How to Pressure Can Salmon in Canada (Bernardin Method)

Pressure-canned salmon is the most-Canadian fish preserve. Pacific coast First Nations have been canning salmon traditionally for over a century. East Coast fishing families pressure-can the morning catch. Inland anglers who hit a good lake trout day put up jars for the winter.

A jar of home-canned salmon is dramatically better than commercial canned salmon — more flavour, cleaner texture, complete control of salt level. And the bones, softened by the long pressure cycle, become a calcium-rich edible part of the product.

This is a pressure-canning recipe. Pressure canning is the only safe home method for fish. Fish-canning failures are a documented historical cause of botulism — follow the rules exactly.

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Before you start — the safety rules

1. Use a genuine pressure canner. Presto 23-quart, All American 921, or another tested model. See pressure canner guide. Pressure cookers and Instant Pots are NOT pressure canners.
2. 10 PSI minimum at sea level. Higher PSI at altitude.
3. 100/110 minutes for fish — longer than the 75/90 minutes for meat. Don’t shortcut.
4. Vent the canner 10 full minutes before applying the regulator.
5. Cool the canner naturally — never force-cool.

What you need

For 6-8 × 250 mL jars or 4-5 × 500 mL jars:

• 2-3 kg fresh salmon (or trout, char) — head and tail removed, cleaned of viscera
• Optional: pickling salt — 1 tsp per 1 L jar, ½ tsp per 500 mL, ¼ tsp per 250 mL
• Optional: 1 tsp olive oil per 500 mL jar for richness
• Bernardin 250 mL or 500 mL wide-mouth jars — wide-mouth strongly preferred for packing fish
• Fresh SNAP lids and bands
• Pressure canner (Presto 23-quart or All American 921)
• Standard canning kit — jar lifter, headspace tool, funnel, large bowl for handling fish, sharp knife, cutting board
• Apron — fish handling is messy

Pick your fish

Most-canned in Canada

• Sockeye salmon (BC, Yukon) — deep red flesh, classic Pacific canned-salmon look
• Coho salmon (BC) — milder flavour, still excellent
• Pink salmon (BC, very common) — lightest in colour and flavour; the budget-canned salmon
• Chinook / King salmon (BC) — premium; sometimes too rich to can (the natural fat content makes for a very oily product)
• Atlantic salmon (East Coast farmed, sometimes wild) — same processing
• Lake trout — interior lakes; same processing
• Arctic char (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut) — premium northern fish; same processing
• Brook / rainbow trout — same processing; usually packed in smaller 250 mL jars due to small fish size

Don’t pressure can

• Atlantic cod — specific Bernardin recipe exists; different processing
• Tuna — possible with specialized Bernardin recipe; not in this guide
• Shellfish — specialized recipes only; high botulism risk if done wrong

Method

Step 1: Prep the fish

1. Clean fish thoroughly — gutted, scaled, head and tail removed, blood line scraped out (the dark line of blood vessels along the spine).
2. Wash under cool running water to remove any blood, slime, or residue.
3. Decide on bones:
   • Bones in (traditional, calcium-rich): leave intact; the long cook softens them
   • Bones out (cleaner product): fillet the fish, removing the spine and rib bones. The pin bones can be left in (they soften too) or removed with fish-bone tweezers.
4. Decide on skin:
   • Skin on (more flavour, slightly chewier): traditional
   • Skin off (cleaner): also fine
5. Cut fish into chunks that fit your chosen jar size:
   • 250 mL jar: 3-4 cm chunks
   • 500 mL jar: 4-5 cm chunks
   • Pack as tight as possible without crushing

Step 2: Prep the canner

1. Add 7-8 cm of water to the pressure canner with the rack inside.
2. Heat to a gentle simmer.
3. Have hot jars ready on the counter.

Step 3: Pack the jars (raw pack)

1. Add salt to each hot jar: ½ tsp for 500 mL, ¼ tsp for 250 mL.
2. Optionally add 1 tsp olive oil per 500 mL jar for richness.
3. Pack raw fish chunks into hot jars, leaving 2.5 cm (1 inch) headspace. This is more headspace than meat — fish expands more.
4. Do not add liquid — fish releases its own.
5. Don’t press fish too tightly — packed too dense and heat can’t penetrate. Snug but not crushed.
6. Wipe rims with a clean damp cloth (wipe with a vinegar-dampened cloth if there’s any oil residue from the fish — clean rims are essential for seal).
7. Apply fresh SNAP lids fingertip-tight.

Step 4: Process

1. Lower jars into the canner. Water level should be 7-8 cm — not covering jars.
2. Lock the lid. Heat on high.
3. Vent for 10 full minutes. Critical safety step.
4. Apply the regulator. Bring to 10 PSI at sea level.
5. Start the timer when 10 PSI is reached:
   • 250 mL jars: 100 minutes at 10 PSI
   • 500 mL jars: 110 minutes at 10 PSI
6. Maintain pressure throughout. If it drops below 10 PSI even briefly, restart the timer.

Step 5: Cool and check

1. Turn off heat. Don’t move the canner.
2. Let depressurize naturally — 45-60 minutes. Never force-cool.
3. Once at zero, remove the weight, wait 10 minutes, unlock the lid.
4. Lift jars with jar lifter. Cool 12-24 hours undisturbed on a towel.
5. Check seals. Wipe jars clean. Label with date.
6. Store in cool dark dry place.

