Salmon & Sable

Hi Bart, I am launching on Kickstarter so I will only be preselling my fish there between March 10 and April 10. After that folks can preorder at my site. 1 Share is 10 lbs and that is the smallest amount that can be ordered. Its also the smallest species increment. For instance, you can get one Share (10 lbs) but if you do that the shipping is the most costly per pound and you can only get one species. If you get 2 Shares (20 lbs) you can get 2 species (or 20 lbs of one species) and the cost per pound of shipping drops 57%. At 6 Shares the shipping is free. Although some of the cost of shipping is build in to the per pound cost of the fish. A Share of sockeye is $205 on Kickstarter. There is one reward that is $45 off for 2 Shares of sockeye. The high cost of shipping smaller amounts is why my minimum has always been 20 lbs. This year I am offering 10 lbs. just in case someone really cant handle 20 lbs. On the Kickstarter page you will see the rewards on the right. The price you see there is the price of the reward, the price of the fish listed there. Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform so it's not a store. Although some people treat it that way. When you select a reward, you will see the shipping price in the next window then you can enter a credit card. You're now a backer. If the campaign is successfully funded (which it is as of today) then your card will be charged when the campaign ends (April 10). You will get your seafood on the date specified in the reward (Mid-May for all orders of halibut, sablefish, and snapper) and late September for all mixed orders and salmon. If Kickstarter is an unappealing way to do this you can always preorder through my site after April 10. The only dates to keep in mind are the preorder deadlines: April 15 for halibut, sablefish, and snapper. June 15 for salmon. Preordering will be slightly different on my site, in that you will assemble your own order in 10 lb per species increments. Because of the way Kickstarter works, it made sense for me to assemble some rewards (mix and match species) I thought people would like. Preordering on my site will allow more freedom but regular prices. On Kickstarter there are some "Early Spawner Species" that are as much as $50 off. I hope this helps. Kickstarter (and crowdfunding in general) is a pretty neat concept. I really like backing projects on Kickstarter and following the journey of folks following their entrepreneurial passions. Here is the link again to my project: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/salmonandsable/salmon-and-sable Traveler Yes, Zac formerly of Cowboy Cafe.

I have used and owned at least 10 vac sealers over the years. Here's what I understand about it: there are two main types--chamber sealers (professional, forces air out) and, what I call, suck sealers (suck the air out, usually consumer). As a general rule the chamber sealers are very expensive, heavy, large, and work really well. Smaller ones are still counter top. I have one that seals 2 10x14 bags at the same time from Italian company Mini Pac and it was $2500. It's an amazing machine, but the price is crazy. But, and here is the main reason for this post, I also have suck-style sealer from a company called Weston. Although it is the suck-style, its a great machine that's beyond consumer, I would call pro-sumer. It's their top of the line machine, whatever it's called. Mostly stainless, most parts are easily replaceable, etc. I have had one for 8 years and it works great. My chamber sealers are way better but the Weston was only $400-ish and the chamber sealers are often thousands. Because I liked them so much, I contacted Weston to see if I could set up a dealership (just to get their stuff at cost). I just use their gear myself and I don't sell / resell it. And here is the best part, the cost price is virtually the same as the Amazon price, and with the free shipping from Amazon, its actually cheaper to buy from Amazon that wholesale from Weston. Not sure how that happened... That's my 2 cents. Traveler

