Canned Salmon

[hjshorter]

I bought a can of salmon today just out of curiousity. It's full of bones. Blech. I spent 15 minutes picking the bones and gelatinous skin out. Now I'm not sure if I even want to try what's left.

What is the point of this product? What does anyone use it for, other than cat food?

[beans]

What sort of salmon Heather? Where is it from? Is it smoked?

If it is smoked, well, it is fabulous in the likes of that Salmon Chowder recipe I posted on that Eating Alaskan thread.

Good in a salmon salad of your preferred mix (think, ummm, err tuna salad -- oh, lord, I'm going to keep my eye peeled for a lightning bolt striking at me -- considered this as whispered!) on some toasted sourdough bread, possibly topped with melted cheese. Or mix it up and place on to crackers (usuallywith mayo) or at room temperature on top of a cream cheesed bagel. YUM.

Canned salmon, either in a real can or Ball mason jar, yup full of bones and icky skin, is normal for what my family catches, processes (cooks, smokes) and then puts up for future use.

It is finicky work, but some good stuff in the proper application.

[vengroff]

Hot-smoked salmon, of the type you find sold in mylar pouches in Alaska, BC, and Washington State, is completely different than most canned salmon. It's infinitely better. Sadly, one almost never sees it on the east coast, where cold-smoked salmon is king.

To answer the original question, canned salmon exists because it's a cheap way to process salmon so that it has a long shelf life. But again, hot smoking is much better.

[beans]

vengroff:

While some hot smoked salmon makes its way into shrink wrapped packages (cheaper in cost) there are still hot smoked and for sale in cans too.

[Suzanne F]

I bought a can of salmon today just out of curiousity. It's full of bones. Blech. I spent 15 minutes picking the bones and gelatinous skin out. Now I'm not sure if I even want to try what's left.

What is the point of this product? What does anyone use it for, other than cat food?

The point is to mash it all -- yes, bones, skin, liquid, and all -- and turn it into salmon croquettes. Well, you can remove the skin if it really bothers you, but it and the bones crumble into nothingness when you mix it enough. In fact, health sources recommend canned salmon as a good source of calcium because of the bones.

Anyway, mash it up. Mix it with some crumbs and an egg (and herbs, if you like; no salt necessary). Let it chill and firm up. Mold it into hamburger-size cakes and saute in butter. Serve with a side of mac-n-cheese or spaghetti with tomato sauce (preferably reheated from the day before.)

Can you tell I grew up on this?

Just don't think of it as "salmon."

[Carolyn Tillie]

Can you tell I grew up on this?

As did I - sage advice indeed!

[pariah_kerry]

I bought a can of salmon today just out of curiousity.  It's full of bones.  Blech.  I spent 15 minutes picking the bones and gelatinous skin out.  Now I'm not sure if I even want to try what's left.

What is the point of this product?  What does anyone use it for, other than cat food?

The point is to mash it all -- yes, bones, skin, liquid, and all -- and turn it into salmon croquettes. Well, you can remove the skin if it really bothers you, but it and the bones crumble into nothingness when you mix it enough. In fact, health sources recommend canned salmon as a good source of calcium because of the bones.

Anyway, mash it up. Mix it with some crumbs and an egg (and herbs, if you like; no salt necessary). Let it chill and firm up. Mold it into hamburger-size cakes and saute in butter. Serve with a side of mac-n-cheese or spaghetti with tomato sauce (preferably reheated from the day before.)

Can you tell I grew up on this?

Just don't think of it as "salmon."

I grew up on this as well during Lent; we used to drown the patties in ketchup.

[jackal10]

Salmon sandwiches

Must be tinned salmon, mashed with vinegar, salt and pepper, and the odd slice of cucmber if you are posh.

Like canned tuna, its a differnt thing from the natural stuff...

[Anna N]

You were all living in the lap of luxury!

Half a tin of canned salmon, scooped right out of the tin, plonked on a plate with warmed over tinned peas and mashed potatoes - and it was a LUXURY item not to be sneered at. Often slipped into a bag before being put on the counter where other customers might see it and complain!

But it was a can of salmon made into a quick salmon salad that became supper in the recent blackout and it's a staple emergency item in my pantry.

[Malawry]

I make my salmon cakes using seared salmon. This is usually Costco salmon that I portioned and froze before defrosting, searing and breaking into small bits for cakes. They are delicious. I don't much care for croquettes made with the canned sort.

[SobaAddict70]

Just think of it as nouveau sardines, without the tomato sauce.

Soba

[browniebaker]

I love the salmon patties that Suzanne described and make them often, but my secret guilty pleasure is eating canned salmon straight from the can, especially relishing the tender bones. (But, then again, I love eating all the pieces of cartilage in a chicken, too.)

[fifi]

My mother used to make the salmon patties when I was a kid. I haven't thought of that in years. Must make some soon.

This place in Bellingham WA makes some dynamite hot smoked fish. I don't get to Bellingham as often as I used to so I have mail ordered from them several times. They have never let me down. The halibut blows me away.

