Canning

[barbless]

Got a bunch of fish to can (jar) Any hints, thoughts to get it right? Never done before. In-laws always done for us. Now it's my turn. Will be using the smaller jars. Do you add any flavor or spice to Kokanee? They are frozen but for sure will thaw. Guess I can go on line and figure it out. Just looking for some experienced input

[Au revoir, Gopher]

Never done fish, but I just checked my Complete Guide to Home Canning

They say to rinse the thawed fish in cold water. You can add vinegar to the water (2 tablespoons per quart) to help remove slime. After you remove the head, tail. fins and scales, wash and remove all blood.

For salmon it is not necessary to remove skin and bones.

Cut clean fish into 3-1/2-inch lengths. [...] Fill hot pint jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Add 1 teaspoon of salt per pint, if desired. Do not add liquids. Careful clean the jar rims with a clean, damp paper towel; wipe with a dry paper towel to remove any fish oil. Adjust lids and process. Fish in half-pint or 12-ounce jars should be processed for the same amount of time as pint jars.

If you have a weighted-gauge pressure canner, you want 15 lb if your altitude is >1,000ft (isn't that pretty much all of Alberta?) and 10 lb if <1,000ft. Process for 100 minutes.

If you are using larger jars there is a different procedure for heating and venting the canner.

ARG

[bat119]

The vinegar will dissolve the bones or at least soften them up, add a little ketchup for color.

After pressure cooking let the pot cool down on it's own, if the pot cools down faster than the jars all the liquid will be ejected ask me how I know that.

I've done a lot of jack never had any salmon to try, I use the the hot pack method adding liquid

[schleprock]

Don’t add any salt as you can always add salt just before eating. I canned a bunch of trout last night but removed the skin and all the bones as I don’t like eating them. Half of the batch was plain Jane and the other half got a teaspoon of ketchup in them. Will be canning another batch this evening and will put a peppercorn in half of them but am undecided on the other half.

[wallz]

We used to can a ton of salmon when we lived on the coast.

500 ml jars mostly.

I always added a teaspoon of coarse salt. We also like a red sauce, like sardines in tomato sauce type thing. So I used to mix a few of the tins tomato paste, "garlic and herb" with a jar of spaghetti sauce. Add a few table spoons on top of the fish before closing. Sauce itself was too thin, so the paste thickened it nicely, and the paste itself was too thick.

I always deskinned, but that is only a personal preference. Others enjoy it with the skin on.

[barbless]

Thanks for the info. It gonna be a trial run for the first few. Perfection might take a bit. Will leave skin on and bone in. Vinegar sounds like the way to go to dissolve the bones. Will it take a few months for the bones to dissolve in the jars?

[Duramaximos]

I've canned hundreds of Salmon jars and I think you have some good advice here.

Suggest reading the Ball book for pressure canning.

I have tried a few olive oil infused flavors like garlic and truffle. Meh. They turned out ok but I prefer to add those flavors later. I do recommend at least 1/2 tsp of salt per quart of fish. It will be very bland othwise and more difficult to balance the flavors with other ingredients in a recipe. Adding salt afterwards doesn't have the same effect in my experience.

Skin on and all but the largest salmon bones will desolve. That's the good stuff don't throw it out!

[Duramaximos]

Very important to thaw completely before canning. The only jar failures I experienced were from using partially thawed meat that I thought was thawed enough...probably 95%. Any amount of frozen meat will cause the glass to fracture.

[colvert]

Originally Posted by Duramaximos

I've canned hundreds of Salmon jars and I think you have some good advice here.

Suggest reading the Ball book for pressure canning.

I have tried a few olive oil infused flavors like garlic and truffle. Meh. They turned out ok but I prefer to add those flavors later. I do recommend at least 1/2 tsp of salt per quart of fish. It will be very bland othwise and more difficult to balance the flavors with other ingredients in a recipe. Adding salt afterwards doesn't have the same effect for in my experience.

Skin on and all but the largest salmon bones will desolve. That's the good stuff don't throw it out!

Completely agree with what you said including the 1/2 tsp of salt for the 500mL jar. I add a few aromatic herbs also...

[Duramaximos]

Here is a quick and easy canned salmon recipe that should work just as well with kokanee.

1 pint of fish
1/2 cup of mayo - preferably home made using a good quality evo
1 zest of lemon - dont grate the pith it will impart a bitter flavour
1 lemon juice
1 garlic clove minced
1/3 red onion finely chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped dill weed
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp lemon pepper or black pepper
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients well. If it is a little dry add a touch more mayo. Rest for 4 hours in the fridge. If you prefer a healthier alternative to mayo, sub greek yogurt.

I like to serve with sliced sourdough baguette.

[Desert Eagle]

Originally Posted by Au revoir, Gopher

If you have a weighted-gauge pressure canner, you want 15 lb if your altitude is >1,000ft (isn't that pretty much all of Alberta?) and 10 lb if <1,000ft. Process for 100 minutes.

If you are using larger jars there is a different procedure for heating and venting the canner.

ARG

Just wanted to confirm altitude… west central AB where I was previously is 2750 ft above sea level, and GP is 2200 ft.

When I worked West of DV we actually were at 3650 feet which lead to a lot of issues when specking equipment, as most people missed the elevation factor.

[barbless]

I'm in Calgary and will be using 500ml jars. In-laws gave me the pressure cooker it's a Presto Deluxe. Lots of prep to do to get jars and lids ready. Gonna thaw the fish today. Just gonna do a few jars to start, see how it goes

[Boatbuilder]

We finally bit the bullet and learned how to can salmon. We bought an All American 930 pressure canner. My wife wanted to use 6 oz cans so we had to buy a hand crank machine to put the lids on and the cans.
We put 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt, 1 tablespoon of avocado oil, 1 teaspoon of vinegar, and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.
Turned out delicious.
Jim

[heymshooter]

we can lots of salmon, for a pint jar fill with salmon chunks including skin and bone add a teaspoon each of oil, salt and vinager and follow the directions.

[Buckwheat]

I’ve canned Kokanee before. I skinned them and cut them into bone in steaks just thick enough to fit into 250lm jars. As others have said, you add salt and vinegar, quarter teaspoon salt per 250 ml and a 1/4 teaspoon of vinegar per jar. I also cold smoked them for a couple hours before pressure canning at 15 pounds pressure for 90 minutes. Turned out great!

[urban rednek]

Which vinegar are you guys using when canning fish? 5% or 10% ?

[Duramaximos]

No vinegar for me. Haven't found the need to use it except to wipe the jar rims clean of oils.

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[Buckwheat]

Originally Posted by urban rednek

Which vinegar are you guys using when canning fish? 5% or 10% ?

I just use the plain white vinegar which is 5%. It’s not enough so that you taste it in the fish, it just helps soften the spine bones if you choose to leave them in