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Love Halibut but it's pricey, any economical substitutes ?

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R

red sled

Fire Starter
Original poster
Dec 26, 2017
53
7
Looking for ideas for our next fish smoking session. We really enjoy Halibut but it's pricey, so is Salmon. Tilapia is good, but we'd like to try some different fish. Since we live in small town Iowa ,USA we have a Wal Mart, HyVee, and Fareway. Costco and the other big stores are 90 minutes away in Des Moines but we do go there occasionally. Any suggestions for good mild fish at a great price ? Is Cod a possibility ? Thanks.

EDIT _ I like salmon but my wife won't eat any strong tasting fish. She likes Halibut, Tilapia, bass, crappie, etc.
 
Last edited:
Second to Salmon, I like cod. I like the flavor of it, but I don't think I've ever smoked it. It has a distinct flavor, so your wife may not like it. Try a small amount. Personally, I have not been real happy with Walmart meat. But that may be a local thing.
I only get Plastic Fish anymore. The flash frozen, individual portions kind.
All the works done.

My last Salmon smoke, I took the Plastic Fish and laid them out on my two racks. When the racks looked full, there was my batch. Thawed them, dry brined them, smoked them, and have about ate all of them. LOL, Some planning, huh?
I've been eating Plastic Meat for a while now.
 
red sled,

When substituting one fish for another I consider 2 main qualities, texture and flavor. I then consider each quality in 3 classifications. With texture, it's delicate, moderate, or firm. With flavor, it's mild, moderate, or full. Using that methodology, I consider halibut a firm and mild fish.

Though I can't think of a fish that would be a direct substitute for halibut, grouper, snapper, walleye, and turbot would be fine alternatives. Also, I wouldn't consider cod a substitute as while it has a mild flavor, the texture is very delicate.
 
Thanks everyone for your input.

SonnyE : Do you have any favorite places you could share for your plastic fish ?
 
Does cod taste good? Yes it does, but nothing like halibut.

Turbot , also a flatfish has some resemblance to halibut taste and texture and is more affordable (at least where i live).

As for worms...assume all fish has them. I once seasoned some halibut to fry. Looked away while getting the pan and other stuff ready....looked back at the fish: worms were coming out of it.
 
Wife and I catch lots of Salmon, Halibut, Rock Cod & Ling Cod. My favorite to eat as a regular meal is Rock Cod. Very burnt out on Salmon unless it is smoked into Salmon jerky or nuggets. Typically all our fish is frozen well in advance before we eat it. This is mainly due to have previously caught fish sitting in the freezer waiting to be consumed.

But as I said above, I like Rock Cod for a regular fish meal. Salmon comes in 2nd, unless I'm making some Salmon chowder.....yumm!
 
I like and sometimes eat cod. Turbot is excellent too. Probably won't find that in Iowa. If you go to Costco they often have farm raised whole rainbow trout. Although opinions vary on farm raised, I find them to be real tasty. You can bread and pan fry, oven bake or smoke them on your smoker.

And although a more lowly selection, there's always catfish. Heck, I still buy 3-4 pounds of the stuff, bread it and deep fry and the kids eat every last bit of it.

Or last resort, get in your car and drive down here to Houston. You can travel to the Gulf and get you a whole load of fish and shrimp to bring back to your freezer !!! We are truly blessed with seafood down here.
 
Thank you for your input.

I just came from Wal Mart. Alaskan Flounder fillets are $4 per pound. Cod is a bit over $4 per pound.

Is Flounder a good fish to smoke ?
 
Flounder i had tasted very good. But if it sells for less than the price for cod it could be sole.

Try it anyway...at $4/lb no one expects a halibut taste :-)
 
red sled said:
Thanks everyone for your input.

SonnyE : Do you have any favorite places you could share for your plastic fish ?
Click to expand...

I've tried Sams Club, and Walmart, but my absolute favorite is from the shore's of our local Costco Freezer Isle.
I'm not real picky, but I like the consistent quality I get there. Good sized portions.
I grabbed an inexpensive bag of frozen Salmon at Walmart to give it a try. I was disappointed that the pieces looking like bait, and had the skin on. I'm not real fond of paying by the pound for hide.
Sam's Club (at least ours) is barely a step above Walmart. And understandable, it's a part of Walmart. Sep you pay to play there. Still, I really like our Sam's Club. And no where near as crowded as our Costco is, it's horrible!
 
SonnyE said:
I've tried Sams Club, and Walmart, but my absolute favorite is from the shore's of our local Costco Freezer Isle.
I'm not real picky, but I like the consistent quality I get there. Good sized portions.
I grabbed an inexpensive bag of frozen Salmon at Walmart to give it a try. I was disappointed that the pieces looking like bait, and had the skin on. I'm not real fond of paying by the pound for hide.
Sam's Club (at least ours) is barely a step above Walmart. And understandable, it's a part of Walmart. Sep you pay to play there. Still, I really like our Sam's Club. And no where near as crowded as our Costco is, it's horrible!
Click to expand...

Thank you SonnyE. I will check out my nearest Costco when I'm in Des Moines (90 minutes away).
 
red sled said:
Thank you SonnyE. I will check out my nearest Costco when I'm in Des Moines (90 minutes away).
Click to expand...

You're very Welcome. Happy to share.
When I lived in Wyoming, we were 60 miles from town. So I empathize with long distance shopping.

Try as I might, Costco's web site cannot display the Kirkland Atlantic Farm Raised Salmon from the freezer section.
It's in a blue bag. Sorry I could not get a link for you.
Happy fishing!
(I think it runs ~$26.xx for a 3 pound bag. Cheaper than $9.98 P/pound fillets, and already packaged and frozen.)
Being frozen, take an ice chest of cold bag. It can keep your milk cool. Win-Win!
 
Thank you SonnyE. We visited Costco in Des Moines yesterday and we were impressed with the selection of fresh and frozen fish, seafood and pork/beef. Found the Atlantic salmon in the blue bag. We'll be making a list and room in the freezer before we go back. :)
 
red sled said:
Looking for ideas for our next fish smoking session. We really enjoy Halibut but it's pricey, so is Salmon. Tilapia is good, but we'd like to try some different fish. Since we live in small town Iowa ,USA we have a Wal Mart, HyVee, and Fareway. Costco and the other big stores are 90 minutes away in Des Moines but we do go there occasionally. Any suggestions for good mild fish at a great price ? Is Cod a possibility ? Thanks.

EDIT _ I like salmon but my wife won't eat any strong tasting fish. She likes Halibut, Tilapia, bass, crappie, etc.
Click to expand...
fish that is highly rated to be good fish to smoke usually have a higher oil and fat content, that being said I would look for fish that have higher oil content.white flesh fish would be more apt to drying out when smoking.
 
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