Hi guys, this is Traveler of Cold Country Salmon. I'm very flattered by some of the comments here. Thanks! It makes all the difference when you know all the work is appreciated. As you have probably noticed, my logo and business name aren't Cold Country Salmon anymore. This is my new business Salmon & Sable. Here's the story. I'm in the process of selling Cold Country Salmon to Zac Culbertson right now. He will own the business name and do the farmers markets. The part of the business that presold Shares of the catch and shipped them to your door has remained with me, as have customers and their personal info. Develop a relationship with Zac if you'd like to shop at the local markets, or if you like the fish I catch and fillet shipped to your door, then check out my new business Salmon & Sable. As it happens, I just launched my new business today on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. I launched here to get some new exposure and also to raise money for my new fillet space at my remote fishing site in Western Alaska. Between today and April 10, my Kickstarter page will be the only place to preorder: "Salmon & Sable: Alaskan Seafood Shares" by Traveler Terpening on kickstarter.com After April 10, folks can preorder like they always have, but at my new site: www.salmonandsable.com. But, If you'd like to preorder a Share of my catch this season, Kickstarter is the way to do it since there are some solid discounts on a few limited quantity seafood Shares. A big part of me branching off is that I wanted to focus entirely on preselling Shares of my catch. I also wanted to really get serious about closing the loop between net and plate. For me that means I catch it, I fillet it, I send it to you. End of story, no BS. Lots of folks claim to be doing this, few actually are. My kickstarter campaign in part is about raising money for my new fillet facility at my remote fishing site in Western, Alaska. Another key element of my new business is 100% transparency. I want anyone who is interested to be able to learn everything they want to about how their seafood gets to them. In that spirit, one of my Kickstarter rewards is the opportunity to visit my remote fishing site this summer to live in my cabin on the beach and learn to fish and fillet, then head home with a 25 lb. box of salmon you helped catch and fillet yourself. I'm doing some new things this year in regard to folks preordering Shares. The easiest way to learn about it is to visit my Kickstarter page and watch the video. Enjoy. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/salmonandsable/salmon-and-sable Traveler Salmon & Sable www.salmonandsable.com 907.299.1119

Hi guys. Sorry I didn't get to this earlier. Remind me to post something on freezing and "fresh-frozen." The higher fat (good for you fat!) a fish is, the better it freezes and the longer it last in the freezer. It will also thaw quickly. Sablefish is just about as fatty and rich as it gets so it freezes very fast and has a very long freezer life, as long as the vaccum bag is in tact. Some of us in Alaska are getting the fish from the water to the freezer so fast, that the quality is the same as fresh for 6-8 months. In a blind taste test I would stand by this every time. We are also handling them like princesses so there is really nothing better. Not all Alaskan seafood is done like this. I call my salmon and sablefish "beyond sushi grade." This sablefish was caught this last week and is lovely. It wil last in your freezer (as long as you take care of it and dont break any of the vacuum bags) for 8-10 months in prime condition. Sablefish has a particularly amazingly long prime freezer life. Salmon is a little shorter. Generally speaking, in Alaska we fish all summer, fill our freezer then try to eat it all before the following summer rolls around and new fish are caught. This is also about the life of the fish generally. Works out very well indeed. I just put on a salmon bake and party for a crossfit gym in Alexandria and we served sockeye salmon from last summer. It looked amazing and tasted incredible. People we're blown away and a small group of us ate 20 something lbs that night! If you were to preorder salmon from us (that we catch this summer and deliver to you at the end of August), it would last in your freezer in prime condition until the following spring/early summer. Hope this helps. I will try to post something on freezing, thawing and the rest of it here soon. I just talked to some very knowledgeable people and I have some ideas to share. Traveler

We found a little extra time so we have extended the sablefish order 1 day. Instead of June 4th, its now June 5th at midnight. Thanks for the orders everyone! Can't wait to meet you at the pickup! http://coldcountrysalmon.com/june-2013-sablefish-order Traveler

Hi, Yes, the official deadline was yesterday. I don't leave for Alaska until June 17th though so I would be happy to take order from DR until then. After that I am unplugged and neck deep in work and salmon!

**A note on the health benefits of salmon** This is just something interesting about salmon most people don't know, or haven't thought about. All wild Alaskan salmon are incredibly good for you. But, there are 5 species of wild salmon in Alaska and they all look different, return to the river to spawn at different times of the summer, eat different things and some live longer than others. This means that when the FDA or the Whole Foods guy in raingear says "wild Alaskan salmon is good for you," although they are right, this is only half the story and half the information. In my humble opinion, king/chinook salmon and sockeye salmon are the very best for you. Here's why: Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) – Sockeye salmon have naturally bright red firm flesh with a strong, wonderfully wild salmon flavor. They are second in healthy fats only to king salmon. In my opinion sockeye salmon are the healthiest fish to eat, even amongst the salmon species. The reason is that sockeye are the only salmon to eat almost exclusively plankton, specifically zooplankton. As you may know, plankton are the bottom of the food chain which makes them virtually incapable of bioaccumulating anything harmful into their tiny bodies. When a sockeye salmon eats plankton, it is not bioaccumulating any harmful toxins in the environment into its body. Additionally, sockeye salmon, like all salmon, are short-lived (3-6 years), which means they simply are not alive long enough to accumulate anything harmful into their bodies. This means that when you eat one, you, as the final step in this particular food chain, are also not bioaccumulating, which is very good for you indeed. Sockeye salmon are only caught during the summer months (mostly June and July) so if you see someone advertising "fresh, never frozen wild Alaska sockeye salmon" in November, well then you have something to call them out on. What we have found is that if salmon is treated right, filleted and blast frozen (frozen very quickly) right out of the water, it tastes all but fresh for 6-10 months in the freezer. Chinook/King Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) – King salmon are the largest of the salmon and they are also the fattiest (good for you fats!).They also have a mild salmon flavor, making them popular with salmon aficionados and salmon newcomers alike. Wild king salmon have the distinction of being the only salmon (with rare exceptions) that is sometimes caught in very small quantities during the winter. Although 99% or more of the years catch in Alaska comes from the summer months, a few are caught commercially by rod and reel near the coast. These are called "troll-caught kings" or "winter kings," and they usually fetch a very high price because of their scarcity and because they are the only fresh salmon available during the winter. But, as I mentioned, high fat fish like salmon freeze very well (probably better than almost any other fish) and king salmon are the fattiest. This means a well-done fresh-frozen piece of king salmon is to die for.

