Know your salmon varieties

Finally, having an understanding of the various varieties of salmon that are commercially available will give you a better idea of what you can expect when you do decide to pick up your shopping bag.

King: ” Expect rich, buttery flavor and a price that will cost you more than any other variety. Think of King as the Ferrari of salmon.

Sockeye: Expect flesh with a deep, red color, and don’t worry if the skin is light gray—chances are those varieties are just from extremely cold glacial waters. The best Sockeye are from sources like the Copper River of Alaska, where the salmon have a long “runoff” to travel, as a result, must gorge themselves in advance for fuel, creating fish with plenty of rich, delicious fat.

Coho: They’re widely available and freeze well.One thing to note: If you have access to extremely fresh fish, you’ll want to avoid Coho at the very beginning of the season (the first week of July), since they need a bit more time to bulk up than other varieties.

Pink: Very mild in flavor and very fragile, however , they do not freeze well or age well.” As a result,  retailers rarely sell Pink. Majority of the times you will find plenty of wild Pink sold in cans, and are quite delicious in Salmon Cakes.

Chum: You might see this also labeled as Dogfish or “Keta.” Chum salmon breed at the mouth of the rivers and streams and are lower in fat, making them great candidates for smoking. Typically, though, Chum is harvested for its roe, as they’re meatier and great for grilled and smoke preparations.