Salting fish by injection

Salting is a one of the main traditional methods used for preserving fish due to its ability to create unfavorable environment for the growth of microorganisms by lowering the water activity of the fish muscle.

There are several techniques available for the salting process of smoked salmon: traditional dry salting, injection salting, brine immersion. It has been shown that different salting techniques lead to different texture properties.

Quality of the final product depends on several factors, for example, condition of the raw material and the method used for salting and drying. The exact salting procedure varies between producers and countries, and may depend on fish species and climatic conditions.

Injection was significantly different from other methods in increasing weight yields through brining, dry salting and rehydration. Salt concentrations of the brine did not influence the weight yields of dry salted and rehydrated products.

Injection-salting technology is a process of injecting brine directly into the fish products by numerous, evenly spread needles, it features not only a shortening time of processing, but also adds a mixture of additives into the fish fillets more easily and effectively, compared with brining. Injection was found to be a suitable method to supply salt into salted fish fillets.

Injection results in a relatively homogenous salt concentration in the muscle in a short time, compared to other salting methods. Additionally, it makes it possible to add other ingredients to the products, such as proteins, which would not be possible by brining.

Disadvantages of injection are risk of microbial contamination and possible damage of the muscle structure due to the pressure applied and needle holes in the muscle.
Salting fish by injection