If a jar doesn’t seal: refrigerate that jar and eat within 2 days, or reprocess within 24 hours (with the full 100/110 minute cycle). Fish has a much shorter “refrigerate and eat” window than other low-acid foods.

Altitude adjustments

Altitude	Weighted gauge	Dial gauge
0 – 305 m	10 PSI	11 PSI
305 – 610 m	15 PSI	12 PSI
610 – 1,220 m	15 PSI	13 PSI
1,220+ m	15 PSI	14 PSI

Times stay 100/110 minutes; PSI changes. See Canadian altitude table.

Storage

• Cool, dark, dry place at room temperature
• Best quality 12-18 months
• After opening: refrigerate, use within 2 days (fish has the shortest opened-jar window of any canned food)
• Inspect every jar before opening — bulging lids, off smell, foam, or leakage means discard the jar without tasting

Botulism is the real risk with home-canned fish. Any jar with bulging, leaking, or any sign of spoilage must be discarded without opening or tasting. Boil for 30 minutes before disposing.

How to use canned salmon

• Salmon patties / cakes — drained, mixed with breadcrumbs, egg, herbs, pan-fried
• Salmon salad — drained, mixed with mayo, celery, dill (replaces tuna salad)
• Salmon pasta — drained into hot pasta with cream, lemon, dill
• Salmon chowder — drop a jar into a creamy potato chowder
• Salmon sandwiches — drained, mashed with mayo, on bread with lettuce
• On a charcuterie board — straight from the jar with crackers and cream cheese
• Salmon spread — blend with cream cheese, dill, capers, lemon
• Quiche or frittata — fold drained salmon into the egg base
• Fish tacos — flake into corn tortillas with cabbage slaw
• As a quick protein — over salad, on toast, in a wrap

The bones in home-canned salmon (if you left them in) are completely soft and edible — crush with a fork into salmon patties or spread.

Variations

Smoked salmon canning

1. Cold-smoke salmon for 4-8 hours in a smoker BEFORE canning. (Hot-smoked salmon is already cooked — different process.)
2. Cut into chunks; pack and process the same 100/110 minutes.
3. Result is the smoky flavour intensified into the canned product.

Salmon with garlic and dill

Add 1 garlic clove + 1 sprig of fresh dill per 500 mL jar. Mediterranean influence.

Salmon in oil

Add 1 tbsp olive oil per 500 mL jar; reduce salt. Mediterranean style.

Salmon with lemon zest (don’t add lemon juice)

Add the zest of ½ lemon per 500 mL jar for brightness. Lemon zest is safe; lemon juice changes the acid environment unsafely.

Spice-rubbed salmon

Coat fish chunks lightly with 1 tsp ground black pepper + ½ tsp paprika before packing.

Trout

Same protocol. Lake trout, brook trout, rainbow trout all process the same.

Char

Arctic char from the North processes the same. Premium northern fish.

Common problems

• Liquid siphoned out (jar partially empty). Very common with fish — fish releases lots of moisture during processing. As long as seal is intact and majority of liquid remains, safe.
• Strong fish smell when opening. Some fishy smell is normal. If it smells putrid or rotten, discard.
• Fish texture is mushy. Over-processed or fish was over-soft to start. Use fresher, firmer fish.
• Fish stuck to jar bottom. Pack more loosely next time. Doesn’t affect safety.
• Skin separated from flesh during processing. Normal. Eat or discard the skin pieces.
• Brown discoloration at the top of the jar. Air exposure / oxidation. Pack more tightly; ensure complete coverage by natural liquid. Cosmetic.
• Jar didn’t seal. The 24-hour rule. Fish refrigeration window is short — eat in 2 days or reprocess.
• Bulging lid weeks/months later. Discard immediately. Do not taste. Do not open in a way that aerosolizes contents. Wrap and dispose; bleach-clean anything it touched. Highest-risk botulism warning sign in home canning.

Why home-canned salmon is worth it

• Dramatically better than commercial — fresh fish, exactly your seasoning, BPA-free
• Cost-effective for fishers — when you’ve caught the daily limit, canning is the storage method that preserves all of it
• Heritage Canadian preserve — Pacific First Nations, BC coastal communities, Atlantic Canadian fishing families
• Convenience meal protein — open a jar; use in salads, sandwiches, pasta in minutes
• Calcium-rich if bones left in — important if you don’t eat dairy
• Hunter / homesteader essential — same equipment makes meat, fish, beans, soup all shelf-stable

Yield expectations

• 2-3 kg fresh salmon → 6-8 × 250 mL jars OR 4-5 × 500 mL jars
• A typical Canadian fishing-household-canning session uses 5-15 kg of fish and yields 12-30 jars (a year+ supply)

Next steps

• Best pressure canner in Canada — Presto vs All American — equipment guide
• How to pressure can chicken in Canada — companion protein
• How to pressure can beef stew in Canada — companion meal-in-a-jar
• How to pressure can bone broth in Canada — fish bones become an excellent broth
• Pressure canning pillar — broader method context
• Canning altitude adjustments — required reading
• How to tell if canned food has gone bad — botulism awareness (critical for fish)
• SNAP lid reuse rules — fresh lids every batch