How to properly and quickly fillet herring from bones and skin? How to easily peel herring from bones and skin for salad, fur coat, slicing? Cutting fresh and salted fish and herring into fillets step by step with photos

Ways to properly and quickly fillet herring without bones or skin.

Most modern housewives prefer to buy ready-made herring fillets and use it for preparing appetizers and savory salads. But as practice shows, it is precisely this type of filleted fish that is often of low quality.

For this reason, it will be better if you buy whole herring and remove the skin, fins and bones yourself. In this case, you will be able to more correctly assess the freshness and quality of the product, thanks to which you will definitely be able to prepare a delicious snack from it. We will talk about how to clean herring without unnecessary problems in our article.

How to properly, easily and quickly peel herring: advice from chefs and housewives

Cleaning herring: advice from chefs and housewives
If you think that cleaning herring yourself is very difficult, then you are deeply mistaken. If you show a little patience, you can quickly get high-quality fillets. All that is required of you for this is to prepare a cutting board, a sharp knife and a few paper towels.

Simple tips:

Take a cutting board and wrap it in plastic wrap or just put a few regular bags over it. This is necessary so that after filleting the fish your board remains clean.
Prepare a knife with a thin blade. If you realize that it has become a little dull, then be sure to sharpen it. If you don’t do this, you will end up tearing the fish fibers when cutting and this will not allow you to make a perfect fillet.
Be sure to have tweezers handy. You will use this to remove the thinnest and smallest bones from the fillet, located as close as possible to the herring ridge.
Also place several paper napkins and towels on the table on which you will cut the fish. You will need them to remove blood and intestinal films from the fillet.
It will be more convenient to peel the herring with your hands. In order to do this quickly, you will need to pry the skin in the area of the tail or head, and then gently pull it towards you. Be careful not to overdo the tension because the skin will tear and you will have to start the process all over again from the beginning.

Cleaning in the second way

In order to properly and confidently clean herring from bones and skin using this method, you need to perform the following operations.

Remove the head as described above.
Cut a thin layer from the belly along the entire length and remove the entrails.
Then take the fish in your hands and pick up the skin with your fingers. Start peeling the herring while hanging. This must be done from the head, and not from the tail. At the same time, take your time and enjoy something that may not seem like the most interesting thing.
Next, you need to divide the fish in half along the ridge. The rib bones will remain on the ridge, and the flesh of one fillet will end up on your hands. In the same way, remove the bones from the second herring fillet.
Trim both fillets and remove any remaining bones by hand.

The herring is eventually cleaned and ready for further work.

How to quickly and correctly peel salted herring for slicing: photo

If your goal is a perfect fillet for slicing, then you need to clean the fish in the classic way and, if possible, do everything as carefully as possible.

So:

Initially, you will need to rinse the herring and blot its surface with a paper napkin. This must be done so that it does not slide on the surface of the cutting board.
When you are done with this stage, you can take the knife and proceed directly to cleaning the fish. To do this, place it on a board and cut off the head with a sharp knife. Next, make a neat cut along the ridge line and remove the upper fins in one motion. The lower fins can be cut off with ordinary kitchen scissors.
The next step is to cut the belly of the herring. If you love the caviar and milt of this fish, then try not to insert the knife very deep. Carefully pull apart the belly and gut all the insides. Also, do not forget to immediately remove all films with a paper napkin.

Use a knife to pry the skin in the scalp area and begin to remove it with a smooth movement. After the skin is removed, inspect the fish again and, if necessary, remove newly appeared dirt.
Next, use your fingers to press down on the cut made along the ridge and begin to carefully remove one half of the fillet from the bones. Set the separated fillet aside and do the same manipulation with the remaining part.
After the ridge is removed, you will need to arm yourself with tweezers and try to remove all the small bones as thoroughly as possible. The finished fillet will need to be cooled and only after that can it be cut into portioned pieces and served on the festive table.

