Wild vs Farm raised salmon


 
P

Paul K

TVWBB Guru
I'm going to be grilling some salmon next week. What's your preference between wild and farm raised salmon? What is the diffence in flavor? Thanks in advance

Paul
 
As this is not a recipe, please post messages like this in the Barbecuing Forum. Moving it there now.

Thanks!
Chris
 
Paul
farmed raised salmon does not have the color or flavor of wild salmon. It's also recommended that you eat much less farmed raised because of the polution level found in it. The pens have to be kept in areas where the current doesn't move much to help keep the them together. That leads to higher polution levels in the fish.
Wild is always the way to go if you can get it.
Jim
 
The other problem is the fishmeal feed than farmed salmon are given. Much fishmeal contains high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Depending on whose study you read, farmed salmon contain between 10 and 16 times the amount of PCBs found in wild salmon. Furthermore, farmed salmon is fattier and PCBs are mostly stored in fat. These issues, in combination with the constraints of the farm systems that Jim notes, makes wild salmon better. Also, because of the varied diet of wild salmon and, imo, because of the natural 'exercise' living entails for them, their flavors are brighter and more nuanced. Farmed salmon flavors, to me, are more one-note and somewhat flat.
 
Paul.

If you want to really taste the difference, cook a piece of farm raised and a piece of wild salmon the same way on the same day. You will definitely tell a difference as Kevin and Steve have noted.

IMO it is not healthy to eat the farm raised salmon.

Ray
 
Thanks for the replies. I have some friends coming in early next week that just love salmon. If I can't find the wild, I'll go to plan B; the pork loin thread looked interesting!
 
Well the salmon comparison is over. I took Ray's advice and picked up a pound of farm raised last night to go with the 2 lbs of wild. Everyone chose the wild over the farm raised, which wasn't bad, but no comparison to the wild Coho. A good thing I picked up the farm raised as a last minute thought; while at the counter, my sister spotted fresh gulf shrimp on sale for $5.99/lb! They were a great snack for starters!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Everyone chose the wild over the farm raised </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Paul.

Glad they turned out well. How did you cook them?

Ray
 
Colour is the other difference, wild salmon get it naturally from krill and such, farmed salmon have their colour adjusted by adding carotenoids to their feed, you'll find salmon labelled as organic, farmed salmon that is really pale because they don't add the carotenoids.
Farmed salmon tend to have a bit more fat because they're fed on schedule to grow them fast, and they don't work much to obtain that food.
This parallels the flavour differences between battery chickens and free range.
 
Farm raised crap is how I view it. The animal spends its entire life breathing, eating and living in its own EXCREMENT. To blazes with that *#&$.
 
The Coho from Lake Michigan are pretty good. But the best ever come from the Columbia River near the Dalles Oregon!
 
The Lake Mi salmon I enjoyed a few years back, kings and coho, were immeasurably better than the farmed fish.
What a wonderful time we had fishing the lake.
Ludington was our base. I wonder if that area is still a hot spot?
 
Here in Alaska, you will see bumper stickers that say "Friends don't let friends eat farmed fish."

Griff
 
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