[hjshorter]

I tried making salmon croquettes out of the salmon, egg, dill, onion and leftover mashed potatoes.

It looked exactly like barf.

[havemycake]

My mom used to warm it in a pan of sauteed onions,skinned tomatoes, garlic and lemon juice. It would then be served over a bed of rice or with simple dumplings. I still look forward to it sometimes...

I made a chowder with it a few weeks ago. Yup, those bones and skin were a pain in the arse alright!

[ronnie_suburban]

I tried making salmon croquettes out of the salmon, egg, dill, onion and leftover mashed potatoes. 

It looked exactly like barf. 

...but how did they taste?

=R=

[Betts]

Jackal10 - Are you Canadian?? Your salmon, vinegar s&p is exactly what everybody had for sandwiches when company called. We used to joke that everynight there must have been a ton of it consumed.

The irony is that it is good for you - Omega-3's, calcium (gotta leave the bones in ) and no mayo etc. I miss it and the tomato soup and butter tarts.

[beegew]

Now, this has been a traumatic memory for my brother , but the one fifties-mother-have-can-can-cook recipe she did wonderfully was salmon loaf. Straight out of the red checkerboard Better Homes and Garden cookbook. (God forbid she'd ever gotten ahold of a fresh piece of salmon !) It was one of the things I foisted on my husband when we were first married. And now that I know how to ADjust things...okay, wait. Twenty years later and he may not be ready for it yet...

[Ling]

Sometimes I only have a few minutes for dinner, so I open a can of salmon and just eat it after picking off the skin. I like the bones!

[snowangel]

My grandmother, the one who taught me to make Burnt Sugar Cake (see eG recipes), grape pie, cupcakes with shoulders, cooked frosting (cream, sugar, flavoring to softball stage -- softball achieved based on looks, not a thermometer) and all things wonderful in the baked world, loved Salmon Patties with Creamed Peas. Shortly before she died at the ripe old age of 90+, I did get her to admit that creamed peas are better made with a roux and a combo of cream, milk, a little chix broth and a smidge of tarragon than milk thickened with flour mixed with water. I should add that when I ate out with her, even as a youngster, she always allowed me to make my own selection off the menu, without any input from her, just like I was a grownup.

I fixed it for her every time she came for dinner and to play with Diana. Thump, thump goes the heart every time I espy the canned salmon when I'm at the grocery.

[VivreManger]

There have been several threads on canned salmon.

Advantages:

Canned salmon is usually wild.

Convenience in a pinch.

In Quebec canned salmon is offered in many more varieties than in the States. Some of the fish are quite good.

I prefer to chill it in the fridge and eat the whole thing straight out of the can with only lemon juice, and perhaps capers, on lightly buttered rye or pumpernickel bread. The skin, the bones are all delicious. I hate it mashed or with mayo.

[misgabi]

I use it to make Salmon Mousse (I know very 70's - but in the big fish mould for a buffet always the first thing to be finished)

I find the different brands in Australia vary HUGELY in the quality of the salmon you can get - home brand is disgusting and we feed it to the dogs but a good brand pink or red salmon is gorgeous and I can eat it straight out of the can - much nicer than canned tuna!!

The salmon cakes (breadcrumbs, egg, herbs, mashed potato) are also a really popular standby - no tomato sauce used here though!! - I often make them up let them sit in the fridge them egg and breadcrumb them before frying in butter (other possibly Australian ingredients I have not seen mentioned that we add are peas - usually frozen - and really thinly sliced red onion)

Maybe try another brand if you didn't like the one you had.

PS to add the bones are the best part - really soft and delicious to bite into - they never make it near anything I am cooking (cooks get the best bits!!!)

[jackal10]

Jackal10 - Are you Canadian?? Your salmon, vinegar s&p is exactly what everybody had for sandwiches when company called. We used to joke that everynight there must have been a ton of it consumed.

The irony is that it is good for you - Omega-3's, calcium (gotta leave the bones in ) and no mayo etc. I miss it and the tomato soup and butter tarts.

No, I'm British, but much the same applies.

Particularly good tinned salmon sandwiches, on thin brown bread, were served in the Tea Room of the old Cavendish Laboratories, the physics department of the University of Cambridge, and where I did my PhD, and where many discoveries were made, including that of Crick and Watson of the double helix structure of DNA.

The rumour was the sandwiches were provided under a trust fund established by Professor Bragg from his Nobel prize money, to provide sustenance for staff and students who had worked through lunch.

[curlywurlyfi]

Salmon sandwiches

Must be tinned salmon, mashed with vinegar, salt and pepper

oh my god, jackal10, I haven't had those in YEARS. Lots of black pepper. And none of your fancy wine vinegars either - malt vinegar only. Or that completely scary thing, 'non-brewed condiment'. Just what the hell IS that?

Crunching on the softened bones is the best part...

Fi

[Jinmyo]

I used to have those sandwiches as kid in England in the 1950s. I liked the bones.

Haven't had them in four decades though.