Salmon canning time again.

[Steve-O]

With the recent approval from my wife to make another trip to Alaska this year, I decided to replenish the canned salmon stock in the pantry. My inventory is down to 4 pints or just over a month's worth.

A baker's dozen fillets later and I have 21 pints fresh out of the two pressure canners.

These got a short teriyaki soak once they were skinned and cut into chunks as I found the brining leaves them way too salty for my tastes. Hence the darker red than usual salmon color.

I sure do love salmon salad.

[Tiddlerbasher]

Yum

[Steve-O]

Thanks, Joe.

Back in NC before we moved out west we raised Nubian goats for our dairy - milk, butter ( yeah we made our own ) , yogurt.... Cornish Rock chickens, turkeys , Alaska salmon and katahdin sheep for our meat and eggs ....and had a 1/4 acre garden. We only had a single income household but ate like Kings.

Now we have a garden plus a few fruit trees and put up juice, preserves, veggies and source our meat from local ranches.

You're right about how good it tastes and is better for you than the commercial stuff. We miss our free range chicken eggs and organic meat.  store bought Chicken does not taste like farm raised. Not even close. Same for the eggs.

[steelfish]

really interesting Steve,

I know nothing about preserving canned food, can you please elaborate a bit (just an oversight) of the procedure to canned the salmon?
I might do the same for some local fish

I just normally fillet most of the fish I caught, cut it in small chunks and put them on vacuum sealed bags with the date and kind of fish and go to the freezer, own canned food have always brough my attention

[Steve-O]

Canning fish is fairly easy. Follow the directions exactly. The fish gets cooked and stores on the shelf for a year or more. Though you want to rotate your stock to the front of the line and Eat it, often.

You can take it on trips without a cooler or freezer. Enjoy your favorite fish when they long migrated away until next year. Share with friends ....i sent a jar to Sal not long back in trade for a lure. And I got a really nice Hawaiian feathered Marlin lure for my display case.

Here are two websites with the best canning info.

http://www.simplycanning.com/canning-fish.html


http://www.gopresto.com/recipes/canning/seafood.php

Tuna cans differently and is cooked first before canning.

You can add some jalapenos to spice up the fish as many folks do or add a spot of spicy mustard or other favorite sauce right before closing the lid.

Then...it's just a matter of opening a jar, drain the juice, add some mayo or whatever you like on yours, grab some torillas and go to town.

Today, I added fresh cut pineapple, horseradish sauce, Tabasco and avocado inside my tortilla filled with salmon salad.

The main thing is to follow the directions and watch the guage to keep the heat at the right psi for the correct amount of time.

[jigmaster501]

I am the bearer of bad news when it comes to these things but given my job as a regulator in the food safety arena, it is what it is and I would rather make everyone sad than hear of someone death....

Canning isn't as easy as you think.

The main issue is the destruction of Clostridium botulinum (CBOT) spores when dealing with low acid foods such as fish and vegetables.

It is best to contact the food science department at a state run university that has a process authority on staff.

Many factors come into play when dealing with heating the product.

pH, water activity, density of the ingredients, size of the ingredients, headspace in the jar, pressure, temperature, length of time, come up time, cool down time, etc.

The integrity of the seal is a big issue that many overlook. Overtightening jars is actually bad as you can cut the seal which is critical for the safety of the food. Lid manufacturers have specifications of tightening that need to be followed as well and the seal integrity needs to be analyzed after each batch made.

A scheduled processes is what the scientific process is when dealing with canned food products. Deviating from the process such as cutting the food in chucks 1/4 inch larger that what was specified can result in an underprocessed product that can have viable CBOT spores remaining. Scheduled processes are designed to achieve a 12D (99.9999999999%) reduction of pathogens of public health significance. This includes spore destruction. If you get a scheduled process from a recognized process authority, you are in good shape. DO EXACTLY WHAT IT SAYS.

Grandma's old recipes might not have killed anyone that you know of and if you really like the recipe, give it to a process authority to review. It is worth the money.

Acidification is different that low acid canning in that you are killing vegetative cells of pathogens of public health significance and then controlling the growth (and toxin formation of CBOT) with a pH of 4.6 or less in the state of equilibrium throughout the product. For this you are heating the product, driving the acid through the product to lower the pH and then hot filling the jars to ensure a hermetic seal. Some will cook in the jars in the pressure cooker which can work. Again, get a scheduled process for this.


Simple things such as reducing sodium for those with sodium issues can reak havoc on the overall food safety of the product.

Those with scientific knowledge can debate this but it isn't worth the risk to take chances. If a company provides a process with the equipment that they sell, call and ask if the process was validated by a process authority and ask for the FDA registration of that process.

I know I am probably going to drive people nuts here but trust me and keep things safe. I have been part of more food borne illness investigations that anyone would care to image, including me.

[Rancanfish]

I see both sides of the story here.  I can say that I have never gotten bad home canned goods, but am never the less vigilant.

