Calling All Salmon Fishermen

[BigSmoker]

I was considering ordering some fresh Alaskan salmon(fresh flash frozen on the boat) from a company(I will leave them nameless until we see how they preform).  They have many different types of salmon so I need to know who thinks what is best.

Choices are...

1.  Yukon King Salmon
2.  Kalgin Island King Salmon
3.  Alaskan King Salmon
4.  Alaska Sockeye Salmon
5.  Alaska Silver Salmon

[iceman]

Depends on what you plan to do with it BigSmoker.
Kummok is the expert on all of it IMO.
I like it all but prepare and smoke it different ways depending on what fish it is.

[BigSmoker]

Good Question ;D.  I plan on smoking some of it and grilling the rest.

[Kummok]

ThanX for the plug, Ice, but you and several others are also on top off things "salmonly"!

Echoing Ice, "it depends" Big Smoker.....for me, on two things; what you're using it for AND what are your personal tastes and realistically, just how picky are your taste buds. NONE of the choices are anything at which to turn up you nose! :)

The choices you've given are categorized by species....King, Red, and Silver, with the Kings being subdivided by region from which they were harvested. Kalgin Island is a neat island in the Cook Inlet (close to me) and the salmon were probably caught by set-netters. The "Yukon" are likely harvested from the Yukon River, also by set netters. Some differences in how set netters catch and care for the fish v.s. a commercial boat, but both folks know how important it is to treat their product properly, so I would be too hung up on which group caught the fish IF you don't know either one on a personal basis. What they DON'T usually say on the packaging is whether or not they were "feeder" or "spawner", which in my own opinion is even more important.

I'd suggest a visit to the other "salmon" threads on the Fish category for more in-depth discussion on the "ranking order" of salmon. However, in a nutshell, my own personal preference for salmon, (smoking, grilling, blackening....the ONLY ways I eat it anymore, although the uses for the meat, e.g. salads, sandwiches, toppings, etc, all extend from ONLY these three means of cooking) is as follows:

Feeder King
Spawner Red
Spawner Silver
Spawner Pink

That's JUST the preference, but it is based upon what I'm catching. 99.9% of my salmon usage is feeder King, but that's only because I can get it so readily. I do the occasional Silver when I take my grandkids fishing or need to catch a quickie for a smoking class. I haven't dipped down to Pinks in over 30 years, but it is still a salmon that can be prepared to be delicious....waaaaaay better than a farmed Atlantic.

Given your list of choices, and just guessing that they are ALL spawners (the easiest catch for commercial Alaska fishery), I'd rank them with the first three King choices in top place, then the Sockeye, then Silver. And that would be for smoking or other cooking. It's important to know that, given the above ranking, I personally rank the oily salmon the highest....if it ain't dripping, it ain't being served! ;) I'm guessing that the cost order is Reds, then King, then Silver....that's the usual marketing hype. If the costs are considerably different, I'd feel safe going with the least expensive and being very happy because all the choices are "wild" and all good!

[iceman]

That pretty much sums it up Kummok except for one thing. WHAT"S FOR SUPPER? ;D :D ;) Thanks so much for the great explination.

[Kummok]

That pretty much sums it up Kummok except for one thing. WHAT"S FOR SUPPER? ;D :D ;) .....

Believe it or not, LEFTOVER halibut pasta! A quickie/already prepared meal as I have to leave the house early tonight to go work on a sound system...."almost" as good leftover as it is fresh! ;) Working on the garage/shop during the day so's I kin get my Bradleys installed and fired up for a BIG smoke!

[BigSmoker]

Thanks guys I have e-mailed them with lots of questions about their salmon ;D.

[Glassguy]

Bigsmoker,
The first 3 (1,2,3) are all chinook salmon, <no difference in any of them...just a fishermans own terminaology>, great for smoking, canning and bbq, largest of the bunch range to 70. 80 lbs average around 20-40 tho., #4--sockeye, smaller and great smoking fish!!! primarily what the native communities as well use for smoking fish. #5--is a coho--great fish can be smoked but better for cooking and bbq. Good canned but not sure I would use it for smoking--kind of the "prized salmon for food" if I said that right.

Hope that answers your question--

[tsquared]

#5--is a coho--great fish can be smoked but better for cooking and bbq. Good canned but not sure I would use it for smoking--kind of the "prized salmon for food" if I said that right.

Agree with all that Glassguy said except that I have used larger coho (silvers) for smoking, say from 14-20 lbs. They aren't quite as nice as chinook (there ain't no nooky like chinooky 8)) or sockeye, but they are perfectly acceptable to smoke and I've had excellent results many times.
T2

[asa]

For those of us in the lower 48, what about just getting some of those slabs that are sold by eg., Costco, as "Alaskan salmon?" They look the part, much darker than typical Atlantic salmon. Any experience in hot or cold smoking any of those? Our local Whole Foods market also has different varieties of Alaskan salmon on sale from time to time so I may try some of that now that the ambient temps are dropping here in NC. But the Costco packs are very nicely priced and very attractive from that point of view.

Looking forward to trying something new soon in the way of salmon.

asa

[Kummok]

What T2 said.......my most popular salmon that I give away to "occasional munchers" is the Silver. I think that they like the dryer meat and lack the "taste maturity" required for the oil-dripping-down-to-your-elbow feeder King.  Interestingly, I had an old commercial fisherman tell me that he couldn't stand smoked red.....later that day, I offered him some of the smoked salmon that I brough along on our fishing excursion....he LOVED it and asked for more. When I told him that it was red, he wanted the recipe/smoking method and became a smokin' hero to his friends/family who though he couldn't smoke fish  ;) THAT'S the kind of turnaround I love to see!

asa:
You already know the hype associated with deceptive marketing and labeling on many things....same applies to salmon. If you make certain that it says "Wild Alaskan Salmon", it's a pretty good bet that it ain't some "Alaskan salmon" species farmed in Thailand....see other "Fish" threads discussing this packaging/labeling issue.....

[asa]

Thanks Kummock. Your post has caused me to review some of the previous threads, and your legendary recipe, about which I have 2 questions. 1) by "pickling salt" I assume you mean fine grain pure salt without preservatives as used for pickles, NOT curing salt. and 2) your smoking time ranges from 4-8 hours; are you smoking the entire time or do you limit the smoke application to the first 2 or 4 (or something else) hours?
Thanks in advance for the clarifications.
Art

[Kummok]

Pickling salt is the stuff that says "Pickling & Canning Salt" on the label....Morton makes it and it is indeed a fine grain salt with nothing else added. Curing salt, in my own experience, has adjuvents.

As regards the smoking time, I originally used the Bradley recommended smoke times, but over the years, I've reduced the smoking time to around 4 hours, depending upon the moisture/oil content of the fish, a little longer for oilier fish. During the whole time it is full tilt boogey on the smoke.

Anxious to hear how it comes out!

[asa]

Thanks Kummock. I'll give it a try soon.