best ways to cook or eat pink salmon

[lawdog]

does anyone have tips on the best ways to eat pink salmon, i know that once they enter fresh water there transformation is pretty rapid. ive never gone after the pinks on purpose and any of them i cought on the puy. i let go. and since this year is going to have a million plus from what i heard i was planning on keeping some while im out there going after the kings or silvers. anyway if someone has some helpful advice i would appreciate it

[jechicdr]

Crab bait.

[50CalJim]

I'm sure the general consensus will be to either smoke them or use them for bait.

[wildmanoutdoors]

Cook them with a nice white wine burblanc sauce, thaw some tenderloins, cook the Stinks, I mean Pinks, Cook the Stinks and BBQ the tenderloins, When the tenderloins are just rare, throw the Stinks out and cover the Tenderloins with the sauce and chow down!

[bowtech721]

I've only kept a few out of the river and smoked them and they ate just fine imo... ill prolly get fried for saying this but I've caught piles of them in the salt and if you clean and ice them immediately they will eat fine cooked just about anyway you would cook any other salmon. That's just my  though

[wapiti hunter2]

Smoke or Canned.  They are good for salmon patties and in caseroles.  They have to be bright though.  Once they even start to change, they are dog food.

[JackOfAllTrades]

Yes, if caught in the salt, Ok for a young one as a BBQ flilet. Otherwise smoke them.  From the river, smoke'm dry as jerky is actually great finger food on a hike.

-Steve

[MtnMuley]

I agree with bowtech. Fresh out of the salt they are fine cooked any way. Theres just so many better eating fish out there that they fall victim as the sh*t salmon.

[Fishnclifff]

If ya catch them in the river, gutem/gillem and bury them in ice.
They stay firmer and taste better.
We usually bbq them and smoke a bunch of them.

[mallard79]

If ya catch them in the river, gutem/gillem and bury them in ice.
They stay firmer and taste better.
We usually bbq them and smoke a bunch of them.

X2 gut them imediately!!!!! And if the have much color or a hump.......dont bother keepin em unless you smoke it or need crab bait. 

[TheHunt]

Smoke them... Keep the hens for the eggs that is it...

[Gobble Doc]

The hump smokes up tasty

[Button Nubbs]

Use them as fertilizer and reap the rewards when your veggies pop up. Either that or nail them to a large weighted board with a bell attached and just listen for the coons to come when they do kill em and grill em. Probably tastes better than the scumpies...

[FC]

If ya catch them in the river, gutem/gillem and bury them in ice.
They stay firmer and taste better.
We usually bbq them and smoke a bunch of them.

If they are chrome bright they are fine cooked/smoked as any other salmon but bleed them immediately and get them in ice. They seem best as patties or off of the BBQ. Stock up on white vinegar to cut the slime off of your counter top and your hands. Skin them before cooking for best results.

[RightPlace-RightTime]

How bout good old fashioned, CATCH AND RELEASE   

[MADMAX]

Smokers

[JackOfAllTrades]

How bout good old fashioned, CATCH AND RELEASE   

Nothing wrong with that!  In years past we'd only keep every other two we landed.

-Steve

[dirty24d]

smoke em with some honey and teriyaki.     yummmmmm!! make good xmas presents too.

[quadrafire]

Fillet them from the bone and skin (cut in to strips or chunks) take 1/2 flour, 1/2 cornmeal, salt/pepper, dip in egg, dredge in the flour mix and fry in peanut or canola oil (or lard if you prefer).
I love fried salmon. And the Pinks I have tried it with were excellent.
I make Fish tacos w/ fried salmon.

[NRA4LIFE]

I'll keep a few of the hen fillets for barbecuing.  All others I smoke and/or can.  Some of the best is where I simply brine them in a fish brine for a half hour or so, rinse them and throw them in the smoker.  Smoke the crap out of them for just an hour or so.  The skin will come right off of them at this point and you can cut or scrape all the gray shmang off of the skin side of the fillets.  Chunk them up and can them then.  Really tasty.

I also fish only in the salt.  I gut immediately and get them on ice.

