Fish Preservation by Smoking & Canning
Contents
1. home canning 2008 The EssentiaList Sugar and Salt in Food Preservation essentialstuff org index php 2009 07 08 Cat sugar n salt food preservation Smoker Cooking com Storing Smoked Meats www smoker cooking com storing smoked meats htm Smokers Little and Big Chief www smokehouseproducts com Bradley www bradleysmoker com Browning www browningoutdoorcookware com Wikipedia on Lutefisk http en wikipedia org wiki Lutefisk ESP by chaug 6 of 6 2 15 102. jars in canner Some canners will accept two layers Add water per instructions that come with the canner Jeri gave specific instructions for her canner which may not apply to your canner Secure canner lid on canner Add gauge or weight and process per specific instructions for your canner The MontGuide recommendation for fish and altitude between 2001 and 4000 feet Gauge Canner 12 pounds weight and 100 minutes processing ti me Weight Canner 15 pound weight and 100 minutes processing time Jeri suggests processing for 110 minutes Turn off heat after processing time and allow the canner to drop pressure naturally DO NOT attempt to open canner until pressure had dropped fully and do not attempt to rush the cooling by pouring cold water over the canner or by setting in water bath After pressure had dropped completely Release the seal on the canner lid then lift the lid away from you to avoid being burned from the steam Remove jars with jar lifter put on a dry towel in a draft free area overnight As the jars seal you may hear a pop The next day inspect each seal to be sure it has snapped down the center of the lid is down Fish in jars with incomplete seals should either be consumed or reprocessed with a new lid within 2 days REfrigerate uneaten fish Label and date all sealed jars Lutefisk This section by Catherine Haug I ve helped with lutefisk brine but that was years ago so helped my memory with
3. Fish Preservation by Smoking and Canning Gathering Summary Fish Preservation by Smoking and Canning Presentation by Jeri Hoogendijk waterbaby134 msn com 406 257 5574 Summary by Catherine Haug NOTE The urls for all links in this document are provided in the Sources section Jeri provided two handouts e MSU Extension Service MontGuide Home Canning Meat Poultry and Fish e Jeri s handout Smoking and Canning Salmon digital copy not available all her infor mation is included in this summary She has lived in southeast Alaska for many years and has much experience with preserving ocean fish but now will be extending her experience to lake and river fish from our area Handling Fish After Catching Them See also OSU Extension Handling Sportcaught Fish 1 First you need to bleed them as any blood left in the meat alters its flavor This is done while they are still alive otherwise it doesn t work well Lift the gill plate then slice the gill cluster completely Alternately cut it s throat The fish will bleed out quickly and die 2 Then gut and clean the fish to remove blood bacteria and other material in the diges tive tract and to remove the gills This slows down spoilage If you can t gut it right away at least bleed it and ice it until you can gut it 3 Scrape the veins toward the stomach to push out the blood 4 Pack ice around the fish right away to retard spoilage 5 Wash fish as soon as you get home i
4. ch out the lye 5 Lutefisk can be cooked in boiling salted water or simply steamed with added salt until warm and flaky Serve with melted butter and salt or a mustard cream sauce DO NOT use Sterling or silver plated utensils as the fish will ruin the silver 6 Immediately after cooking clean all cooking utensils as the residue from cooking this fish is nearly impossible to remove after more than a few minutes Recipes ESP is not really a recipe exchange source but agreed to include a few recipes that were mentioned during discussion at the event Pickled Fish Recipe from Jean H 2 T chili sauce 2 T vinegar 3 T oil 4 5 sutffed olives 1 sour pickle sliced 1 2 to 1 t salt optional 1 clove garlic spring of dill Fill pint jar with sauce ingredients above Then pack in the raw fish process in pressure canner according to your canner s instructions for your altitude Jean s canner recommends 90 minutes at 10 pressure Jeri s recipes Jeri has not yet sent her recipes will update this document when they are available ESP by chaug 5 of 6 2 15 10 Fish Preservation by Smoking and Canning Sources MSU Extension Service MontGuide Home Caning Meat Poultry amp Fish msuextension org publications HomeHealthandFamily MT200903HR OSU Extension Handling Sportcaught Fish extension oregonstate edu catalog html ec ec1414 The EssentiaList Home Canning handouts essentialstuff org index php 2009 02 22 Cat
