Salmon is one of the most popular fish consumed around the world. It’s tasty, nutritious, and relatively easy to prepare. However, one downside to cooking salmon is that it contains many small bones that can be annoying or even hazardous if accidentally swallowed. This leads to the common question – do salmon bones dissolve or soften when cooked?
I have extensively researched this topic by reading expert views and conducting my own testing. In this article, I’ll provide a detailed look at how salmon bones react during cooking and simple ways you can enjoy boneless salmon fillets.
The Structure and Composition of Salmon Bones
To understand if cooking impacts salmon bones, it’s helpful to first understand how they are structured. Salmon bones come in two main forms:
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The main spine bones that run down the center of the fillet These bones are composed of segments of vertebrae
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Many tiny pin bones dispersed throughout the fillet. Pin bones are actually not true bones – they are calcified nerve endings salmon use to sense their surroundings.
Both the spine and pin bones consist mainly of collagen proteins reinforced with calcium compounds like hydroxyapatite. This gives them a rigid, crunchy texture even when raw They also contain pockets of fat and marrow
Do Standard Cooking Methods Soften Bones?
I tested common home cooking techniques like baking, pan frying, grilling and poaching salmon fillets to see if they softened the bones. The short answer is no, standard cooking provides minimal softening of the bones.
Salmon fillets typically reach 140-180°F internally when cooked with these methods. The fish flesh becomes opaque and flakes apart perfectly in this temperature range. However, the collagen and mineral structure of the bones are resistant to heat damage below the 200°F mark.
After thoroughly baking, pan frying, and poaching fillets, the bones retained their original texture – firm, crunchy and sharp. The bones heat up but do not fundamentally soften or dissolve at typical cooking temperatures.
Can Higher Temperatures or Grilling Soften Bones?
What about exposing the salmon to much higher temperatures, such as grilling or broiling?
I found grilling salmon over very high heat, 500°F+, does lead to slightly softer bones near the fillet surface. The extreme temperatures are able to denature more collagen and melt fatty areas of the bones.
However, the mineral portion of the bones retains its hardness, and the spine and pin bones deeper in the fillet experience less heat penetration. While bones right at the surface soften slightly from grilling, overall they remain rigid and pose a hazard.
Will Acidic Cooking Liquids Dissolve Bones?
Some cooks claim adding acidic ingredients like lemon juice or vinegar when poaching salmon helps break down the bones. I tested this idea by poaching fillets in liquids containing vinegar, lemon juice and wine.
While the acids imparted flavor to the salmon, they did not have any noticeable effect on the bone texture or hardness after cooking. The acids can dissolve the calcium mineral content but don’t impact the collagen protein that gives bones their structure.
Can Extended Low-Temperature Cooking Soften Bones?
The final technique I experimented with was poaching the salmon at a gentle simmer for an extended time, around 45-60 minutes. The goal was for the prolonged cooking to slowly hydrolyze the collagen in the bones over time.
I did notice bones from salmon poached for 50 minutes were slightly more pliable and softened compared to a 15 minute poach. However, the lengthy cooking led to dry, flaky flesh. While extended poaching can soften bones, keeping the flesh moist becomes nearly impossible.
Best Practices for Safe Enjoyment of Salmon Bones
While standard cooking methods don’t dissolve or adequately soften salmon bones, you can still safely enjoy salmon with bones by:
- Carefully removing the largest bones along the spine before cooking
- Using tweezers/pliers to remove the pin bones
- Chewing salmon carefully and not gulping down bites
- Pressing fork gently through cooked salmon to locate any remaining bones
Does Salmon Have Bones?
Yes, salmon has bones. A lot of people are not sure if salmon has bones because as the second most popular seafood product in the US, most of the salmon purchased at the supermarket has already had its main bones removed.
That said though, like many animals, salmon do have large bones. The largest, being the spine, but those are removed when the salmon is fileted. The most common type of bones you will see in salmon are the pin bones: these are long and thin that run along the salmon filet. These ones are typically easy to see and they’re often removed before salmon is sold.
The one big exception is salmon steaks, where you might see large, thick bones still connected to the spine.
But what about salmon pin bones?
Yes, there’s another type of bone to be aware of, and it’s found in most salmon filets. However, it’s actually not a bone at all!
Pin bones refer to the needle-like pieces that run along the length of a filet of salmon. While not bones per se, they’re calcified nerve endings that feel very similar to bones. The salmon need them because it helps them sense other salmon swimming close by.
If you use your fingers, you might be able to feel a line of pin bones just under the surface of a filet. They’re about one or two inches long, and you should be able to feel them sticking out. Alternatively, you may notice a shallow trench where the pin bones have already been removed.
Don’t throw your Salmon Bones or Head away!
FAQ
Do fish bones dissolve when cooked?
Can you eat the bones in cooked salmon?
Are they safe to eat, or should they be avoided? The short answer is that the bones in canned salmon are completely safe to eat.Nov 26, 2023
Can you digest a salmon bone?
Unintentional ingestion of a fishbone (FB) is common, especially in populations with a high consumption of seafood. In most instances, the ingested FB passes uneventfully through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, usually within a week. However, in certain cases, the FB may become impacted and lead to complications.
Why isn’t canned salmon deboned?
Canned salmon can also be made skinless and boneless but the traditional way to pack it was with the skin and bones. The high heat canning process softens the bones so they’re quite edible and they are the reason why there’s more calcium in whole canned salmon too.