introduzione
Il salmone è uno dei pesci più popolari del mondo, Celebrato per il suo ricco sapore, colore vibrante, e significativi benefici per la salute. Ma ti sei mai chiesto del viaggio che impiega dall'acqua al tuo piatto? This journey is a marvel of modern food science, involving a highly sophisticated, technology-driven process designed to deliver the freshest, safest, and highest-quality product to consumers globally.
This guide will pull back the curtain on the meticulous world of salmon processing. We will walk you through each critical stage inside a state-of-the-art factory, from the moment the fish arrives to its final packaging. You will discover the blend of precision machinery, expert craftsmanship, and stringent quality control that defines this fascinating industry and ensures the premium quality of every fillet.
This article explores the secondary processing phase of salmon within a factory setting. The raw material we will be following is gutted salmon, which has already undergone primary processing (harvesting, bleeding, and gutting) closer to the source. Perciò, this guide will not cover the initial grading and gutting stages, but will instead begin from the moment the gutted salmon arrives at the processing facility, ready for filleting and refinement.
1.Raw Material Salmon Reception
The entire process hinges on the quality of the raw material. Chilled, gutted salmon typically arrives at the factory in insulated containers, maintaining a core temperature just above freezing to ensure maximum freshness. Upon arrival, the first step is a rigorous reception inspection. Quality assurance staff meticulously examine each batch, checking for key indicators of freshness like firm flesh, bright skin, and a clean smell. They also verify that the fish meet specifications for size and weight and are free from any physical damage, blemishes, or signs of disease.
2.Salmon Descaling
Once accepted, the salmon are transported to the descaling station. While traditional methods were manual, modern factories utilize automated high-pressure water descalers. These fish scaling machines use carefully calibrated water jets to efficiently remove all scales without damaging the salmon’s delicate skin and underlying flesh. This step is crucial not only for consumer preference but also for ensuring a clean surface for the subsequent filleting and skinning processes.
3.Salmon Deheading
Deheading is a precision task critical for maximizing yield. This can be done manually by skilled workers or, more commonly, through automated deheading machines. In both methods, the preferred technique is the Taglio a V, also known as a collarbone cut. This cut follows the anatomical line of the fish’s collarbone, precisely removing the head while preserving the maximum amount of valuable meat from the nape area, thus minimizing waste and maximizing profitability.
4.Salmon Desliming
After deheading, the salmon pass through a desliming machine. The natural slime layer on a fish, while protective in its natural habitat, can harbor bacteria and must be completely removed to ensure food safety and quality. The desliming process involves a combination of soft, rotating brushes and a constant flow of chilled water. This gently but effectively scrubs the fish surface, removing any remaining slime, residual blood, and microorganisms, preparing it for the sterile processing environment.
5.Salmon Filleting
This is where the salmon truly begins to take its familiar form. Automated filleting machines are masterpieces of engineering. Using sensors or mechanical guides, the machine adjusts its circular blades to the specific size and contour of each individual fish. With incredible speed and precision, it makes a series of cuts along the backbone and rib cage, seamlessly separating the fish into two skin-on fillets while the central back bone and ribs are diverted for collection as by-products.
6.Salmon Fillet Skinning
Depending on the final product’s specification, the skin is removed next. The skin-on fillets are placed onto a conveyor belt leading into an automatic skinner. A fully automatic fish skinning machine works by feeding fillets through a conveyor where a pressing roller holds them in place as a sharp blade cleanly separates the skin from the flesh. The tension and blade depth are perfectly controlled to remove the skin with virtually no loss of valuable meat.
7.Salmon Fillet Trimming
Trimming is where expert craftsmanship meets quality control to create the perfect fillet. This can be performed by highly skilled technicians with sharp knives or by automated systems using high-pressure water jets or optical blades. Trimmers remove the fins, fatty belly tissue, any remaining rib bones, and smooth out ragged edges to create a uniform, aesthetically pleasing fillet. Different levels of trim are designated by industry standards.
