Canning Coho- Oh so good!

I'm so glad our son likes to fish.  Actually. I think it's more like he's obsessed with fishing. All the fishing he does and he won't eat it.  He never has liked fish.  When he was a little guy I told him fish sticks were chicken sticks once, he didn't buy it, he knew right away and refused to eat them.

But hey, that's good for us because he gives away what he catches.  Today he gave us two beautiful Coho Salmon.  Coho are the absolute best.  And you know me, I'm always looking for something to preserve. So tonight I am canning salmon.

He gave us a salmon (not Coho) a few days ago and I canned that one.  One fish yields about 7 pints.  I got 7 pints from that Salmon and tonight I got 14 pints from the two he gave us today. So from those three fish I have 21 meals!  And let me tell you, Salmon patties from home canned salmon are amazingly good.

Here's the process for canning the fish tonight...

Here's the fish and cleaned jars. I'm even super lucky that our son cleans and fillets them so I don't have to.

Here are the 14 packed jars ready to put in the canner.  Jar rims wiped with vinegar, hot lids on with rings finger tight.

I used my taller pressure canner and was able to put two layers of 7 jars.  That sure saved time because if I could only do one layer at a time (like I would have to do in my smaller canner) I would have to do two batches.  Remember you have to vent the steam for 10 minutes then process  fish for 100 minutes so two batches would have taken a long time.

After the canner vented for 10 minutes I put the weight on and waited for it to come to pressure.  The 10lb weight began to rock right as the dial reached 11 pounds pressure. That's perfect for my altitude. Remember to check your altitude to make sure you are using the correct pressure for where you are.  When it got to the correct pressure I set my timer for 100 minutes.  Well actually my timer doesn't do 100 minutes but it has the ability to set two different times so I set one for 60 minutes and the other for 40 minutes. Once the 100 minutes had passed and the final timer went off I turned off the heat and removed the canner from the burner.  After the pressure fell back to 0 on it's own I tested the weight to make sure no steam came out when it was moved. Then I removed the weight and took the lid off.  Remember to lift the lid away from you because there is still some hot steam that will be released from the canner.  The jars set in the canner for about 5 minutes before I took them out.  You know why you do that?  Because the liquid inside the jars is boiling and the lid is still sealing, If you take them out, the sudden rush of cold air can make them spurt a little liquid out.  If that happens it may not only cause the jar to lose liquid but the liquid can get on the rim of the jar under the lid and prevent the lid from sealing properly.  So don't get in a hurry, let them sit. 

Here they are, 14 pints of delicious home canned Salmon!  

Now I'm off to find some more recipes to use canned salmon in.  With all this on hand it will be nice to have some variety.

I hope you all have the opportunity to can fish.  It doesn't have to be Salmon.  Check out what fish is available in your area then check out an approved recipe and can some.  You'll be glad you did.