test indicated they were dry.

I ask because, while they were truly delicious cooked the ATK way (though I used a cast iron pan on the grill), if they were "wet,"
it seems, per ATK, that they would benefit from a soak in water, lemon juice, and salt.

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/reci ... ocid=20856

At $20/lb, I'd like to know. (Don't get me started

-ramon

PKramer wrote:Knowing that the CRS season is here, I pulled the last two filets fro 2012 out of the freezer and saw that the Costco price was $8.99 per pound in June '12. Dare I hope for the same price this year?????

If I recall correctly, Costco receives their shipment on Tuesday and Saturday so I will head over to Niles. Crossing my fingers.

The price of the salmon at the Lake Zurich Costco was $14.99 per pound this past weekend.

I pan-roasted some CRS fillets on Saturday night. They sat in a quick lemon-pepper marinade for about 20 minutes before cooking. Served with steamed green beans and roasted baby yukon gold potatoes, it was an excellent meal.

The above-mentioned prices at Sunset ($9.99/lb whole, $16.99/lb for filets) were only for the tent sale on Saturday. I was in the Libertyville Sunset today, and the CR salmon filet price was $24.99/lb.

Another data point: today's flyer for Garden Fresh Market advertises filets of CR salmon for $14.50/lb. I don't generally trust GFM for fish or meat lately, but I mention this for those who are shopping around, and I am curious enough to stop by and check out whether the CR salmon there looks truly freshly delivered.

The Kingsbury Whole Foods has Copper River on special today at $20.99/lb.

Some thoughts on salmon:

I must be the only food enthusiast in Chicago who doesn't get excited about Copper River salmon. Probably since I serve so much salmon throughout the year. I get a lot more excited over soft shell crabs and shad roe, the latter of which I missed completely this year. If I'm going to eat salmon, I prefer something really fatty, like the Faroe Island. Interesting that the whole fish brought in by Sunset were so small. We do some business with Wabash Seafood and the email I got today described 25 lb. Copper River kings...fillets at $32.95!!! And CR sockeye fillets for $16.95. Salmon was also an equally popular banquet item at The Standard Club. Probably the best selling banquet entrée at both clubs. At SC, because we brought it in as whole fillets which we portioned in house, there was a constant accumulation of belly meat, as well as the odd scraps too small to portion. Our butcher routinely turned this into salmon cakes. The funny thing is that the members (who paid for them) raved, but the staff (who got them free) always complained when they were served in the employee cafeteria. At The Casino, I bring it in already portioned. We pay more for the product but make up for that on what we save on labor. Wabash, Euro USA and Fortune all do a beautiful job of fabricating the fish to our specs.

Evil Ronnie wrote:And CR sockeye fillets for $16.95.

Boston Fish Market is selling Copper River sockeye fillets for $16.95/lb retail. Fillets looked to be around, or just under, 2/lbs. As of Monday they did not have Copper River King Salmon.

"I must be the only food enthusiast in Chicago who doesn't get excited about Copper River salmon. "

I agree.
Copper river is just an appellation for salmon caught in a regional area before going up river.
Part of the sucess is that it's the first of the regional migrations and gets to market the eariest I know of. Part of the popularity is just plain marketing by the Copper River Association. There is no reason to believe Copper River salmon are any better than other Alaskan wild salmon. I don't pay the early prices for Kings but wait until the price drops. I would expect Sunset Foods got a very good price for smaller fish that don't sell for as much.
I would think they were Sockeye because of the deep red color. For $9.99/# whole, they were a good price, fresh and tasty. For a smoked side of salmon I prefer a 5-6# at least fillet. I kept one whole for smoking, filleted the rest and the trim and scrapings are for salmon cakes as you do.
Alaskan wild samon are a great resource and the industry is just trying to maximize sales and profit which on the case of Copper River is doing a very good job. Certainly today we are paying more for the initial run then we did in the past when the salmon were not marketed as Copper River.-Dick

Just left Whole Foods, Deerfield.
Copper River is currently $ 29.99 per LB. While supplies last.

Wally Wade

Standard Market in Westmont has Copper River wild sockeye fillets for $24.99 / lb, good until today.
http://www.standardmarket.com/hotsheet/

mike

I think the crux of "copper river" is that it's wild salmon, which is vastly superior, flavor-wise, to farm raised and has a relatively limited season. I too prefer king to sockeye but I'll still take wild sockeye to farmed king. For me, and probably many others, that's where the enthusiasm for copper river comes from, not necessarily the specific origin of the product.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:I think the crux of "copper river" is that it's wild salmon, which is vastly superior, flavor-wise, to farm raised and has a relatively limited season. I too prefer king to sockeye but I'll still take wild sockeye to farmed king. For me, and probably many others, that's where the enthusiasm for copper river comes from, not necessarily the specific origin of the product.

=R=

I agree but will note one exception: In addition to wild salmon, Dirk's has a farm-raised Atlantic salmon that is incredibly good. It's rich and almost buttery. I believe they use for their homemade sushi. It's excellent cured and smoked - the richness of the rich is a great match for the strong flavors of cure and smoke.

Darren72 wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:I think the crux of "copper river" is that it's wild salmon, which is vastly superior, flavor-wise, to farm raised and has a relatively limited season. I too prefer king to sockeye but I'll still take wild sockeye to farmed king. For me, and probably many others, that's where the enthusiasm for copper river comes from, not necessarily the specific origin of the product.

