Costco smoked salmon
Costco smoked salmon
-
-
-
-
-
Costco smoked salmon
-
Post #1 - May 14th, 2009, 3:06 pmI love this stuff (Norwegian smoked salmon) but I'm always bewildered by the advice on the back to "use within 4 days of opening".
I thought smoking would preserve the fish?
Or is this an admission that it's not "properly" smoked?
-
-
Post #2 - May 14th, 2009, 3:31 pmCostco's recommendation is in line with Colorado State University's food safety guidelines for "cold-smoked salmon".
As I searched around, I saw phrases like "lightly cured", "lightly smoked", and "cold-smoked" in reference to salmon, which makes me think that it's possible that salmon isn't necessarily smoked for preservation purposes, but because it's delicious.
FYI, CSU and a bunch of other sites all state that smoked salmon can be frozen for up to a month. So that's always an option: carve the giant Costco filet into smaller 4-day chunks, and freeze the rest. I'm not sure what freezing & thawing might do to it, texture-wise, however.
-
-
Post #3 - May 14th, 2009, 6:53 pmHas anyone tried the smoked salmon 'variety pack'? It looked tempting at the Clybourn location last week.
Jen
-
-
-
Post #4 - May 14th, 2009, 8:46 pmJenM wrote:Has anyone tried the smoked salmon 'variety pack'? It looked tempting at the Clybourn location last week.
My better half thinks that you should pass. And she loooooooves smoked salmon.
--RichI don't know what you think about dinner, but there must be a relation between the breakfast and the happiness. --Cemal Süreyya
-
-
-
Post #5 - May 14th, 2009, 10:27 pmBTW I have frozen the smoked salmon from Costco. It's gets watery when thawed and the liquid has an orange tint to it. Flavor wise it's not that great. Fishy-er and mushy, 2 words I would use to describe it...
Oh, and yes I use a vacuum sealer
-
-
Post #6 - May 15th, 2009, 8:13 amRAB wrote:JenM wrote:Has anyone tried the smoked salmon 'variety pack'? It looked tempting at the Clybourn location last week.
My better half thinks that you should pass. And she loooooooves smoked salmon.
--Rich
Thanks for the warning! Tell your better 0.5 that her sacrifice saved us! Too dry and salty, blech.
Jen
-
-
Post #7 - May 15th, 2009, 5:10 pmKhaopaat wrote:it's possible that salmon isn't necessarily smoked for preservation purposes, but because it's delicious
fair point, hadn't thought of that
-
-
-
Post #8 - May 15th, 2009, 7:41 pmtropics wrote:Khaopaat wrote:it's possible that salmon isn't necessarily smoked for preservation purposes, but because it's delicious
fair point, hadn't thought of that
Exactly. Cold smoke is akin to a condiment. It has only some minor preserving properties. The salt-intensive curing process applied before the cold smoke probably preserves the fish better than the smoke. But still, with a piece of fresh fish, there's only so long these manipulations will add to the shelf life.
And of course, the labelling also answers to a prospective liability issue. The fish may very well last longer than 4 days after opening but Costco probably doesn't want to recommend anything longer, just in case. The recommendation on the package probably reflects the worst-case outcome in their shelf-life studies, which is why it's used.
=R=By protecting others, you save yourself. If you only think of yourself, you'll only destroy yourself. --Kambei Shimada
Every human interaction is an opportunity for disappointment --RS
There's a horse loose in a hospital --JM
That don't impress me much --Shania Twain
-
-
-
Post #9 - July 6th, 2009, 8:20 amI have frozen the Costco smoked salmon with success many times - NOT vacuum sealed, just in standard zipped freezer bags, with as much air squeezed out as possible. I also make and freeze gravlax, again, with no noticeable loss of taste or texture - and with both the Costco smoked salmon and my own gravlax, I've done taste tests with "fresh" and frozen. Maybe I'm insensitive, but I do notice significant differences.
Bob
-
-
Post #10 - July 6th, 2009, 1:12 pmThe Costco salmon ships frozen to the stores so thawing and re-freezing isn't necessarily going to give you a good result.
-
-
Post #11 - July 6th, 2009, 2:15 pmI understand that it ships frozen and is then thawed. Most fish and seafood in this country, unless local, is frozen, hopefully on the ship. All I can report is that (re)freezing Costco salmon or homemade gravlax has not resulted in deteriorated product.
-
-
Post #12 - July 6th, 2009, 5:25 pmbsnprf wrote:I've done taste tests with "fresh" and frozen ... I do notice significant differences.bsnprf wrote:All I can report is that (re)freezing Costco salmon or homemade gravlax has not resulted in deteriorated product.
In both cases, emphasis mine.
I'm (easily) confused ...
-
-
Post #13 - July 7th, 2009, 10:50 amnr706 wrote:bsnprf wrote:I've done taste tests with "fresh" and frozen ... I do notice significant differences.bsnprf wrote:All I can report is that (re)freezing Costco salmon or homemade gravlax has not resulted in deteriorated product.
In both cases, emphasis mine.
I'm (easily) confused ...
The first quote, with the ellipsis removed from the sentence reads:Maybe I'm insensitive, but I do notice significant differences.
The "Maybe I'm insensitive" context implies that there is a "not" missing and that the quote should read "I do not notice significant differences."
Just my interpretation...
Jen