[jackelope]

These are my simple rules as far as scumpies go...
From the salt they're fine to eat however you like to cook salmon. A little more oily than kings, silvers or sockeyes but still plenty good.
From the river catch and release. They're tons of fun on light tackle or flyfishing gear and they're more than willing to eat flies if they're unmolested by the meathunting crowds. We catch lots of them from my driftboat on the Sky. All you have to do is get away from the crowd.

[dirty24d]

the being a bit more oily part is why they turn out so great in the smoker, because they dont get all dried out.  At least thats what i think... 

[FC]

the being a bit more oily part is why they turn out so great in the smoker, because they dont get all dried out.  At least thats what i think...

The oilier the better for smoking, black cod is about as oily as it gets and for me too much so to eat any other way besides being smoked and it is as good as it gets for smoked fish.

[BallisticsNut]

The key to good salmon is lemon juice.  Clean them good, filet them up right and dry them paper towels.  Soak them in lemon juice for a good thirty minutes prior to grilling.  Use a good cajun spice mix.  Garlic, sea salt, red pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, white pepper, oregano, cumin, bit of basil and then coat lightly with sweet paprika.  Grill on high temp, 3 minutes per side.  Let sit for five minutes then serve!   I prefer to cook with the skin side down for the first three minutes, keeps the juices in.  After removing from the grill, remove the skin promptly then let sit five minutes and serve.

(Small edit) High Temperture does not mean open flame!  Grill should be around 450 degrees and no open flame!

[jeepster]

when i get them in the salt/when they are still chrome-ish, i bleed them till they die, i dont bonk em. hate watchin em bleed out, but, thats the only way to eat em.

the way i cook em, well i fire up an alderwood fire, and use/make a foil pan, put a lil veg oil in it, book the fish(i think some call it butterflying the fish), and ad salt, pepper in = small ammounts, and brown sugar, and garlic powder 2x as much as the s&p, but dont over do it. slice some onions and lemons, and butter. put thin slices of butter all over the fish, and then lay down the onion slices, and squirt lemon juice over it. put on med low heat untill the oil heats up, then cover, and wait till the white goodnes rises from the center. put on the hotter part of the fire for a few minutes, and then take it off the heat and let the fish cook itself. serve with fire roasted corn or yukon gond potatoes and grilled asparagus (brush w dill, 2&p, and olive oil) and a side of caeser salad, and drink something like alaskan amber. the key is to let the meat release its oils, then heat it up, and once hot, let the fish cook itself.

i think of it kinda like the old carpenters saying "its easier to cut off than it is to cut back on".... meaning, if its undercooked, its easier to put it back in the heat till its done.... the key to a good pink salmon dinner is that small window of almost done, to done.... once its done, its almost overdone........

a humpy prepared like that with half a dungeness crab baked in white wine, butter, and parsley/cilantro....

well, it maybe a lowly pink salmon, but we all know that people will pay $60+ a plate for a similar meal in a nice resteraunt just to get some nasty hormone injected atlantic salmon

[jeepster]

make good xmas presents too.

oh yeah id save my pinks from when the extended familly came, and id tell them it was wild pacific salmon i caught myself................... unless they are from washington/oregon/alaska/bc, they wont know any better  

[KNOPHISH]

Try the cedar plank method. Soak a cedar plank in water, season fish with lemon & your favorite spices, put the fish on the plank on your bbq for 15 minutes. Take fish off & eat the plank. 

[lawdog]

wow! just checked all my replies im happy that everyone gave me a little info on how best to eat the pinks, i appreciate you'all taking the time out of your day to give a relitive newbie some help. best of luck to you all this salmon season and god bless

[jackmaster]

the pinks we caught and kept which wasnt often , we would always can them and use it for salmon dip or salmon ball, know one evr knew the differance and that way i didnt use kings or silvers for dips 

[Alchase]

make good xmas presents too.

oh yeah id save my pinks from when the extended familly came, and id tell them it was wild pacific salmon i caught myself................... unless they are from washington/oregon/alaska/bc, they wont know any better

Tell them it's Copper River Salmon, lol