Filleting a whole salmon is easy. You can do it too! If you purchase a whole
fish, you can cure part or all of it if you wish to increase your shelf life. I will discuss curing

later. It is likely that if you purchase a whole fish from the market it will be gutted
leaving you with the remainder of the fish to deal with. I will work under this premise
for the purpose of demonstration.

You may use a couple of types of knives depending on your skill level and knife
availability. You need a BONING KNIFE, FRENCH KNIFE (chef knife) and a CARVING KNIFE

(like you. Start by running your knife or knives over a steel (to ensure a better cutting

edge). Examine your fish to determine the best and safest angle to begin your
fabrication (breakdown of the fish). With your French or boning knife remove the dorsal
fin (on the top of the fish), and both pectoral fins, pelvic fins, anal fins (near the
end of the fish lol). Next, you will remove the caudal fin (the tail). At this point, we
will remove the head (I never liked food that looked at me). Behind the gills cut off the

head with your French knife, (the French knife will allow you to use more leverage). Now
we have completed the first portion of the fabrication.

Examine the now headless fish; observe at the end where the head used to be the location
of the spine. The object is to cut down the spine between the rib bones and the flesh
(meat). Take your carving knife and cut down the length of the fish. You will hear a
satisfying crack as you cut through the bones (this is a good indication of what is
happening). Now repeat this step on the other side of the fish. At this point, we will
have completed another step in our fabrication.

Next, we will remove the skin of the fish. Using your carving knife make an incision near

where the tail used to be slicing down until you meet the skin (do not cut through the
skin).While gently holding on to the fleshy part cut between the skin and the meat. When
you have enough flesh to get a good hold on gently, pull the fish towards you using your
knife in a rocking motion (keep the knife horizontal to the table and the skin). Repeat
this step with the other half of the fish.

Observe your work and determine if you will have to trim the filet further away from the
rib bones. If you need to remove, rib bones use your boning knife in a fluid motion
(jerky movements damage the filet). Continue this motion until the ribs have been
completely removed from the filet.

The final step in our fabrication is to remove the pin bones. These are the tiny bone
that are always left behind in the filet. Take your hand and slide it along the length of

the fleshy side (not the skin side), you will feel small prickly bones running the length

of the fish. The most efficient way to remove these is to get a pair of needle nose
pliers and pull them out individually. Repeat until all the pin bones are removed.

YOU HAVE NOW SUCESSFULLY FABRICATED A WHOLE SALMON!

If you have a great deal of salmon left over that you cannot immediately consume, never
fear we can cure if you follow this very simple procedure. We will completely cover the
salmon both above and below with a mixture of salt and sugar. The ratio of salt to sugar
is 1 to 1 or 50% salt and 50% sugar. Refrigerate the remaining filets for 7 days. Remove
form the curing mixture after 7 days and rinse the salmon, now you must soak the filet in
cold water for 1 hour. Now you have high quality cured salmon just as you would buy at the store. By taking the time to do some of the work for yourself you will save up to 70% by filleting and curing your own whole salmon. Good job!

Learn more about this author, E. Means.
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