Canning Salmon

Although a variety of fish can be preserved through canning, I only can salmon. For this process, I use a pressure canner and I personally don’t recommend ever using a boiling hot water bath method for cooking and sealing the salmon jars. Using a pressure canner is the only way to ensure reaching temperatures that will kill any bacteria and offer protection against botulism and when preserving fish, this is important. I use a propane burner or my electric range in the kitchen as my heat source.

You can use the wide mouth pint (500 ml) jars to can your fish but I like to use the wide mouth 1/2 pint (250 ml) jars because I find the portions more convenient. These jars can usually be purchased at any outlet that handles canning supplies.

First, I fillet my fish and remove the skin.. I clean the  fillets thoroughly and then cut the fish into approximately one inch cubes. Pack the fish cubes as tightly as possible into the jars leaving from 3/8 to 1/2 inch headroom. Add 1 1/2 tsp. vinegar., 1/4 tsp. (heaping) pickling salt, about 1– 1 1/2 tsp. of ketchup and 1 tsp. of canola or vegetable oil to each of the 250 ml jars. Salmon is an oily fish and adding oil is optional. My preference is to use the canola oil.

Wipe the rim of each jar carefully so that it is clean  and free of any food matter that would interfere with a good seal. Place the lids on the jars and screw the bands down finger tight. Place the jars in the pressure canner and process for 95 minutes at 10 lb. pressure. Follow the procedures as described in the  manual that accompanies the pressure canner being used.

When the canner has cooled sufficiently so that it can be opened (check the manual), use canning tongs to remove the hot jars. As the jars cool, you should hear a ‘popping’ noise as the lids seal themselves. The lids on the sealed jars will be slightly concaved. On occasion, one or two jars may not seal. DO NOT store unsealed jars. You can consume the salmon in the unsealed jar within a short and reasonable amount of time like any open food.

The cooked salmon jars will contain a liquid which you would pour off when you open a jar to prepare a favourite salmon dish or sandwich. If you see red particles floating in the liquid, that is just the ketchup that didn’t dissipate in the process. The whitish residue that you see in the jar is just salmon that has adhered to the side of the jar.

When the jars have cooled sufficiently, I remove the screw bands and wash both the bands and the jars. The sealed jars can be immersed in water because nothing can get in or out. Dry them all off, place the screw lids back on (finger tight) and store them in the salmon boxes for delightful eating whenever your heart desires.