Don and friends, I would be happy to offer a special/lower rate for DR members and lower it further the larger the order. For perspective on the volume/size, one "share" of sockeye salmon (22 lbs., which is the minimum order) will feed a couple who eat salmon once per week for 5.5 months (22 weeks). You will get your salmon at the end of August, which means your salmon will be gone as early as Christmas or New Year. I only mention it because folks often think 22 lbs is some staggering amount that won't fit in their car, when really its little larger than a large briefcase. A family of 4 or 5 would probably eat their salmon before Halloween. So, one full share (or more) for a couple or family is a great place to start. There are three types of "shares" we offer: >>"Fillet shares" – 22 lbs of fresh-frozen, individually vac bagged fillets (the full fillet), 1-2 lbs ea., usually 1.5lb ea. These feed 3-5 people each. Pin bone in. >>Portion shares" – 22 lbs of fresh-frozen, individually vac bagged portions (1/2 of a whole fillet), 3/4-1 lbs ea. These feed 2 people each. Pin bone in. >>"Boneless portion shares" – 22 lbs of fresh-frozen, individually vac bagged portions (portion of a whole fillet), 3/4 lb ea. These feed 1-2 people each. Pin bone out. **A note on pin-bone-in vs. pin-bone-out** Pin-bone-in salmon is generally a higher quality food. Because we are trying to produce "beyond sushi grade" salmon only, we are now encouraging folks to order pin-bone-in. However, we do still offer boneless portions for those who just can't tollerate bones. The reason pin-bone-in salmon is better in this case is this: If I catch a wild salmon and bring it into the boat flopping, fillet it and try to pull the pin bones, I can't. It's virtually impossible; it doesn't matter if your a master sushi chef. If you want those pin bones out before you vac bag and blast freeze that fillet, you have to leave the salmon whole and let it sit in slush ice for 2-3 days. Only then can you fillet and pull the pin bones. This is still an amazing quality of salmon, but, if you want the very best, you need to leave the pin bones in. This is not to say that when you thaw your fillet, you can't pull the pin bones then. You can and this works splendidly and only takes a minutes. Salmon pin bones are nothing to be afraid of either, Alaskans eat around them and if you swallow them all you'll be fine. These are not the super-boney white fish of your childhood. Pin bones are a small price to pay for the very best salmon you have ever had.