Proper cutting: how to remove large and small bones in salted herring

The herring is bony. In addition to the backbone and ribs, it is literally stuffed with many small bones. But they are easily removed from tender meat. This can be done in several ways.

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Traditional way

Cut off the tail.
Use your thumb to spread the meat on the back and run it along the spine to the rib bones. The meat will separate easily.

Run your finger along the ridge, separating the meat
Holding it from the inside with four fingers, continue pressing to separate the fillet from the bones, moving along the ribs from the head cut to the tail. Try not to tear the ribs away from the spine.

Use your fingers to press the meat away from the ribs.
After separating one fillet, do the same on the other side.

Remove the backbone and ribs, separating the fillet

How to clean salted herring from bones on fillets for salad, fur coats: step by step with photos?

Step-by-step photo of cleaning herring
If you plan to use herring fillets to prepare a salad, then you can use the so-called pressing method for this. This method differs from the previous one in that you first have to get rid of the backbone of the fish and only then remove the skin from it.

So:

To begin, prepare a cutting board, a sharp knife, paper napkins and tweezers. When everything you need is laid out on the table, rinse the herring under running water and dry thoroughly.
Take a knife in your hands and cut off the head, tail and fins of the fish as carefully as possible. Cut open its belly and take out all the insides. If you see that there are a lot of films or remains of offal left inside the belly, be sure to rinse the fish under water again, and then dry everything with paper napkins.
Wrap the fish prepared in this way in cling film and tap it on the table or lightly beat it. This little trick will help ensure that even small bones can be easily separated from the fillet.
Place the track belly down and, pressing lightly on it, open it like a book. Press it down onto the table, then turn it over and gently remove the spine.
At the final stage, divide the workpiece into two separate fillets, remove the skin from them and remove all the bones using tweezers.

Best tips for cutting fresh and salted fish and filleted herring: list

Unfortunately, at home there is no such equipment and complex devices and separators. Therefore, to prepare fish coats or fish rolls, you have to separate the fish from the bones manually. If you use the methods that we have recommended to you, this will help speed up the cooking process.

Some tips:

Very often, after cleaning, it is difficult to remove the smell of fish from the cutting board. Therefore, before you clean the product, wrap the cutting board with cling film. After you finish cutting the fish, wrap all the intestines, head, and waste in this film and carefully remove it from the board. All you have to do is rinse it with water and there will be no smell.
To quickly remove fish odor from your hands, rub them with lemon peel or a lemon wedge. Lemon juice quickly kills the smell of fish.
To clean the knife, soak it for a few minutes in a weak vinegar solution. This will also help get rid of the fishy smell.

Herring fillet

As you can see, separating the fish from the bones is quite simple. Use our advice and everything will work out. You can prepare excellent fillet for fur coats or sandwiches.

How to debone herring fillet in one motion

Cutting herring in one motion
Those who want to clean the herring from the bones in one motion can use the method that we will introduce you to a little below. But remember, in order to get exactly the result that you expect, you must hold the fish’s tail very tightly.

In view of this, if you feel that it is starting to slip out, then simply cover each part of it with a paper towel and then fillet the fish.

Recommendations for deboning herring in one motion:

At the initial stage, it is necessary to carry out standard preparation of the carcass for cutting. This means you must gut it and remove the fins. At this stage, you can additionally dry the abdomen and remove any remaining intestinal films from it.
Make a cut on the tail of the herring no more than one centimeter deep, and then take it in your hands and begin to make somersault movements towards yourself. If you do everything correctly, the herring will describe circles around its tail.
In the next step, you must tear the fish into two parts in one sharp movement. As a result, you should be left with two boneless bellies and a loin with a ridge. It can be easily separated from the fillet by hand.
At the very end, all you have to do is remove the remaining small bones and you can cut the herring for a salad or snack.

Details

Features and secrets of herring and how to clean it from bones

After purchasing herring for fine cutting into a salad or for simple serving, many women encounter a problem, namely, they notice that the fish has a large number of small bones. In addition, some people cannot even remove its skin because it slips.

