my law professor swears that the Copper River Salmon is the best there is - i heard they're only in season in May/June. has anyone tried them? how was it prepared?

 

Yes, Copper River Salmon is amazing. The season peaks mid-late may, and catches taper off through June. Perparation would be the same as any salmon, however some consideration should begiven to allowing the salmon flavor itself to dominate. On a lesser fish it wouldn't be tragic (sometimes it would be preferred) if you "overpowered" the fish, but not here (no marinades or rubs!)
The two best ways I know of to prepare such a beast would be cedar-plank grilled, or oven baked.


Cedar Plank Salmon
Cedar planking is extremely simple. Get some food-grade cedar planks from your local bbq shop (99% of cedar shingles in California will have toxic fireproofing chemicals in them and must be avoided), and soak them in water for at least 2 hours.

Debone your salmon filets (pin bones are a pain, but the work now makes the eating much more enjoyable), and cut into pieces to fit on the plans with at least an inch of bare plank each side. I usually cut the filet directly across it's length, ie from the dorsal to the belly of the fish into single serving sized portions. Lightly sprinkle the top with a brown sugar/cracked peppercorn mixture.

Throw the planks on a hot grill, and when they start to smoke put the salmon on them, turn the heat to med-low and cook with the lid down 10-15 minutes. Keep a spray bottle with water nearby to stop the planks from flaming up - when they do just spray it out and keep cooking.

 

Oven baked salmon

Some salmon lovers frown on this method of cooking, as it doesn't add anything to the fish. That's why I like it here though - it is a great way to preserve the incredible flavors of a great piece of salmon.

Place the filet in a corningware baking dish, and cover with a thinly sliced lemon. tightly cover the dish with foil, and place in a pre-heated oven at 350* for 12-15 minutes per inch of thickness. Serve with lemons and tartar sauce or a mixture of yogurt, dill, and cucumber slices (my favorite).

You can do the same thing in a foil 'pocket' as well if you have a bachelor's selection of bakeware.

 

EXCELLENT writeup! thanks!!

 

How about eating it raw. That's the way I like to eat my salmon.

 

Good call, I should have mentioned that buying some of this and not having any sashimi style would be quite the sin in my book

 

How does the flavor of Copper River Salmon compare to Atlantic Salmon? Is it more or less fatty? Where is Copper River?

 

http://www.copperiver.com/main.htm

 

The Copper river flows into Prince William Sound near Cordova AK. It's amazing that salmon make it up river to spawn as the river is formed by the runoff of at least 6 glaciers. The river in May & June looks like class 4 rapids with whirlpools, hydraulic sink holes, standing waves, etc. Because of the glacial melt off, and the silt churned up by the flow, the water is a bright brown. This is amazing to see a river that's about a quarter mile accross churing like this for sure.

Alaska residents are allowed to dipnet in the Copper with a limit of 26 Reds & 4 Kings per person (for $10). Dip-netting is just what it sounds like, you dip a net with a 3 foot diameter into the water and wait for a fish to swim in. And they DO! Last year I limited in 45 minutes! I agree that this isn't very sporting, but if you want fish in your freezer for winter, this the way to do it. It is VERY dangerous though. First you hike down 100 foot cliffs and try to find a place on the rocks that has a decent back eddy for the fish to rest in. Next you tie yourself of to whatever you can find (tree, rocks, etc). If you fall in the water, your dead. The water temp is just above freezing (glacial runoff, duh!) and so full of silt that it would fill your hip waiters up and you sink to the bottom. Oh yeah, nothing like being tied to a tree in the heart of Brown Bear county smelling like fish! Another danger, but not very common is earthquakes. I missed being stranded out there by one day when a rock slide (triggered by an earthquake) blocked the only road back to Chitna. (As a funny aside, DPS flew in MREs instead of beer. Trapped with all the salmon you can eat and a limited supply of beer!).
Finally, after you limit you have to get back up the cliffs with all of you fish (trying to dodge bears too).

Anyway, the fish is very good. The best? I think it's more marketing than quality, then again I'm spoiled in that all the Salmon I eat is fresh. Also, the Salmon run up the Copper all summer, but the above post was correct that the RED salmon "season" is May/June (although I've limited in July on Reds).

I'll dig through some old photos & see if I can find pictures of dip-netting at Chitna.

 

I got lazy, instead of looking for my own pictures I found a page with basically the same info http://www.geocities.com/abaccola/chitna.html

Beware that this page talks about whacking fish on the head (until they stop wiggling) which might be offensive to same tree huggers who think that Ididarod is cruel to dogs (everyone knows a sharp knife between the eye is the technique). BTW, I went to the start of the 30th Ididarod yesterday, excellent weather!