Smoked salmon from Alaska

[ckb104]

I just ate some yesterday! Visited my sister and she broke out a pouch of smoked salmon they got in Ketchikan last year. She couldn't remember the exact place, but it came in a gold pouch (packaged to last for 5 years!). She mixed it with cream cheese and we ate it with crackers. SO GOOD! I plan on getting some when my Mom and I go next month.

 

[for context, I grew up in western Washington, eating salmon that had been swimming less than an hour before. I'm a picky salmon eater. This was amazing!]

[donaldsc]

We're doing a cruise to Alaska and want to bring back some smoked salmon. The cruise is Seward to Vancouver. Where is the best place to buy salmon to bring home? Juneau, Skagway, Icy Straight Point or Ketchikan.

 

Try Costco. It is excellent.

 

https://www.costco.com/Kirkland-Signature-Smoked-Sockeye-Salmon-Nova-Lox-1-lb%2C-2-count--.product.100311664.html

 

DON

[ckb104]

No matter how many times I see it happen, I will never understand why people go to the trouble of reading and posting just to be a jerk.

 

Illegitimi non carborundum

[Herfnerd]

Exactly what is the difference between pink, sockeye and king salmon, besides the price? My palate isn't quite so refined that I can tell the difference and my wife wants to buy some when we cruise to Alaska later this year.....

 

 

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[skiiergirl]

Exactly what is the difference between pink, sockeye and king salmon, besides the price? My palate isn't quite so refined that I can tell the difference and my wife wants to buy some when we cruise to Alaska later this year.....

 

 

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Great question. I am interested in this also. I have never paid attention that there were different options. I don't like salmon but Mr Ski loves smoked salmon. I have never purchased it...he just eats it at restaurants, etc. I also need to know the difference in case he decides to bring some home.

 

Thx!

[skiiergirl]

I don't care what it costs, it is well worth it to me. :) My favorite is sockeye salmon from Taku Smokery in Juneau.

 

I buy a boatload of it, every trip and enjoy every bite. :) (until the next trip :) )

 

Have you tried any of the "rubs"?

[Dunfer]

When we were in Port in Juneau August of 2015, I had read where you could get a free tour of the Alaskan Seafood Company (it's near the Alaskan Brewery). Since we had planned on going to the Brewery anyway, we dropped in, but it was the end of their canning season, so, while they were still cleaning, packing and shipping fresh fish, they had stopped the canning production line. There were eight of us, and the owner himself gave us a tour anyway. It is the smallest and oldest fish processing plant still in operation. It was very interesting, and it had a little shop up front that sold everything salmon, halibut, etc. you could think of. After the tour, he gave us 25% off anything we bought out of the shop! What I liked the best, was the Salmon packed in those little gold pouches. After Juneau, we saw those packages in every other port. I checked, and they all listed Alaskan Seafood Company in Juneau, as to where it had been processed.

[martincath]

Exactly what is the difference between pink, sockeye and king salmon, besides the price? My palate isn't quite so refined that I can tell the difference and my wife wants to buy some when we cruise to Alaska later this year.....

 

 

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Size of fish, and especially fat content. "Fat is where the flavour is" applies to fish as well as cow steaks!

 

 

Sockeye pretty much always have the highest fat %, so their flavour is strongest. King tends to be next most flavoursome - and as has been mentioned, a physically fish is easier to avoid overcooking so being properly-cooked is easier to achieve. Pink is my fish equivalent of 'house wine' - I would never use it as the centre-piece of a fancy meal, but it's my go-to canned salmon for making soup or dip that I can easily tweak the flavour profile of and because of the milder flavour I've roasted up whole sides with robust marinades quite successfully. Sockeye or Steelhead is what I eat when I just want a tasty piece of fish with minimal anything done to it - I've always been more of a fan of trout than salmon.

 

 

You may not think you can tell the difference - but if you ever eat multiple salmon species at the same time it's very, very obvious. If you go out to the Gulf of Georgia cannery museum here in Vancouver and do their tour there's a taste-test at the end that compares different canned salmon - and I've never seen or even heard of anyone failing to taste the difference!

[Herfnerd]

Size of fish, and especially fat content. "Fat is where the flavour is" applies to fish as well as cow steaks!

 

 

 

 

 

Sockeye pretty much always have the highest fat %, so their flavour is strongest. King tends to be next most flavoursome - and as has been mentioned, a physically fish is easier to avoid overcooking so being properly-cooked is easier to achieve. Pink is my fish equivalent of 'house wine' - I would never use it as the centre-piece of a fancy meal, but it's my go-to canned salmon for making soup or dip that I can easily tweak the flavour profile of and because of the milder flavour I've roasted up whole sides with robust marinades quite successfully. Sockeye or Steelhead is what I eat when I just want a tasty piece of fish with minimal anything done to it - I've always been more of a fan of trout than salmon.