REFERENCE! However, the process of cutting herring can be greatly simplified.

There is a simple technique that makes it much easier to remove bones from fish.

The fish must be washed and placed on a cutting board. The board should be covered with cling film in advance. Now you need to make an incision on the belly.
Then you should cut off the head of the herring and gut it, removing the insides. If there is caviar in the fish, it can be pulled out and eaten.
You must remember to remove the black film from the herring using a knife.
After these steps, you can clean the fish using a method that has been proven over the years. To do this, you need to take the fish by the tail, divide it into 2 parts and hold it tightly.
The fillet should be quickly thrown over the tail. After this, you need to stretch the skeleton and spine in different directions. All the bones should remain on the skeleton, and in your hands you will only have the fillet.
Near the dorsal fin from above you need to remove a small piece of meat, which contains a lot of bones. From both pieces of fillet from the bottom you should cut about a centimeter, because there are many small bones that are difficult to remove.
It will be easier to peel the skin if you carry out this procedure from head to tail - from top to bottom.

Secrets. Regarding the question of how to professionally and quickly debone a herring in one motion, the carcass must first be brought into ideal condition, ridding it of skin and remnants of black film.

How to quickly and efficiently clean herring

To make the small bones easier to pull out, you should first knock the herring on the table and then start gutting it.
It will be much easier to clean the herring from the bones if you first cut off the gills and then remove the backbone.
To completely get rid of the black film, you should rinse the fish under running water.
To make it easier to remove the skin, you need to make a cut at the top where you cut off the head.
You can carefully clean filleted herring if you remove its slipperiness with a paper towel.
When cleaning herring, you must have a sharp knife as well as tweezers.

REFERENCE! If guests unexpectedly informed you that they are already on their way to you, then now is the time to find out how to quickly peel a herring. Below are the fastest and most interesting ways to cut fish.

Preparatory stage. First you need to prepare a container or bag for waste, as well as a cutting board and a sharp knife, after which you can start cutting. To make it more comfortable, it is better to protect your hands with latex or polyethylene gloves. The fish should first be rinsed under running water.

The first way to clean herring is classic

You need to place a knife under the first fin at an angle of 45 degrees and make a cut under the gills, then remove the head.

Now you need to cut off the upper part of the abdomen with scissors. You can, of course, do this with a knife, but with scissors the edge of the cut is smoother.

Using a knife, remove all the insides from the herring. If desired, you can leave caviar or milk. Now use scissors to cut off the tail fin.

After this, you need to turn the herring with its back and make a longitudinal cut. It needs to be done shallowly so that the skin is only slightly cut. Now you need to cut out the dorsal fin.

After this, you need to put the carcass with its head towards you and pry the edge of the skin. You need to pry it up so that your finger can fit between the skin and the meat. Using your fingers, you need to separate the skin from the body, removing it as a whole sheet, moving from the head to the tail. The same thing needs to be done on the other side.

To remove the ridge, you need to insert your fingers into the cut on the back and run them along several times so that the meat separates from the bone. From the side of the head we begin to pull the fillet, removing one part of it from the ridge.

To remove the bone from the second fillet, you need to pry the bone at the tail end and pull it towards the head.

REFERENCE! If after such cleaning there are bones left on the meat, they should be removed with tweezers.

The second way to clean herring at home is massage.

You need to cut off the head from the carcass, cut it along the belly and take out all the entrails. Now you need to wrap the carcass in paper towels so that during the next stage splashes do not fly in all directions. The next step is to hit the fish on the board on each side 3 times. This process is called massage, which is necessary so that the bones move away from the pulp easily. After this, remove the paper towel and place the carcass on a cutting board with its back facing up. Now you need to move along the back, pressing the fish to the board and pressing on it.

Then you need to turn the fish belly up and pry the separated ridge in the area of the caudal fin and pull it out.

