Canning smoked salmon question...

[AndrewH]

All the smoked salmon that I have done has ended up in the freezer but I am wanting to can a bit of it too.

I LOVE the St. Jeans smoked salmon cans you can get but I am over paying 3$ a can and supplying my own fish.

I have my salmon out of the brine and on the drying racks now and they will be ready for the smoker soon, my question is how long do I smoke it for?

It will be going in a pressure cooker for the canning process so I don't want to cook it twice if you know what I mean.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

All the smoked salmon that I have done has ended up in the freezer but I am wanting to can a bit of it too.

I LOVE the St. Jeans smoked salmon cans you can get but I am over paying 3$ a can and supplying my own fish.

I have my salmon out of the brine and on the drying racks now and they will be ready for the smoker soon, my question is how long do I smoke it for?

It will be going in a pressure cooker for the canning process so I don't want to cook it twice if you know what I mean.

I cold smoke mine before canning. If you don't have a cold smoker you can lift the salmon up above the hot smoke and just let the smoke go over the fish. You can do this in a cardboard box with holes through it or just in/under a shelter etc.. The idea like you say is to not cook it twice so whatever it takes to get the smoke flavor on the fish but not cook it before canning. Depends on how much smoke flavor you want in the fish. One pan of chips will be a nice milder smoke and two will be pretty noticeable. More than that it starts getting very strong tasting in my opinion. But it also depends on how much smoke is getting onto the fish during that process. You can also build a duct/fan system to get the smoke away from the heat and onto the fish..

 

[Rain City]

I cold smoke mine before canning. If you don't have a cold smoker you can lift the salmon up above the hot smoke and just let the smoke go over the fish. You can do this in a cardboard box with holes through it or just in/under a shelter etc.. The idea like you say is to not cook it twice so whatever it takes to get the smoke flavor on the fish but not cook it before canning. Depends on how much smoke flavor you want in the fish. One pan of chips will be a nice milder smoke and two will be pretty noticeable. More than that it starts getting very strong tasting in my opinion. But it also depends on how much smoke is getting onto the fish during that process. You can also build a duct/fan system to get the smoke away from the heat and onto the fish..

I did a one hour cold smoke. Could hardly tell it was smoked at all when I pulled it off but after canning it was deadly. My wife ate it all already. Apparently too much smoke can kill it and as you said you don't want to overcook it. I've heard some guys just throw a thumb size piece of smoked salmon in the jar and it ends up permeating throughout the rest of the fish. My smoker uses a propane burner for heat and of those sawdust maze things for smoke, doesn't put out any heat.

 

[wildmanyeah]

Wouldn't you also want to just smoke the hole fillet rather than cutting strips??? or does it matter

 

[Rain City]

Wouldn't you also want to just smoke the hole fillet rather than cutting strips??? or does it matter

I cut mine into 1" steaks then smoked. For half pint jars. They roll up nice into the jar. The spine is the best part.

 

[SSwilson92]

Is there any canning places in the lower mainland? I have never done it myself and don't have the pressure cooker etc. Eventually would like to get into it but would like to have someone show me first hand before I risk f*cking up my precious fish lol

 

[Rain City]

Is there any canning places in the lower mainland? I have never done it myself and don't have the pressure cooker etc. Eventually would like to get into it but would like to have someone show me first hand before I risk f*cking up my precious fish lol

YouTube is your very best friend. The pressure canner also comes with recipes.

 

[AndrewH]

Ended up trying out some cold smoke for an hour and then into the pressure cooker for the 100 minutes. WOW, came out perfectly. Did a pepper/old Bay spice on the pieces before the drying process and then made this little box for the cold smoke. I had another batch of hot smoke salmon going so it was a quick addition.

 

[AndrewH]

Is there any canning places in the lower mainland? I have never done it myself and don't have the pressure cooker etc. Eventually would like to get into it but would like to have someone show me first hand before I risk f*cking up my precious fish lol

Do you have a smoker? If you cold smoke it before, bring it over and try some jars in my pressure cooker. I am not an expert but it isn’t hard to set a timer for 100min!

Out in south surrey.

 

[Rain City]

Are you canning pinks? I've only ever done white springs and sockeye and the wife doesn't want the whiteys in her cupboard ever again lol. I just smoked pinks for the first time and god were they good.

 

[AndrewH]

Are you canning pinks? I've only ever done white springs and sockeye and the wife doesn't want the whiteys in her cupboard ever again lol. I just smoked pinks for the first time and god were they good.

Just done reds so far, but I have a red and white spring in a wet brine right now.

Also doing a dry brine with 3 pinks that will be ready today!

All will be dried for 6 hrs with pepper and old bay spice, cold smoked for an hr in the Bradley then into the canner for 100min.

 

[Rain City]

Just done reds so far, but I have a red and white spring in a wet brine right now.

Also doing a dry brine with 3 pinks that will be ready today!

All will be dried for 6 hrs with pepper and old bay spice, cold smoked for an hr in the Bradley then into the canner for 100min.

Never tried any spices with canning. I'll give it a shot!

 

[Texadafisher]

While canning a batch of salmon from last year I decided to try a little experiment. I added a teaspoon of liquid smoke to 6 cans. I was pessimistic, figuring a shortcut this easy would never work. Wrong, I wished I did more. I realize nothing beats putting in the effort and time required to get true canned smoked salmon. As I work in camp and don't get enough time at home , I figured what the hell. I wasn't disappointed. I will still cold smoke salmon for pickling and smoking, but in the spring when i'm canning to make room in the freezer, I will definitely add a little liquid smoke to a part of the load !