Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Is Copper River sockeye salmon worth the premium?

Salmon is one of my wife's favorite dinners. I've tried to like it but I just can't get past the strong taste. The local fish market has Copper River sockeye for $25.00 a pound.(It looked beautiful. Nice and red and smelled clean.) I passed because she prefers a thicker fillet and they seemed kinda flat. I usually buy wild caught salmon for her and a nice tuna steak for me.
So is it worth the premium price?
Thanks
Doug

Yes and no.

CR has the cache of being first on the market starting in May. They do a terrific job of marketing their fish with AK Air flying it to Seattle within hours of being caught, getting the catch on the news, etc. That's why it commands the price it does, IMO.

Could one tell CR from Kenai, Kasilof, or any other bright, fresh, wild, ocean-caught sockeyes? Again, IMO, no.

Then again, if that's what your wife likes, get it!

yep. Think of it as an investment.

I just bought 8 fresh lbs of wild SE from Costco at 9.99 a lb. Foodsavered it up just like they do it in Alaska!!

My freezer and I are pretty happy right now.

There is a good chance the fish came from the Gulkana Hatchery, they put about 22 million fry into the system every year.

I agree with IB. It's premium because it's fresh, the rest is just marketing.

Looks like my fishing will be a bit limited this year so I just made a deal for 30#'s of sockeye. I'll pick them up at the dock, right out of the slush ice. it's a little cheaper that way.

Don't waste any like this David!



Here's a reco:


You should visit.

Mike---Oh yeah!!!

Been there several times and met the ones on the ground. BUT on my next visit I have lots of new Fire friends to meet and greet!!

Sockeye is sockeye.

I've never dipnetted the Copper and Kenai on the same years, so I've never been able to do a side by side comparison between the fish, though we have caught and consumed 100's of them over the years. Also where the Copper fish are caught they've been in the river for over a week vs. catching them at the mouth of the Kenai. I do believe with the longer run the Copper fish make that they have a higher oil content and hence are a bit sweeter.

To me it is not so much the river as whether the fish is handled in a premium way: caught, immediately bled, gutted, put in an ice slush and delivered to market within 48 hours while having been kept on ice the whole time then yes I would say it is worth a premium as fresh ocean caught salmon cooked within a few hours to a few days of being caught is a premium product worth the effort or price.

Properly handled and cooked people who aren't even salmon fans seem to have no problems finishing their portions and asking for more. All it needs is a light seasoning and to be cooked until the flesh just firms up.



If you look at where I cut into the fillet on the right hand side you can see the internal flesh hasn't quite turned color but pulling it off at this point it finished firming up by cooking under its contained heat.

I've used sockeye as a substitue for many tuna recipes and find it makes a wonderful sashimi, poke, seared etc.

The at the mouth Kenai river sockeye salmon is one of the prettiest and grand fish you can find anywhere. They are just gorgeous. That said if you place a CR red fillet and a Kenai R red fillet side by side, prepped and cooked the same there is a difference. One is not better just different. I have done this several times to confirm this. Again, both are superb but there is a difference.
Fremont, I will disagree with your assessment. Much like saying beer=beer.

Pete,

So can you tell from the pic if that's a Copper or Kenai sockeye? Not a trick question, I took the pic so long ago I'm not sure.

Nope, sure can't. Differences are more tactile than visual. Has to be side by side as the differences are subtle. Fat quanity and moisture retention mostly.

I disagree, too. There are some sockeyes in some very short systems that are tiny and nowhere close to as rich as a Kenai or Copper red.

All I know is its getting time to be picking some up. But with the goat rope the Kenai has become I'm debating justing going to Seward and getting Coho's in the salt. With the four of us, two days work would yield a years supply.

I'm thinking the reds should be in the Coghill this time of year. Very doable with your boat.