In this method, after removing the bones, the flesh will not separate into 2 fillets because it continues to adhere to the skin. But the skin can be easily removed with just one movement from both halves at once. This is done with your fingers, as in the previous method. First, separate the skin with a knife in the upper part, and then put your fingers under it and pull it towards the tail.

REFERENCE! All that remains is to check the finished fillet for the presence of bones, and if there are any, remove them with tweezers.

The third method is how to peel a herring by the tail

To start cutting fish using this method, you must first remove the head, entrails and skin from the carcass. It is important here that the tail remains in place. It needs to be cut in the middle using a sharp knife.

Now you need to grab the edges of the tail and throw the fish over it in a circle. Now you need to pull the tail in opposite directions, without letting go of the edges from your hands.

In this case, the fish will be divided into 2 parts - the back and the abdominal. If you continue to pull slowly, you can get 3 pieces - a backbone with pulp and 2 filleted bellies. The lower part of the carcass can be removed, as it is already completely prepared. And from the top you need to remove the ridge, getting 2 more fillets.

REFERENCE! From such a herring you can quickly and easily make a delicious fish slice by garnishing it with lemon, herbs and sprinkling with oil. Or you can make sandwiches when guests arrive.

How to quickly and correctly clean fresh herring from bones and fillet: photo

Cleaning fresh filleted herring
As you already understand, if desired, the herring can be very quickly cleaned of skin and bones. If you want to simplify this process as much as possible, then use the method described below.

In this case, you can get a beautiful boneless fillet in literally a matter of minutes. True, you must remember that it is easiest to clean the largest herring using this method.

So:

How to peel herring quickly in one motion

For those who are already good at handling fish, there is a quick and effective way to cut it. This method is used where rich catches are not uncommon and it is necessary to speed up the processing process. The fish is taken by the tip of the tail with both hands. One hand on the half from the abdomen, the other from the back. You need to hold it very tightly so that the carcass does not slip out of your fingers. Now spin the fish in the direction “away from you”, and when it finishes its rotation, spread your arms to the sides with a sharp jerk. In one hand there should be a ridge with a back, and in the second - two halves of the abdomen, already cleared of bones. Now the back fillet is separated and the tail is cut off.

How to get rid of small bones in herring?

Removing small bones from herring
A large number of people refuse to eat herring due to the presence of small bones in it. But if you don’t buy ready-made fillets, but try to make them yourself, you can easily get rid of the bones. If you fillet pickled or salted herring, then you will need to arm yourself with ordinary tweezers and gradually remove all the bones from the fibers.

But keep in mind that in the ridge area the bones are located quite deep and for this reason they sometimes cannot be seen with the eyes. In view of this, it will be better if you first remove all visible bones, and then begin to carefully probe the fillet with your fingertips and remove whatever you find. This procedure should be completed only after your fingers stop finding the bones. If you remove bones from frozen fish, you will first need to peel and fillet it, and then literally put it in lightly salted water for 15 minutes.

After this time, the fish will need to be removed from the brine, rinsed, and then easily removed all the bones using tweezers. And finally, we want to tell you about a radical, but very fast method of removing small bones. In order to get rid of them in one movement, you will need to take and carefully draw a longitudinal line along the top of the fillet with a knife (its width should be approximately 5 mm). By doing this, you will immediately remove all the bones and you will not have to waste time searching for them with your hands and removing them with tweezers.

Preparation for cutting

Experts recommend buying whole, uncut herring. This way you can easily check its quality. Usually pay attention to the gills and eyes.

The color of the gills should be dark red. A darker color indicates that the herring is no longer fresh and unsuitable for food. Another sign of freshness is that the gills are elastic and do not fall apart.
The fish's eyes should not be cloudy or protruding from their sockets.

Also pay attention to the smell. There should not be any foreign impurities in it (for example, bitterness or rottenness). To avoid mistakes, buy only fresh or lightly salted herring. The more spicy the salt, the more likely it is that the manufacturer used it to hide unpleasant odors.

