New Product Review....Starkist's 'Seasations' Steam in Bag Savory Lemon & Herb Fish Portions

I had the opportunity to try this new Starkist SeaSations Atlantic Whitefish Portions in a Steam Bag, (Microwaveable) and I wanted to share my thoughts.

At my local Publix Grocery Store, it was sitting on a shelf in the Frozen Seafood Entree section....and at first glance it looked interesting.

Basically, what you get is this box with two individual portions inside. The net weight is stated as 11.4 oz, but that's a little misleading. It's not two fish portions that weigh 5.7 ounces each as one might expect. A 6oz piece of fish is a nice size portion.

Instead, what you really get is 6.5oz of fish (3.25oz each) and the rest of the 'net weight' is made up from the 'Savory Lemon & Herb sauce.

Before I continue with the actual product review, I want to do a quick pricing review.

Publix is retailing this box for $5.99. So basically $3 per portion.

That's almost $16 per pound for the fish! Just under $1 per ounce of protein. Does that sound like 'VALUE'?

I can make a Savory Lemon & Herb sauce from scratch at home for about $0.25 worth of ingredients. I could also buy a full pound of high quality 'FRESH' whitefish for under $6 from the Publix Fish Counter.

Of course, I know how to cook fish and make a good sauce cheaply. Not everyone can.

Doing some simple math, I could have made this exact same dish at home (same portion size in the box) for $2.27 TOTAL!
($4.99/lb for Tilapia, Catfish etc, costs $0.31/oz X 6.5oz = $2.02 + the $0.25 for the sauce)
I'm not crediting any value here to the convenience, energy cost, speed etc, so this is not scientific. But it is expensive, so it had better be good, right?

Well, maybe not.

I took the two portions out of the box and followed the microwave instructions, cooking one bag at a time. I love the Steam Bag concept! It vents itself, so no poking holes in the bag and making a mess in the microwave......or so I thought.

The first portion I cooked was a leaker.

This is what was one the plate before I cut open the cooked bag....and below is the mess it made in the microwave

So, at this point, I'm not doing any cartwheels on the kitchen floor.....and wondering that since the bag wasn't properly sealed, if it's even safe to eat.

I decided to take the chance....and I was disappointed. The fish was mushy....very, very mushy. I gave my daughter a little bite (she has a very keen sense of taste and quality for a teenager) and her only comment was "it tastes fishy" before she walked away, no longer interested in my little project.

On to the second bag now.....with low expectations.
At least this one wasn't a leaker. This is a short video clip cutting and pouring onto plate.



It smelled good and it looked good.

Here's one more short clip of the fish up close.


The second piece ate a lot better than the first. It had a reasonable firm texture and didn't have that 'fishy' taste like the first one.

Still, I couldn't get over the fact that one edible 3.25oz portion of fish cost me $6. Especially since I know I could have done a lot better doing it all myself from scratch.

Since this is a new rollout item for Starkist, and obviously a new item for Publix, I don't think they can afford a first time buyer having a mediocre experience. I hope mine was unique, otherwise this item won't be on the shelves for long.

A couple other comments...
The front of the box only mentions South Atlantic Whitefish....you have to go all the way to the bottom of the ingredient label (Allergen Section) to discover the fish is Hake.
I actually like Hake, but it's also a $2/lb fish....so somebody is making some serious margin here.
Also, a significant ingredient is Hydrolized Vegetable Protein. This is the same stuff canned tuna makers use to bump up the protein levels. I'm not really sure why Starkist decided to add it, other than to improve their margin even more....or perhaps they're so used to using it in canned tuna, they don't know any better.

I will keep my eye on this product but I won't be buying it again anytime soon. Especially when there's fresh or frozen fish fillts on sale.