=R=

I agree but will note one exception: In addition to wild salmon, Dirk's has a farm-raised Atlantic salmon that is incredibly good. It's rich and almost buttery. I believe they use for their homemade sushi. It's excellent cured and smoked - the richness of the rich is a great match for the strong flavors of cure and smoke.

You're right. I also had some great wild king, a few years back, that I turned into lox. It may have been the best batch I've ever made. I should have said that more often than not I'd take wild sockeye over farmed king.

=R=

Has anyone seen copper river at costco yet this year? Trying to save a few bucks by getting it there instead.

In my email this morning - Wild CRS $14.99/lb at Fresh Farms in Niles. Valid until 6/11.

In my email this morning - Wild CRS $14.99/lb at Fresh Farms in Niles. Valid until 6/11.

They ran this sale last week too. I was there on Saturday and would say the fish looked on the small side.

Saw this morning that Fresh Market is selling them for $18.99/lb. this week.

Yesterday it was $16.95/pound

Isaacson & Stern Fish Company
800 W. Fulton Market
Chicago

312-421-2444
Fax: (312) 421- 2736

Business Hours
Monday: 9 am - 4:15 pm
Tuesday to Friday: 8 am - 4:15 pm
Sat: 8 am- 1 pm
Sunday: Closed

pacent wrote:Has anyone seen copper river at costco yet this year? Trying to save a few bucks by getting it there instead.

I purchased mine from the Lincoln Park store on Sunday. When I was at the store again last night, they didn't have any.

I purchased mine from the Lincoln Park store on Sunday. When I was at the store again last night, they didn't have any.

My experience at the Glenview Costco last year was that they seemed to stock up for the weekends, and might run out by mid week.

Hi- One of the couponing blogs that I visit, mashupmom, mentions that Dominick's has copper River salmon on sale through their J4U program, for $8.99 a pound, and yes it is filets. Has anybody ever bought it at Dominick's? Is it any good there?. You access the JfU program through Dominick's website. You have to be signed up for the program to receive it at that price, and then you go to their website, and apply it to your fresh values card. Thanks, Nancy

Whole Foods in Deerfiels still has plenty left at $ 29.99.
Stock up before they run out!!!!!!!!!!!

Wally Wade

Hi- I just went to Dominick's JFU site, and yes they do have fresh copper river salmon fillets on sale for $8.99 a pound if you apply it to your fresh values card, and you are a member of JFU, and the sale runs through 6/9, but it is a limit of one transaction, which means you cannot purchase it today for that price, and purchase it again tomorrow for the same price. Hope this helps, Nancy

I bought some at Dominick's today for $8.99. It smelled so fresh. I'm making lox out of some of it. Their for U I get around by having 3 savings cards. That way I can buy multiple of some specials. I just go back after I put the stuff in the car and use a different card and casher and pay with a different card. It has worked every time since they put in the limits and just 4 U one time use.

Hi- Do you have all three of your fresh value cards under different names? You probably go to self checkout a lot too. Sometimes when I go to Dominick's late at night they only have one register open, and so I would not be able to get away with making more than one transaction. One of the Dominick's I shop at does not even have any self checkout lanes.

I might go to Dominick's tomorrow to pick up some fish and a few other things. It sounds like the fish is fresh. Rachel over at mashupmom, eat her salmon tonight, and she said it was good.

Darren72 wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:I think the crux of "copper river" is that it's wild salmon, which is vastly superior, flavor-wise, to farm raised and has a relatively limited season. I too prefer king to sockeye but I'll still take wild sockeye to farmed king. For me, and probably many others, that's where the enthusiasm for copper river comes from, not necessarily the specific origin of the product.

=R=

I agree but will note one exception: In addition to wild salmon, Dirk's has a farm-raised Atlantic salmon that is incredibly good. It's rich and almost buttery. I believe they use for their homemade sushi. It's excellent cured and smoked - the richness of the rich is a great match for the strong flavors of cure and smoke.

I agree that Dirk's farm-raised Atlantic is fantastic - rich and flavorful and at something like $15.99/lb often a bargain compared to farmed king (it was also about half the price of the first copper river salmon they got in a couple weeks ago). It has more richness than any other Atlantic salmon I've tried around here. Don't get me wrong, I plan to buy a filet of CRS and hot smoke it this weekend, but it is a great product available year-round.

I got some CR salmon (filet about 1.5 lbs) from Dominicks in Buffalo Grove and it looks great. We are having it for dinner tonight.

They are all in my name with some variations and registered to different phones, home and two cell phones. I have used the same clerk once and a while. They don't seem to care since everything is done at the register. All they seem to care about is everything gets scanned and they get the money. We had some of the salmon last night and it was so tasty.

Just so are all on the same page, Copper River salmon is an appellation that can be applied to King, Sockeye or Coho salmon caught in the Copper river area. so far this season, all I have seen for sale from visual appearance has been sockeye or Red salmon. The different types run up the Copper river at different times of the summer.
It would appear that the Copper River Salmon organization has done a very good job of marketing because the distinction of the different types appears to have been lost in both marketing and purchasing.
Sockeye are great for grilling, smoking but in my opinion are not the best for cold curing, cold smoking, which is where the King shines but the King always comes at a premium price over sockeye and rarely do i see Copper River marketed as Coho anymore. Coho can be very very good on its own but its the King that gets all the hype.
King and Sockeye run early with Coho later in the summer.
What I am looking for is Copper River King at a good price whole fish.-Dick