There should be no stains, cuts or holes on the covers of high-quality fresh or lightly salted herring. After the integrity of the skin is damaged, oxidative processes occur inside the carcass, invisible from the outside, and the fish begins to quickly deteriorate.

It is better to buy whole herring carcasses to control its quality

So, the herring has been purchased, and you need to start cutting it. For this you will need:

cutting board;
sharp knife;
tweezers or tweezers for removing small bones;
plastic bags for waste.

It will be better if you have a separate board for cutting fresh or lightly salted herring. The fact is that this fish has a persistent and corrosive odor that is difficult to wash out of a wooden surface. You can place a sheet of cardboard, paper, or a thick napkin on the board (this makes it even more convenient to remove waste). But under no circumstances should you spread the newspaper! Printing ink will definitely end up in your stomach along with the herring, and this is harmful to the body.

It is also advisable to have a separate knife. It’s good if you have a set of knives, including a special cutting knife for fish.

If you have long nails, you can easily remove small bones from a cut carcass. Otherwise, arm yourself with tweezers or eyebrow tweezers.

Which herring to buy: fillet or cut it yourself?

Recommendations for choosing herring
If you want to make your own herring fillet, then you need to choose the right fish for this. If you decide to save money and buy low-quality herring, then it is unlikely to produce a perfect fillet. Therefore, when choosing this product at the market, store or supermarket, first of all pay attention to its smell.

You don't even have to pick it up to do this. You can simply get as close as possible to the counter where the herring is lying and take a deep breath. If it is spoiled, you will feel a rather specific and unpleasant smell that will smell like rot. Fresh and properly stored herring will have a distinct marine smell. Once you are sure that the fish smells right, try to feel it, paying special attention to the belly.

If you feel that it is too soft, then most likely you have a stale product that has been defrosted many times. Also be sure to look at the color of the herring’s gills. If they are dark red and elastic, then you can safely make a purchase. And finally, look at the eyes. If they are cloudy, this indicates that the seller is offering you a completely damaged product.

Preparation of the workplace

In order to quickly clean the herring and not stain everything around it with fat, which has a strong and unpleasant odor for many, you need to prepare in advance everything you need for work. Inexperienced housewives can cover part of the table with plastic wrap to reduce their time cleaning after work. The set of tools and related materials is small and includes simple kitchen utensils.

Cutting board

It is better to have a separate board for cleaning fish: even after thorough washing, it can retain a characteristic odor. It is better to choose plastic products. They do not absorb fat, are easy to clean with any dishwashing detergent and are not damaged by sharp knives. After each cutting of herring, the wooden board will have to be scraped and washed thoroughly.

The most convenient board is one on which the whole carcass fits. This will make the table less dirty. It is advisable to buy a board with a groove along the contour: when cleaning and cutting salted herring, the brine remaining on the carcasses will not roll off it.

Knife and tweezers

These tools will be needed to fillet the fish and remove any remaining small bones. Tweezers are not necessary, because if you carefully remove the fillet, there will be almost no bones left in it. You can remove them using the same knife that was used to cut the herring. But the presence of tweezers makes the work more convenient.

Hand and clothing protection

It is best to wear gloves with a rough surface (rubber, polyethylene) on your hands. They will not only protect your hands from the persistent aroma of fish, but will also help avoid injury to the skin from small sharp bones. In addition to gloves, prepare paper towels or napkins to wipe your hands or knife, remove drops of brine from the table, etc.

To protect your dress from accidental splashes, you should wear an apron that covers both the hem and chest. Sleeves can be rolled up to the elbows.

How to cut herring at a factory: video

Above, we have already introduced you to simple homemade methods for turning a herring carcass into a perfect fillet. And as you probably already understood, this task is within the power of any person, even those who have never cooked anything in their life.

But finally, we decided to show you that fillet made on an industrial scale can also be of high quality and tasty. To do this, we bring to your attention a video from which you will learn how this delicious fish is cut in large production facilities.

How to beautifully serve herring on the table: photo

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