Techniques
Fish
Skill
Beginner
2 min

How to remove salmon pin bones with tweezers (and why it’s easier after skinning)

Run your fingers to find pin bones, then pull them out with tweezers; removing the skin first makes them come out easier.

After skinning, run along the fillet to locate pin bones. Use fish tweezers (or regular tweezers) to grip each bone and pull it out. The transcript notes pin bones come out more easily once the skin is removed from underneath.

The short version

  • Pin bones are easier to remove after skinning
  • Use tweezers for a clean pull
  • Pin bones run only partway down the fillet

What you need

  • fish tweezers
    optional
    Regular tweezers can work too.

How to do it

  1. 1

    After skinning, run your fingers along the fillet to find the pin bones.

    Feel for the bone tips (“head up”).

    Watch this step
  2. 2

    Use fish tweezers (or normal tweezers) to grip each pin bone and pull it out.

    Pin bones only run about halfway along the fillet.

    Watch this step

Why it works

With the skin removed, the bones are less anchored and can be extracted more cleanly.

Put it to use

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