I absolutely LOVE home canned smoked salmon! It’s so delicious, moist and smokey and full of fantastic flavor that one would have thought I’ve canned it before. However, I have not.
A few reasons I have not brought out the pressure canner and canned my own smoked salmon is the lack of fishermen/women/persons in my life. It’s a crying shame I live next to and near 3 rivers and I don’t fish. Know why? I don’t wanna get up that early, in the dark to sit in the cold whilst trying to catch fish. I know it’s a fantastic sport for a lot of folks. I myself did have fun with my grandpa as a girl fishing for Rainbow Trout (I caught the biggest one on a trip, an 18 incher!). It was fun to spend that time with him and my grandmother camping and fishing. But my favorite part was always cleaning the fish. I was always fascinated by what they ate (lots of mosquitos which I can get behind) and how their scales felt plus the tasted delicious.
But fishing as an adult???? Nope. I don’t wanna.
So I’ve had to settle for fish from fisher folks willing to give me some to preserve. One of those fisher folks is my nephew but he had the nerve to get married and have babies whereby he sold his boat and is now too busy to fish. Sheesh! The nerve again, amiright?!? Fortunately, I adore my nephew, his lovely wife and beautiful babies so I’ve forgiven him.
But I digress! I finally got my hands on some beautifully smoked salmon from a friend who wanted me to home can and I bungled it. The smoked salmon had great flavor but it was really dry. Not the tender, moist fish I’m used to. It was a real bummer. All was not lost as it’s delicious mixed in with pasta for a seafood fettuccine, the whole pot was gone in 2 days. But it wasn’t great eating right out of the jar.
That’s the thing about canning. Sometimes you bungle it. But like accidentally burning a batch of cookies doesn’t mean I’m not gonna quit making cookies. It would be disrespectful to the deliciousness of cookies. I will continue to learn from my oopsie and trust my hand at pressure canning smoked salmon. It’s the respectful thing to do!
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