How To Remove Pin-Bones From Fish

Fish fillets are versatile, tasty and easy to cook. They’re a lot more enjoyable to eat if you take a few minutes to remove any pin-bones before cooking them. Pin-bones are the fine, flexible bones found down the centre of fillets, as opposed to the larger skeletal bones. They aren’t actually bone but calcified ligament. All you need to remove pin-bones is a pair of fish tweezers or, at a pinch, regular tweezers that have been sterilised. Once you’ve pin-boned your fish fillets, see the video below to learn how to cook them perfectly.

Here’s how to remove pin-bones from fish fillets:

1. Place fillets on a clean work surface, skin side down.
2. Run your finger along the centre of the fillet to find the bones.
3. Place a finger either side of a bone to prevent the flesh tearing.
4. Grasp the bone with fish tweezers and pull in whichever direction it comes away most easily (usually towards the head end).
5. Dip the tweezers in water to dislodge the bone, then repeat with remaining bones.
6. Alternatively, cut along either side of the bones and discard that section. Called a v-cut, this is especially suitable when fish have a dark central bloodline that you also want to discard.