This is Traveler Terpening of Cold Country Salmon here in D.C. Summer has rolled around again and we're heading back to Alaska to fish for the summer. We're excited! (partly because it's getting really hot here and we want to go north!) Don Rockwell asked me to get involved with the forum so here I am, hoping to lend a hand with anything related to Alaskan seafood (specifically salmon). We have amassed quite a collection of Alaskan seafood recipes (mostly salmon) on our website. We set this up so it can be searched very easily. It's not just for our customers but for anyone who loves Alaskan seafood. For instance, if you want to cook some salmon but only have a stove and no outdoor grill, you can search for recipes that use an oven. Conversely, if you have a specific species of salmon, king salmon say, you can find recipes for that specific species (a lot of folks don't know we have 5 species of wild salmon in Alaska--each look and taste different). This database will continue to grow and also to become more technologically sophisticated as time goes on. You can find that here: http://coldcountrysalmon.com/blog-archive Our recipes page also has some good ones: http://coldcountrysalmon.com/recipes This is also the season when our customer preorder their share of this coming summer's catch. We have refined our process and are turning out some of the best salmon in Alaska. If you love salmon, preordering is a great way to do it--get it from the fisherman (me), get it cheaper than normal (minimum order) and get it right out of the water as soon as we get back from the fishing season. You can preorder sockeye salmon, king salmon, hot and cold smoked sockeye salmon, and sablefish. You can order online at our website or you can download the order sheet and mail or email it back to us. We take a 50% deposit up front and the balance when you pickup your salmon. Pickup is the last week of August, 2013 in the rear parking area of The Local Market on Broad St. in Falls Church, VA. You can see all the details here: http://coldcountrysalmon.com/buy-fish While the above "preorder" is for this summer and your salmon will be in the last week in August, we are also doing a "mini preorder" right now as a final farewell and to help folks stock their freezer one last time before we leave. This is for sablefish, which, if you haven't heard of it, is pure butter (with a tail). It truly is the most amazing white fish you have every had. Essentially all of the world's supply is caught in Alaska and Japan buys 95% of it--hence almost no one knowing what it is. What it is, is better than any other whitefish (including things like halibut and Chilean seabass), and, unlike the later, sablefish is sustainably caught. Sablefish is the only thing I sell that I dont catch myself, this is caught by a dear friend of mine in Southeast Alaska and it was caught this last week (the season is March - Nov). If you would like to partake, you can order and pay online before June 4th, 2013 at midnight and you will be able to pick up your sablefish Sat., June 8th in the rear lot of The Local Market from 8am-12pm or on Sun., June 9th at the Palisades Farmers Market from 9am-1pm. Order & pay here: http://coldcountrysalmon.com/june-2013-sablefish-order We are headed north to fish soon, so we will be offline for the summer. But when we return we hope to be more involved than we have been with this wonderful online community of food. Enjoy Traveler Terpening

This is Traveler of Cold Country Salmon. I am a commercial fisherman from Alaska. I fish for salmon in Alaska and direct market them here in the Northern Virginia and DC areas. I would like to connect with a local chef who is passionate about wild and sustainable seafood. I would like to put on presentations with a professional chef at a local restaurant or other venue involving demonstrations from myself, the fisherman (filleting, info about fishing and sustainability, etc), and a demonstration on how to prep and cook the salmon to perfection from the chef. This is just one idea and I would be delighted to discuss others for promoting our businesses, wild and sustainable seafood and great food in general. -- Traveler Terpening Cold Country Salmon www.coldcountrysalmon.com info@coldcountrysalmon.com 907.299.1119

I was thrilled to be invited to the picnic and I wanted to thank everyone for making me feel welcome, for your kind words, your attention during my talk, and, most importantly, for the wonderful food you shared with me! For me, great food becomes so much better with great community and I am so excited to be joining your wonderful community of food. I was only sorry my wife couldn't make it to the picnic. My wife and I are putting together an idea for the Christmas season––"Give the gift of Salmon." I would be interested to know what you all thought. The idea is this: someone could purchase a share (22 lbs) or half share (11 lbs) of red/sockeye or king/chinook salmon (we still have plenty of each) then we will either deliver or mail the salmon to whomever they would like with a card. The recipient would receive it attractively boxed as a gift with a card. I have talked to a number of folks who are thinking about an alternative meal this Christmas and I think a salmon fillet might just be the thing. Please keep in touch everyone.