I was poisoned by Gorton's fish fillets when I was in my 20's.  I have never been sicker, before or since.  Carried to the hospital emergency room.

You cannot tell by sniffing so if the seal doesn't 'pop', give it to your pain in the arse neighbor. 

[jigmaster501]

What will happen over time are the heat stable microorganisms can grow if the product is held in a warm kitchen or storage area. The sterilization really needs to take place in the pressure cooker but an extra cleaning is always good. You have 2 forms of cbot. Proteolytic and non Proteolytic. Non Proteolytic does not produce a gas when toxin is produced and you have no real indicator of formation.

[steelfish]

What will happen over time are the heat stable microorganisms can grow if the product is held in a warm kitchen or storage area. The sterilization really needs to take place in the pressure cooker but an extra cleaning is always good. You have 2 forms of cbot. Proteolytic and non Proteolytic. Non Proteolytic does not produce a gas when toxin is produced and you have no real indicator of formation.

this post remembered my wife talking, my wife is a Chemist with a degree on a Biology and just told me to forget about canning my fish (sorry guys). shes the one that when getting groceries on the market is always checking for the due-date, hits or bumps on the metal cans of tomato, etc,  when opening a glass cans it has to pop-up or go to the trash, smell the food when taking it out the can, etc.. well I can blame it, she worked on a quality control department of two different food factories here in Mexico and also at Pepsi, shes really anal when it comes to food Q-control on the house

[steelfish]

What will happen over time are the heat stable microorganisms can grow if the product is held in a warm kitchen or storage area. The sterilization really needs to take place in the pressure cooker but an extra cleaning is always good. You have 2 forms of cbot. Proteolytic and non Proteolytic. Non Proteolytic does not produce a gas when toxin is produced and you have no real indicator of formation.

this post remembered my wife talking, my wife is a Chemist with a degree on a Biology and just told me to forget about canning my fish (sorry guys). shes the one that when getting groceries on the market is always checking for the due-date, hits or bumps on the metal cans of tomato, etc,  when opening a glass cans it has to pop-up or go to the trash, smell the food when taking it out the can, etc.. well I can blame it, she worked on a quality control department of two different food factories here in Mexico and also at Pepsi, shes really anal when it comes to food Q-control on the house

I can understand you wife's concerns but as far as I am concerned we have not had one problem with canning our own food.

Joe

Im pretty sure of that Joe, dont get me wrong.


Im more into natural and practical things/solutionis while she is more into technical and scientific things/solutions.

not a boring marriage all these years if you ask me LOL

[Steve-O]

A surprising number of replies to a couple of pictures about me canning salmon.

I have been eating home canned produce my whole life and am still kicking.

This is my 3rd year canning fish. So far so good.  I feel safer eating my own canned fish than I do driving on I-15 in Utah. ( country's second worst drivers )

The concerned opinions about home canning are very valid and appreciated being voiced here.

My lunch today was canned salmon salad spread with avocados, provolone, Cranberry Jalapeno dressing and a couple shakes of Tabasco.

Yummy-licious and no side effects yet........gACK!,,,    ,,Pfffttt....       ..jujahbu           uuuuuughh.........(keels over while typing) .....CLUNK! hits floor     


Keep Clam and Can on.

[Newell Nut]

Been eating home canned food for nearly 70 years and glad that I lived that way. Home canned salmon is hard to beat. Love salmon just about anyway you can dream up to cook it.

[steelfish]

Joe, I know you have a farm background too, so, I really believe that you and many guys here are doing the correct way on canning food with no chance of poisoning, ever... I was just trying to say that my wife dont feel too confident on trying ourselves this time, no background on anything related to grow and preserve our own food, sounds interesting, but not much you can do on miles and miles of dry desert.

with that say, I wont hesitate on getting canned food from you or from Steve and prepare a nice meal right away

[ChileRelleno]

Steve-O those make me miss my last care package from a friend.
Several jars of smoked, canned salmon with jalapenos.  They were so frikkin good.

Jigmaster,
You're a canning killjoy.  
I know you're just cautioning people, thanks for caring, but you did the same spiel last year IIRC.
Like others we sometimes can and have never had a problem.
My FiL was the cannery manager for the LDS Tuna cannery in San Diego back in the tuna fishery days, and he was a plant manager for Monterey Mushrooms...  He is a PITA to have around when home canning.

[Dominick]

A surprising number of replies to a couple of pictures about me canning salmon.

I have been eating home canned produce my whole life and am still kicking.

This is my 3rd year canning fish. So far so good.  I feel safer eating my own canned fish than I do driving on I-15 in Utah. ( country's second worst drivers )

The concerned opinions about home canning are very valid and appreciated being voiced here.

My lunch today was canned salmon salad spread with avocados, provolone, Cranberry Jalapeno dressing and a couple shakes of Tabasco.

Yummy-licious and no side effects yet........gACK!,,,    ,,Pfffttt....       ..jujahbu           uuuuuughh.........(keels over while typing) .....CLUNK! hits floor     


Keep Clam and Can on.

Dominick