5. etc until all the fish has been added Cover final layer of fish with a layer of salt 3 Let stand for 10 20 minutes until meat is firm to the touch Then rinse fish of all salt 4 Take a clean pail bucket and add a layer of brown sugar Jeri prefers dark brown sugar then add a layer of fish covered with a layer of sugar Repeat layering with a final layer of sugar on top 5 Leave in sugar brine from 2 to 24 hours Jeri likes to brine overnight abut 12 hours A 24 hour brine produces a heavy glaze on the fish For more than a couple hours in the brine put the whole thing in the refrigerator Glazing Fish Glazing provides a nice presentation adds flavor and seals the meat To glaze Rinse sugar or brine off fish and lay pieces on smoker racks skin side down Put racks on laid out newspaper to catch any juice drippings The racks allow for air cir culation and is very important Use racks similar to those used for grilling or in older refrigerators Or the racks for your smoker Set up a fan so that it blows onto the racks of fish If no fan is available set in an area with a good draft such as in front of a window When shiny glaze appears on the fish turn off fan this takes about 1 3 hours Leave fish on the racks for smoking Smoking Fish The fish Best fish for smoking are the oily fish salmon steelhead mackerel trout walleye White fish is also good but it tends to absorb more salt from the brine This
6. information from Wikipedia Lutefisk is made from dried whitefish cod or ling cod and brined in lye in a sequence of par ticular treatments The watering steps of these treatments differ slightly for salted dried white fish because of its high salt content ESP by chaug 4of6 2 15 10 Fish Preservation by Smoking and Canning Mixing water with wood ash produces sodium hydroxide or lye Different types of wood can make different types of lye For example the Finns use birch ash which contains high amounts of potassium carbonate and hydrocarbonate giving the fish a more mellow treatment than would sodium hydroxide lyestone fromWikipedia Modern lye free brines can also be used which produce a better less jell like product For example from Norskstar Seafood in Whitefish MT Here s the process for using a lye brine 1 Soak the fish in cold water for five to six days changing the water daily 2 Then soak the fish in a solution of cold water and lye for an additional two days do not change this solution each day The fish swells during this soaking and its protein con tent is decreased 3 The lye bath treatment results in a highly alkaline fish pH 11 12 which is caustic and is not edible without further treatment to cold water baths It can be dried after brining for keeping Then reconstitute by soaking 4 Soak in cold water for 4 6 days changing the water bath daily Salt may be added to the water to help lea
7. is true of all white colored fish Halibut does not smoke well A 5 gallon bucket of fish packed in ice then sugar will fill a Little Chief smoker twice Refrig erate second half until first batch is finished Smoked fish can be kept in a cold root cellar below 40 degrees or other cold storage such as a refrigerator for up to 3 weeks It will keep in a freezer up to 3 months For longer stor ESP by chaug 2 of 6 2 15 10 Fish Preservation by Smoking and Canning age times the USDA recommends canning the fish after smoking See Smoker Cooking com Storing Smoked Meats for more information You will need Smoker You can use manufactured smokers such as Smokehouse s Little Chief and Big Chief Bradley or Browning Or a homemade smoker or smokehouse see sketch of Fran Wade s smokehouse this file also includes sketch of a simple smoker for tanning hides which could be adapted for smoking meat e Rackss that fit your smoker e Wood chips hard wood or fruit wood are best such as alder yellow cedar applewood etc Pine and fir are not recommended as they are too resinous Alder is Jeri s favorite Jeri s instructions are for using an electric smoker she uses Little Chief which has racks that lift out through the top I ve added information from Fran W on using a wood burning smoker 1 If using a wood burning smoker get a good fire going to create a bed of coals no flames while smoking If using an electric smoker