 

 

 

 

 

You may not think you can tell the difference - but if you ever eat multiple salmon species at the same time it's very, very obvious. If you go out to the Gulf of Georgia cannery museum here in Vancouver and do their tour there's a taste-test at the end that compares different canned salmon - and I've never seen or even heard of anyone failing to taste the difference!

 

 

 

Thanx!!

 

 

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[bUU]

... Sockeye or Steelhead is what I eat when I just want a tasty piece of fish with minimal anything done to it - I've always been more of a fan of trout than salmon. You may not think you can tell the difference - but if you ever eat multiple salmon species at the same time it's very, very obvious.

To be clear, Steelhead isn't salmon, even though it is sometimes labeled as such in our local Kroger. Steelhead is trout.

 

I'm not a fan. ;)

[diesel1973]

Another factor in the taste of the salmon is where it was caught and how it is prepared. Copper River salmon(be it King,Sockeye, or Silver) is favored over fish from Kenai or Russian river. I smoke the Sockeye from Kenai and Russian and grill the Copper river salmon. It is all a matter of taste. Talk to 6 people and you will get 6 different opinions.

[love2cruiseseattle]

We bought some at Taku Salmon in Juneau which is near the cruise ships and it was so good. It was vacuum sealed. We only bought a small piece so it was able to go in our cabin refrigerator, but if we go again I think I will bring a small ice chest to keep it cold and bring more home.

[midwestchick]

We bought some at Taku Salmon in Juneau which is near the cruise ships and it was so good. It was vacuum sealed. We only bought a small piece so it was able to go in our cabin refrigerator, but if we go again I think I will bring a small ice chest to keep it cold and bring more home.

 

The vacuum sealed salmon does not need refrigeration. We bought some too. We'll order more later in the season when the price goes down. If you order from them online, there is no shipping charge.

[love2cruiseseattle]

The vacuum sealed salmon does not need refrigeration. We bought some too. We'll order more later in the season when the price goes down. If you order from them online, there is no shipping charge.

 

Interesting, because the sales guy said it needed to be and it was at the Taku store.

[midwestchick]

Interesting, because the sales guy said it needed to be and it was at the Taku store.

 

We bought smoked salmon and it wasn't refrigerated. Hmmmm.

[shelltherunner]

We bought ours from Salmon ETC. in Ketchikan. The shop is small but they offered samples of just about everything. They shipped it home for us for no additional charge and even held the order a day or so to be sure we would be home to receive it! They also carry a reindeer sausage and salami that is delicious.

 

 

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[Herfnerd]

Since my wife is interested in bringing smoked salmon home, I checked online and determined the best way for us is to have it shipped as we are spending several days in Seattle post-cruise.

 

Most of the information I found online was that smoked salmon is generally refrigerated, even in vacuum packs, unless it goes through additional curing. I could be wrong but since the internet never is....... ;p

[jb008]

We bought smoked salmon and it wasn't refrigerated. Hmmmm.

 

Taku had different varieties available. I think some of the smoked product still needed refrigeration (I think it was being sold from the cases up by the cash registers) while some of the vacuum sealed bags were shelf stable. The jars and cans were all shelf stable until opened. [Added in edit: it may be the cold smoke versus hot smoke varieties - cold smoked looks like lox, whereas hot smoked looks like flakey cooked fish]

 

Taku had samples available of various products for people to try, and might be a good opportunity to taste before you purchase. I personally brought back cans because it was cheap, light, and less fragile than the jars. I tasted the canned smoked product and liked it. Everyone's tastes will be different and has been mentioned it depends on how you'll use it too.

[love2cruiseseattle]

Taku had different varieties available. I think some of the smoked product still needed refrigeration (I think it was being sold from the cases up by the cash registers) while some of the vacuum sealed bags were shelf stable. The jars and cans were all shelf stable until opened. [Added in edit: it may be the cold smoke versus hot smoke varieties - cold smoked looks like lox, whereas hot smoked looks like flakey cooked fish]

 

Taku had samples available of various products for people to try, and might be a good opportunity to taste before you purchase. I personally brought back cans because it was cheap, light, and less fragile than the jars. I tasted the canned smoked product and liked it. Everyone's tastes will be different and has been mentioned it depends on how you'll use it too.

 

Thank You!!!:)