Nicole and I just finished a smoked salmon class in Atlanta, GA that went very well and we are getting really excited about this weekend's class in Arlington, VA! Please join us at Quincy Park in N. Arlington, VA. at 3pm for a smoked salmon class/demonstration and potluck dinner. Please bring your favorite dessert, side dish, salad or drink. We will supply the grilled salmon prepared a number of different ways! This event will be free but we may have a donation jar to cover expenses. Nicole and I see this little event as an opportunity to show our appreciation to our customers and to speak with them further but also to have the opportunity to meet new customers and friends. So, please bring friends and other salmon and fine food lovers. While I hope to keep things casual, here is how I envision the afternoon progressing: -About 3:30pm we will start the smoked salmon demo. This first part of the class will be short and will simply cover the prep--how to brine and spice the salmon as well as how to operate a smoker and a little about the different wood types. -About 4:30pm we will put the salmon in the smoker and move on to an early dinner. -Hopefully the salmon will be ready to take out of the smoker about 5:30-6pm, about the time we are all stuffed from dinner. -We will take the salmon out of the smoker and folks can either sample it on the spot or take it home to taste later. In this class you will learn my own tried and true and extremely simple and quick recipe for making your own smoked salmon at home. In other news, I am now a retailer of Smokin' Tex smokers so if anyone is interested in getting their own smoker, I will be happy to show you how to make your own free smoker from a cardboard box or you can place and order for a Smokin' Tex smoker from me there at the class. Here is a google map showing precisely where to meet on Sat. Oct. 15th. This is the north side of Quincy Park in North Arlignton, VA. http://maps.google.com/maps?msid=218137836524240271071.0004aee02254c675f64e0&msa=0&ll=38.885444,-77.106145&spn=0.001418,0.002824&t=f&z=19&vpsrc=6&ecpose=38.88500144,-77.10614473,273.46,0.006,14.387,0 PLEASE RSVP VIA EMAIL WITH THE DISH YOU WOULD LIKE TO BRING AND HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL BE IN YOUR PARTY. Space will be limited to about 30. See you there!

We are thrilled to be attending this year––our first year at this event! We hope to put on a smoked salmon clinic at this year's picnic. Just a short talk on how to prep then smoke wild Alaskan salmon. We will bring salmon for BBQ and for smoking. See you all soon,

Hello all, Right after I discovered this forum this last spring, I left for Alaska to fish all summer. I had time for a few short posts before leaving. It was wonderful to meet many of you and your advise and ideas, in many cases, proved very helpful to our new business selling our salmon here in the DC and NoVA areas. So, thank you. I thought I would write in again to mention that our salmon is en route now and our first pick up will be Sep. 16th, 17th, 18th. We are still deciding on the exact location but it will be somewhere in N. Arlington. In addition to selling full shares (about 22 pounds) we are also offering half shares of 10 or 11 pounds. We are also thrilled to have king/chinook salmon in addition to sockeye/red salmon. While our preorder prices are no longer available, when the middle of the month rolls around we will be able to deliver salmon immediately--no more waiting. If you would like to purchase salmon you can call, email or fill out the order form and mail it in. Salmon will be available for pickup the following week at a N. Arlington location. In some cases I can also deliver it myself. Additionally, as mentioned in a previous post, I will be putting on classes on how to smoke salmon. I am still working out the details but these will be relaxed affairs in local parks. We may even have a BBQ with grilled salmon too. I want these classes to be a lot of fun and casual where we can get together and learn how to prepare, smoke and serve salmon. These classes will be free or donation and will start in the last two weeks of Sep and run a few times a month through the fall and winter.

I will be offering one or more free classes on how to smoke wild Alaska Salmon this fall and winter in the DC and NoVa areas. These classes will show participants how to prepare, smoke then vacuum seal and freeze their own salmon. This is something I have done with my family in Alaska since I was a boy and I am really excited to share my technique with folks in my new winter home of North Arlington, VA. Nothing excites me more than procuring my own food then eating it fresh or putting it up for the winter. Learning to smoke, vacuum seal and freeze fish is a lot of fun and a valuable skill. Its very rewarding to present smoked salmon at a party that you smoked yourself! For those of you who don't know my wife and I, we are Traveler Terpening and Nicole Ziegler. We are commercial fishermen from Alaska who fish for salmon in remote Western Alaska--on the Ugashik River to be specific. Although I have been a commercial fisherman since I was a boy, we only just started direct marketing our salmon to the public this summer. Our business is called Cold Country Salmon. We will be back from our fishing season toward the end of August and the first salmon smoking class will be held in the first week of September. Other classes will follow and will be posted to my website blog, Twitter and Facebook. Participants do not need to bring anything other than a smile and maybe a notebook to take notes in. I will provide all materials including wild Alaskan salmon, a smoker, a vacuum sealer, etc. I will also provide a printed handout detailing the process. Additionally, each participant will be able to sample my own smoked salmon. As I do not have a retail space for my business, I am currently looking for a suitable venue for this class. While I have a number of locations in mind, I would like to hear from folks if they have just the right place in mind. I am open to presenting this class for a private group at someone's house as well. As these classes are free to anyone, I would like to keep the class size small (10 or less participants per class) and the atmosphere fun and casual. If you are interested in attending this class or have any ideas about a venue, I would very much like to hear from you! Until the end of August, email is the best way to reach me.