Salmon Fillet Trim Specifications
| Trim Grade | Description of Trim | Key Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| A-Trim | Whole fillet with backbone, belly bone, collarbone, fins, and tail piece removed. | Skin-on or skinless; pin bones in. |
| B-Trim | A-Trim with belly fat and fins removed. | More trimmed and neat. |
| C-Trim | B-Trim with pin bones and tail piece removed. | Fully boneless, ready for portioning. |
| D-Trim | C-Trim with the fatty belly membrane fully removed. | A lean, uniform fillet. |
| E-Trim | C-Trim with both skin and pin bones removed. | Completely ready for consumer use. |
8.Salmon Pinbone Removing
Salmon fillets contain a line of small bones called pin bones, which must be removed for a premium, consumer-friendly product. While this can be done by hand with tweezers, factories use sophisticated Pin Remover Machine. The fillets pass under a specialized roller that uses small, precise “fingers” to catch the bones and pull them out. To ensure 100% removal, this automated process is almost always followed by a manual inspection and touch-up by trained personnel.
9.Fillet Washing
After trimming and pinbone removing, the fillets undergo a final wash. They are conveyed through a Fillet Washer machine, which uses a gentle shower of chilled, purified water. This final rinse ensures that any remaining loose scales, tiny bone fragments, or other residues from the previous stages are completely washed away, leaving a pristine fillet ready for final inspection.
10.Quality Inspection and Grading
This is the final and most critical checkpoint. Every single fillet passes through a rigorous quality inspection. This can be a brightly lit inspection table staffed by experienced graders or an advanced machine vision system that uses cameras and software to detect defects. Inspectors look for any remaining pin bones, scales, blood spots, bruising, or imperfections in the trim. Based on strict criteria—including color (often checked against a standard like the colour, fat content, misurare, and texture—the fillets are graded into categories such as Superior, Ordinary, or Production grade.
11.Packaging
Once graded, the salmon products are immediately packaged to preserve their freshness. The most common methods are highly advanced to extend shelf life and ensure product integrity:
- Vacuum Skin Packaging (VSP): The product is placed on a tray, and a heated top film drapes over it, creating a vacuum that molds the film perfectly to the product’s shape like a second skin. This method offers excellent visual appeal and prevents freezer burn.
- Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP): The package is flushed with a specific blend of atmospheric gases (typically carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and oxygen) before sealing. This controlled atmosphere inhibits bacterial growth and helps maintain the salmon’s natural color and freshness for longer.
- Thermoforming Vacuum Packaging: This method uses two rolls of film. The bottom film is heated and molded into a tray shape, the product is placed inside, and the top film is sealed over it. This can be done with a vacuum or MAP process and is highly efficient for large-scale production.
12.Weighing, Labeling, and Metal Detection
After packaging, each unit moves along an integrated line. First, it passes over an automatic weigh-scale, which prints a label containing all essential information: product name, weight, price, production and expiration dates, origin, and a traceability code. Immediately following labeling, every package must pass through a metal detector. This is a critical food safety step, mandated by programs like HACCP, to ensure no metal contaminants have accidentally entered the product.
13.Freezing and Cold Storage
Packaged salmon is destined for either the fresh or frozen market.
- Fresh products are immediately moved to a cold storage facility maintained at 0-4°C (32-39°F) to await shipment.
- Frozen products are sent into a blast-freezing tunnel, where temperatures of -40°C (-40°F) or lower freeze the salmon solid in a matter of hours. This rapid freezing process creates tiny ice crystals, which preserves the fish’s cellular structure, locking in its flavor, texture, and nutritional value. Once frozen, it is transferred to a storage freezer held at or below -18°C (0°F).
14.Boxing and Dispatch
In the final step, the finished products are packed into insulated shipping containers according to customer orders. Gel ice packs are added to fresh shipments, while dry ice may be used for frozen products to maintain temperature during transit. The boxes are then loaded onto refrigerated trucks and dispatched to distribution centers, supermarkets, and restaurants around the world, with the cold chain meticulously monitored until the very end.
Conclusione
The journey of salmon from a whole fish to a perfectly prepared fillet is a testament to the synergy between technology, human expertise, and an unwavering commitment to quality and safety. Every step, from the initial reception to the final dispatch, is carefully controlled and monitored. This meticulous and complex process ensures that when you enjoy a piece of salmon, you are experiencing a product that is not only delicious and nutritious but also handled with the utmost care.