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Canning Fish Saves Money For anyone with a fisherman in the family, a pressure canner is an absolute must. Canning salmon is a great way to preserve a bountiful catch so you can use it all year long. It’s also a good way to take advantage of a great deal at a fish market, since canning fish yourself is much cheaper than purchasing it in the can, or fresh at regular prices, not to mention as well as being better quality. You can use this method with any fish to come up with some really great variations on that old tuna salad recipe, or try the baked salmon recipe below. It’s the perfect solution for anyone trying to live cheaply and intelligently. Canning salmon and other foods yourself can save real money in the long run, as well as give you a real appreciation for the foods you eat. Canning salmon, like canning most fish, is very simple. You’ll need all the usual suspects: lids, rings, jars, tongs, and your faithful pressure canner. You’ll probably want wide-mouthed jars so it won’t be so difficult to get the salmon in the jar and then out again. You can include one teaspoon of salt in each jar if you like, but don’t add any oil. Obviously, you will also need fish. Prepare the jars and lids as usual (boil the jars, add hot water in a pan for the lids). Follow your pressure cooker’s instructions to get the pressure canner ready. Salmon is packed raw, so there’s little to do to prepare it after it’s been cleaned. It simply needs to be cut to a size that will fit in the jar. I suggest leaving the skin on, since this is where all the good oils come from. If you do leave the skin on, make sure it’s against the sides of the jar. Canned salmon bones become like tiny crispy crackers and are the best source of calcium you can get. Eat them! Once you have the jar packed full of salmon, use a spatula or other kitchen tool to push out any air bubbles. Then simply put on the lids and screw on the rings. Salmon is typically canned at 15 pounds pressure for 100 minutes, but there is some variation on this. Some recommend 10 pounds pressure, some 11, and some 15. It is always best to consult your own pressure cooker’s manual for exact specifications when you’re canning salmon at home. That’s it! Remove the jars with tongs, let them cool, check the lids, and you’re done! If any of the jars didn’t seal properly, those can go in the fridge to be eaten within the next few days. The rest are fully cooked, shelf-stable and can be kept for a year. Looking at those jars on the self and thinking, “I did that!” is just one of the rewards of canning salmon. Baking salmon is a great way to use up your pantry full of salmon. To bring out the flavors, I suggest a simple baked salmon recipe. You can use a typical salmon-cake recipe, which will be truly delicious, but an inexpensive favorite at my house is a simple midwestern casserole with a salmon twist! This is the easiest recipe in the world, and you can improvise on the proportions yourself. If you know how to make one casserole, you know how to make them all. Take eight ounces of cooked egg noodles, one cup of peas (thawed or fresh), and eight ounces of your canned salmon. Combine that all with a can of condensed mushroom soup, that same can’s amount of milk, some garlic powder, and some pepper in a casserole dish. Mix it all up and top with a little Parmesan cheese. Bake it at 350˚ for 40 minutes, or until it’s crispy and clearly done. Presto, that’s dinner! While there are lots of fish that are great for canning, the likelihood of you running into incredibly fresh selections of many fish is somewhat slim unless you’re a commercial fisherman. Think of how many steps and how many days there have been between the fish and you. If you think it’s been more than two days since the fish was caught, it probably won’t be that good canned. The best fish you can get are those that are caught locally and sold locally, preferably by someone who you know is handling the fish in a careful and sanitary manner. If you can’t get it the same day it was caught, then you might not want to can it at all. Canning fish is all about following directions. While it may seem like a great idea to improvise a canning recipe or spice up the directions, this is what leads to illness from home canning. Fish is especially susceptible to the bacteria that causes botulism because of its low acidity, so fish absolutely must be canned in a pressure canner according to the exact directions provided with the canner. Beyond these cautionary measures, however, there is some room for innovation and creativity in canning. You can add herbs to the fish, or even vinegar, but it’s best to leave these little cooking flairs until you’re ready to use your fish because time and heat may change the flavors of your improvised recipe. Besides which, who knows what you’ll feel like eating a year from now? Save the fancy stuff for jams and tomatoes, and let the fish’s natural flavor shine through. Canning Salmon to Frugal Living Canning Salmon to Canning Food
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