Salt fish

In short

• Fish goes on ice straight away after the catch and is salted the same day. Oily fish (sardine, anchovy, herring, mackerel) must not sit in the warm even for an hour.
• Fish eaten without cooking is first frozen for at least 7 days at −18 to −20 °C (0 to −4 °F) (parasites).
• Salt sardines, anchovies and herring ripen in saturated salt: roughly 300–350 g of salt per 1 kg of cleaned fish, for 2–3 months.
• Lightly salted fish (cured trout, roe) is short-lived: fridge at up to 4 °C and 5–7 days.
• Histamine can't be seen and isn't destroyed by cooking: tingling in the mouth, flushing and headache after fish mean you need a doctor.
• Pregnant women, small children, the elderly and the ill eat salt fish only cooked or baked.

What's inside

Chapters

1. What gets salted
2. Fish safety: four hazards
3. From catch to salting
4. Salt sardines, anchovies and herring
5. Cured trout and salmon
6. Salted roe
7. Marinated anchovies, sardines and herring
8. Salt cod: soaking
9. Faults, storage and when to throw out
10. Common mistakes
11. Printable checklist

Worksheets

• Salt fish calendar
• Fish salt calculator
• Date calculator
• Catch and salting log
• Labels for salt fish