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  • Not just small fish: salmon and trout are canned bone-in as well. – Lee Daniel Crocker Sep 10 '18 at 16:55



The USDA released a paper on the effects of cooking on 'fish bones softening', and you can find it if you search online...they tested pressures of 15, 20 and 25 psi (which gave them temperatures of 220 to 270 degrees water temp under pressure)...and found that even tuna and rockfish had 'gelatinous bones' at the highest temp-pressures.

The only way to cook fish to 'soft bones' (gelatinous) consistency, and not destroy nutritional or flavor values, is to do so with a GOOD pressure cooker capable of 20-psi or more, and cook times from 30-to 120 minutes, based on your own personal tastes.



  2. Lay the washed fish on the oiled surface.



Here is the recipe to try :)



If you can go with picking out big bones from fish before cooking/eating then there is this Chinese (as far as I know) method to soften smaller bones - like smaller bones in a Carp's back.

I've tried this method with roasting stuffed carps in the oven. The carps were rather big - 2-3 kg and spent like an hour and a half in the oven. I suppose this approach won't work with frying or boiling. Haven't tried it, though.

Before cooking the fish, cut its skin in several places (not very deep just to make sure the skin is cut). Then rub it with salt, soak in wine, and let it rest for about 15 minutes. After an hour and a half in the oven smaller back bones should be soft enough to go down unnoticed.


One time I made a mistake making fish stock. I put it on and fell asleep thinking it would be a short nap. Some hours later I woke to find the stock simmering. All the bones and heads were GONE. This is not even a hard boil!

I believe everyone who says fish bones can soften with pressure cooking. Think: When has a fish ever had to live in boiling water? Never. The bones never have to survive this. If Darwin is correct, you need only bones that are good for water that is not boiling :-)

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