How to Can Fresh Fish
Pressure-canned fish is a great shelf stable ingredient to have in your pantry (and free up space in your freezer). It's a great way to use panfish that are too small to filet. After canning, you can flake the fish off the bones (small bones will become soft, and the larger ones are easily removed) and make fish cakes and croquettes, salads, soups, and more.
Ingredients
- small panfish approx. 8 oz per wide-mouth pint jar
- salt canning or sea salt
Instructions
- Follow safe handling practices with fresh fish, cleaning your catch and getting it on ice within two hours (see above). Rinse fish inside and out with potable water to remove blood and to avoid introducing bacteria.
- Remove the heads of the fish by cutting behind the gill plates with a sharp knife, and remove tails and fins with sharp kitchen shears or a knife. Keep remaining fish on ice or in the fridge as you work (I use a cold lemon water bath with a tablespoon of salt, but do not soak the fish for more than 30 minutes and keep it cold).
- Cut the fish into jar-sized pieces and pack into spotlessly clean wide mouth pint or half-pint jars. Small fish can be canned whole, but make sure that you leave one inch of headspace at the tops of the jars. Pack the fish tightly in the jars (they will shrink a bit during processing).
- Add one teaspoon of canning or sea salt to the pint jars or ½ teaspoon to the half-pints (I have added a clove of garlic to the bottoms of the jars, but this isn't a strictly approved practice). Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean, lint free cloth or paper-towel soaked in vinegar to ensure the rims are clean and free of oil or debris that would interfere with the seal.
- Put clean, new metal lids (or reusable Tattler or Weck style lids if you are comfortable using those) on each jar, and tighten the rings finger-tight.
- Place the jars in the rack of your pressure canner and add cool water to the canner. Note: because of the long processing time, make sure you add sufficient water to the canner- I fill up to just below the bands of pint jars. Check the instructions for your individual canner, but it will probably be quite a bit more water than you use for a normal pressure canning batch (several quarts at least) and the jars may float a little. This is ok.
- Check that the canner vent isn't clogged and close & seal the lid. Bring the canner up to pressure over medium heat with the vent open, and once the canner is venting a steady stream of steam, set a timer for 10 minutes.
- When the canner has vented for 10 minutes, regulate the heat if necessary and drop the weight over the vent (or close the petcock if you have an unweighted dial-gauge canner).
- Can at 10 lb up to 1000 ft, or adjust to 15 at higher altitudes with a weighted canner. Start your processing timer for 100 minutes only once the appropriate PSI has been reached (11 PSI on a dial-gauge canner for up to 2000 ft, see notes for altitude adjustments), or when the weight is jiggling to indicate that the proper pressure has been reached. Watch or listen carefully, adjust heat as needed, and reset the timer to zero and restart processing time if you lose pressure below the correct processing pressure at any point.
- After the processing time is complete, turn the heat off. Once the pressure canner has cooled and returned to neutral pressure (the dial will drop to zero, and no steam escapes from the weight or petcock if jiggled) you should open the canner and remove the jars (follow your canner instructions for opening).
- Let the jars cool in a draft-free place where they can rest overnight or for up to 24 hours. Don't touch the rings until the jars have cooled and the seals are set (disregard for reusable lids and follow manufacturer instructions to tighten rings).
- Remove the rings and check the seals on the jars after they have rested at least overnight. Promptly freeze or refrigerate any jars that did not seal and use within a few days- reprocessing these jars will cause a loss in quality and might not be safe. Gently wash all sealed jars with soapy water, label clearly, and store in a cool, dark place. Protect jars from freezing and safely discard the contents of any jars that lose their seals in storage and sterilize jars before reuse.
Notes
For processing at higher altitudes with a dial-gauge canner:
2001-4000 ft: 12 psi
4001-6000 ft: 13 psi
6001-8000 ft: 14 psi
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