8. n cool fresh water Then pack again in ice gt Discussion What about bones If you can the fish the bones get soft and are edible If you smoke the fish the skin and bones come off easily Brining Fish There are three reasons to brine e firm up the fish meat e flavor preservation Types of brine e Wet brine typically contains water or other liquid such as beer salt sugar and herbs or spices for flavor After brining in the liquid the fish takes longer to dry before it can be smoked than dry brine method e Dry brine involves two steps packing in salt followed by packing in sugar Because it doesn t get wet it doesn t take so long to dry before smoking Note however that the sugar pack mixes with the oils in the fish to make a form of liquid around the fish Jeri prefers the dry method for ease and flavor ESP by chaug 1of6 2 15 10 Fish Preservation by Smoking and Canning Dry brine Process You will need two 5 gallon buckets or pails three 3 pound boxes of kosher or rock salt or equivalent in bags three 2 pound bags of brown sugar Method 1 For ocean fish such as salmon filet it then cut crosswise as for steaks from stomach through the backbone into strips about 2 to 3 wide Smaller lake or river fish may not need to be cut 2 Sprinkle bottom of one pail with rock salt to cover then lay out a layer of fish followed by enough rock salt to cover then another layer of fish and salt
9. o have it done annually e Timer or alarm clock e Tongs and jar lifter are recommended e Saucepan for heating lids e Clean towels ESP by chaug 3 of 6 2 15 10 Fish Preservation by Smoking and Canning Method 1 10 Inspect jars lids and rings Jars should not be chipped or cracked Lids should not be dented and their seals should be soft and smooth the rings should be round and not rusty It is not recommended to reuse lids Sterilize jars prior to use Bring water to a boil in canner or other large pot Add jars carefully use tongs sterilize for 10 15 minutes Lay a clean towel on counter Re move jars with tongs allowing water to pour out then place upside down on the towel Place lids in pan of boiling water and keep in pan until ready to place on lip of jar Add smoked or raw fish skin side in or remove skin all together It removes very easily from smoked salmon not so easy with raw fish The skins are oily which will add oil to the jar so you may not need to add oil especially with oily fish like salmon You do not need to remove bones as they will soften during the canning process Leave about an inch of room from fish to top of jar Important Wipe lips of jars with clean damp warm washcloth or towel and ensure no bits of anything is along the lip to interfere with the seal Remove a hot lid from pan with tong or magnet and place on clean jars Screw rings on to finger tight Place pint
10. preheat it 2 Add wood chips If using an electric smoker put them in the pan without wetting them first If using a wood burning smoker presoak your wood chips then lay over the coals soaking prevents them from bursting into flame 3 Place racks of fish in your smoker for 1 24 hours 1 hours produces moist salmon 24 hours produces jerkey You can also hang the fish in a smokehouse but they some times fall off the hanging mechanism Or without a smokehouse you can hang strips of fish over racks raised above the coals 4 Best to check after 1 hour for desired consistency and flavor 5 Do not let smoker get over 175 degrees F Canning Raw or Smoked Fish Please refer to the MSU Extension Service MontGuide Home Canning Meat Poultry and Fish for canning specifics and adjustments for altitude Most of us fall in the 2001 4000 foot altitude range for reading processing times in the tables Contact Flathead County Extension office with canning questions 406 758 5553 Canned fish will keep for 1 year It may keep 2 3 years if canned properly and remains com pletely sealed You will need e Pint size Mason type canning jars each will hold about 1 pound of fish e Pressure canner 16 22 quart capacity You cannot use a hot bath canner for any kind of high protein foods such as fish If you have a gauge canner ensure your gauge is in calibration Our Flathead County Extension office will do this for free it s best t
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