My favorite inexpensive tin, and one of my favorite out of all tins in all price ranges, is [King Oscar’s Mackerel in EVOO Mediterranean Style](https://www.reddit.com/r/CannedSardines/comments/wxj950/ko_mediterranean_mackerel_my_favorite_budget_tin/). I’m not much of a fan of their sardines, but am such an evangelist for their Mediterranean mackerel that I knew I had to give their new salmon offering a try. When I saw it at my neighborhood Walmart yesterday, it went in the cart immediately. Because I’m already so familiar with the mackerel version, this review will mostly be a comparison/contrast between the two tins. We’ll start by considering the fish itself. The salmon is farmed and the mackerel is wild, which isn’t really super important to me (though there are some worries about acquacultural practices associated with some salmon farms). The bigger and more important difference is the macro-nutrient composition of the fish. For an 80g drained serving, the salmon packs in 170 calories, 11g total fat, and 18g protein. The mackerel has 220 calories, 18g total fat, and 15g protein. The mackerel is roughly 64% higher in fat than the salmon, and it has a whopping 3g of Omega 3 compared to the 480mg of the salmon. Numbers are boring. But what they mean for the eating experience is that the leaner salmon is more dry and firm than the lusciously textured mackerel. That may not make a big difference if you’re going to toss the salmon through with pasta, for example. But when eating it straight up with chopsticks or on a cracker, the mackerel has a more enjoyable texture. Another issue impacting the texture of the salmon was the number of pieces packed into the can. The mackerel typically contains two or three large-ish pieces of fish while this tin of salmon had a bunch of different bits of widely varying size and shape. Compare this to, say, Trader Joe’s smoked salmon (which comes in at a similar price point) and you’ll see that the KO has some room for improvement. TJ’s tinned salmon usually comes in one large, beautiful piece. The KO salmon looks more like random pieces from the chum bucket. Looks have never been the selling point of the KO Med Mack. It’s mostly about that delicious, delicious flavor. I’m happy to report that the KO Mediterranean salmon hits just the same. If you want that olive-y, herby, vaguely bell-peppery goodness, this tin delivers. It just delivers it with a firmer, dryer fish than you’ll find in the mackerel. Again, that may work well for an application where you want the fish to hold up while you toss it through other ingredients (like salad or pasta). And the fact that it’s salmon might make it more appealing to normies who aren’t used to chowing down on tinned fish. But I think the mackerel takes the win on account of its exquisite texture, larger pieces, and the freakshow amount of Omega 3 it brings to the party. YMMV.
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My favorite inexpensive tin, and one of my favorite out of all tins in all price ranges, is [King Oscar’s Mackerel in EVOO Mediterranean Style](https://www.reddit.com/r/CannedSardines/comments/wxj950/ko_mediterranean_mackerel_my_favorite_budget_tin/). I’m not much of a fan of their sardines, but am such an evangelist for their Mediterranean mackerel that I knew I had to give their new salmon offering a try. When I saw it at my neighborhood Walmart yesterday, it went in the cart immediately. Because I’m already so familiar with the mackerel version, this review will mostly be a comparison/contrast between the two tins.
We’ll start by considering the fish itself. The salmon is farmed and the mackerel is wild, which isn’t really super important to me (though there are some worries about acquacultural practices associated with some salmon farms). The bigger and more important difference is the macro-nutrient composition of the fish. For an 80g drained serving, the salmon packs in 170 calories, 11g total fat, and 18g protein. The mackerel has 220 calories, 18g total fat, and 15g protein. The mackerel is roughly 64% higher in fat than the salmon, and it has a whopping 3g of Omega 3 compared to the 480mg of the salmon.
Numbers are boring. But what they mean for the eating experience is that the leaner salmon is more dry and firm than the lusciously textured mackerel. That may not make a big difference if you’re going to toss the salmon through with pasta, for example. But when eating it straight up with chopsticks or on a cracker, the mackerel has a more enjoyable texture.
Another issue impacting the texture of the salmon was the number of pieces packed into the can. The mackerel typically contains two or three large-ish pieces of fish while this tin of salmon had a bunch of different bits of widely varying size and shape. Compare this to, say, Trader Joe’s smoked salmon (which comes in at a similar price point) and you’ll see that the KO has some room for improvement. TJ’s tinned salmon usually comes in one large, beautiful piece. The KO salmon looks more like random pieces from the chum bucket.
Looks have never been the selling point of the KO Med Mack. It’s mostly about that delicious, delicious flavor. I’m happy to report that the KO Mediterranean salmon hits just the same. If you want that olive-y, herby, vaguely bell-peppery goodness, this tin delivers. It just delivers it with a firmer, dryer fish than you’ll find in the mackerel. Again, that may work well for an application where you want the fish to hold up while you toss it through other ingredients (like salad or pasta). And the fact that it’s salmon might make it more appealing to normies who aren’t used to chowing down on tinned fish. But I think the mackerel takes the win on account of its exquisite texture, larger pieces, and the freakshow amount of Omega 3 it brings to the party. YMMV.