Trader Joe’s Seasoned Wild King Salmon On A Cedar Plank Review

I was at Trader Joe’s today for a completely unrelated mission (cheap wine) when I browsed their frozen seafood section. I came across a neat-looking item: king salmon already seasoned on a cedar plank. I was just talking about king salmon with a co-worker of mine who is from Alaska. I don’t recall ever having king salmon and I’m just too cash strapped to buy it online. The wild-caught salmon I usually see here in New England is frozen or previously frozen sockeye and coho. It stood out from the pack and I grabbed it on impulse.

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Good Looking Package With Good Chunk Of Salmon
Packaging and Price

I don’t shop at Trader Joe’s that much but I usually like what I get. However many of their items tend to be on the small side. Their cedar-planked salmon breaks this trend as they come in nice hefty portions over 1 pound, including the plank. They went for 10.99 a pound, which made for a slightly pricey dinner, but no different than if I was grilling up a modest sized steak. A big selling point for me was that it came with a pre-soaked cedar plank that can be cooked in the oven. It can also be cooked from frozen, which I is how I will be doing it. I am very interested in how smokey this will make my house and if the fish will be done using the “cook from frozen” directions.

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Wild-Caught In The Pacific Northwest

The Product

Although the salmon was frozen, you could tell it was a nice looking piece of fish. In my gluttony I got two of them and even before putting them in the oven I figured my mother in law was going to get an unexpected present later. The seasoning as stated on the label was not much more than salt, pepper and thyme.

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Cook It Frozen? Sure Why Not!

 

The Recipe

I am simply following the instructions as listed on the package since the salmon is already seasoned. As instructed I placed the planked fish directly on the oven rack and cooked at 375 for about 40 minutes for frozen. I could have thawed them out, but I’m sort of curious about how it will turn out. While it cooked my house had a faint hint of cedar, but no detectable smoke. In my oven, after 40 minutes the salmon was not even close to being done, but I had a feeling this may happen so I started them earlier than usual. It took another half an hour for the thickest part of my salon to reach 140 F but it was worth the wait.

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Oh…Yeah
The Verdict

This was very good and did not suffer from being cooked from a frozen state. Moist, flavorful, just enough flavor from the thyme and the cedar.The fish was pre-seared, which gave a nice crust just like I did it on the grill. I love that distinctive flavor from wild-caught salmon, the flakes close to the skin remind me of grilled mackerel and always takes me back to my childhood. I’m glad I cooked two of them as one is enough to share, but is better as a mini-feast. I would definitely buy this again, next time I’ll thaw it first and maybe try it right on the grill. So thanks Trader Joe’s for a very pleasant surprise!

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8 comments

  1. I saw this item in Trader Joe’s before but was reluctant to try it. However, after reading your verdict I’ve decided to give it a try. Thanks for the directions and as always thanks for sharing.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I would like to thank you for giving me a like on my wordpress site,Which is hillbillycooking.wordpress.com and my blog was about cooking amazing fish in a Dutch oven, I found your blog very informative. As a beginning blogger I would appreciate any feed back that you could provide on my blogs. Also, I would be willing to volunteer my services with your blogs..

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thanks for the kind words, I’m a new blogger myself and you would like to submit a fish story/recipe for a guest post, please send me an email or use the contact form. Thanks again!

      Like

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