CANNING: How to Can Fresh Bluegill, Perch, and Other Small Panfish

Catching little panfish like bluegill, perch, pumpkin-seeds, and other small panfish can be “reel” fun… but trying to clean and fillet them is just crappie!

(Groan. Sorry. Not really, actually… because if you can’t make dad-jokes about fishing, what even are they for?)

There’s a better way, if you learn how to can your panfish. Save your biggest and best catch for fillets, and when you’ve had your fill of whole fried or roasted little panfish and want something different, can the little guys, bones and all…. Really?

Yes, really! After their long stint in the pressure canner, the bones will be as soft and edible as those in canned salmon (or as easy to pick out if you don’t like the texture… but the calcium is really nutritious!). You can your fresh panfish whole if they’re very small, or portioned into in jar-sized chunks, and after processing in your pressure canner you can easily flake the fish off the bones.  And once you put up your fish this way, it’s pre-cooked and ready to use in your favorite recipes, especially for fish patties & burgers, croquettes, or even salads (it’s like tuna salad, but lighter in flavor).

And best of all, the jars of canned fish are shelf-stable, just like canned fish from the store. It’s a great way to free up freezer space (so you can go catch more fish). It also adds another layer of food-security to your pantry by diversifying the way you store your catch, protected against freezer failure or power outages. You do need to protect the jars from freezing and then thawing after they’re canned if you want them to stay shelf-stable, but unless you live in an off-grid cabin in the Northwoods, you probably keep your house above freezing anyway (and if you do live up dere in a dry cabin, put ’em in the root cellar, eh?).

You’ll need a large actual pressure canner for this- it’s definitely not safe to try this with an Instant Pot or small pressure cooker, so please don’t risk it. Canning fresh fish and seafood requires careful attention to food safety and processing rules.

But it’s not hard, so if you have the proper equipment, give canning fresh panfish a shot! You can of course also can fatty fish like salmon, trout, catfish, mackerel, and more, but you’ll find plenty of instructions on how to do that (pro-tip… it’s exactly the same).

What do I do with my canned fish?

Almost anything you make with canned tuna, salmon, or mackerel can be adapted to work with other canned fish. We like to flake the meat off the bones and mix it with egg, breadcrumbs, leftover mashed potatoes, onion, and other seasonings to make fishcakes, fish burgers, and croquettes… dip these in panko or breadcrumbs and bake, pan-fry, or deep fry them (for croquettes, you’d make a very thick bechamel sauce, and mix the flaked fish with cooked potato before breading and frying). You can make mock-tuna salads for sandwiches. Try it in a fish soup or chowder, and more.

Safe Handling and Processing Tips for Canning Fresh Fish

It’s always important to process your catch promptly, but if you’re canning your fish it’s even more critical. Don’t give bacteria a chance to grow and spoil your catch! Bleed and gut your fish, and get them on ice ASAP, and rinse them with potable water (not seawater or lake water) before canning them.

You can either pressure-can your fresh fish immediately after cleaning them or freeze them (in bags or containers of water for best quality, head off to save freezer space) until you have enough to do a batch. If you are working with frozen fish, thaw them completely in the fridge before canning them.

It’s a long processing time- one hundred minutes, plus time to bring the canner up to pressure and then to cool down, so it’s most efficient of both time and energy if you have a full canner load. However, you can try it with just a few jars first to make sure it’s your cup of tea… err, can of fish?

If you are strictly following the USDA-approved method from the National Center for Home Food Preservation (which is a goldmine of potentially life-saving information that you should have bookmarked if you are still reading this), you will can them raw-pack and plain, with only salt (optional) added to the jars. Until you really, really, know your canning rules and what is safe (or just want to be sure) this is the way to go.

You’ll see all sorts of rebel canning ideas online about canning fresh fish, from adding herbs, or lemon, or hot sauce, or garlic, or a spoonful of olive oil… we keep it pretty plain, both for food safety and the versatility of the finished product, but will sometimes add a clove of garlic, cracked black pepper, a thin lemon slice, or seasoned/cajun salt instead of plain canning salt.

You can leave out the salt if you are on a salt-restricted diet- it improves quality and flavor, but isn’t there for food safety, and you can use any salt that isn’t iodized. Whatever you do, don’t add sage, which turns bitter in a pressure canner. You’ll see that I added a clove of garlic to most of these jars… but that’s a deviation from the standard accepted procedure, so don’t take this as an endorsement for best practices, necessarily!  When it doubt, leave it out.

I also very briefly soak the fish in a light lemon brine before canning. You don’t want to heavily brine them, as this can change the density of the fish and the processing time…  But a tablespoon or two each of salt and lemon juice in a quart or two of water isn’t going to do much but make sure the fish is very clean and bright, and doesn’t dry out while you’re cleaning and prepping the fish for the jars.

A true brine, like you would use before smoking fish (and which would require a slightly longer processing time) is much more concentrated (a cup of salt in just under two quarts of water). If you are concerned about it, either skip this step or add 10 minutes to the processing time (the time for brined and smoked fish is 110 minutes, while fresh fish with salt in the jars processes for 100 minutes)… you can find full instructions for canning smoked fish in this post: How to Can Smoked Trout

Use your own judgement here (unless your judgement is bad, in which case you should probably keep it by-the-book, because botulism is no one’s idea of a good time and can be fatal), and as always, can at your own risk! But it’s fine. You’ll be fine. Follow me, the NCHFP, and the directions for your particular canner… Keep calm and can fish on? No? Yeah, that doesn’t really work, does it. Let’s get on with the recipe and can some fish, shall we?