202 DESCRIPTION OF IMPORTANT FISHERIES AND THEIR PRODUCTS 



leg meats are removed by breaking away parts of the shell and shaking 

 the meat with a vigorous motion into aluminum or stainless steel baskets. 

 The body meats, and sometimes the leg meats, are dumped into a tank 

 of strong sodium chloride brine (90 to 100° salinometer) in which the 

 shell fragments sink to the bottom. The meat is then conveyed through 

 a fresh water spray which removes excess salt and debris, inspected, 

 placed in aluminum or stainless steel baskets, and is then ready for 

 packaging or canning. Some processors provide an additional step of 

 dipping the meat into dilute solutions of citric acid (0.5 to 1.0 per cent) 

 and/or sodium benzoate (regulation allows no more than 0.1 per cent in 

 the meat) for preservation. Fresh meat is usually packed into No. ten 

 C-enamel cans holding five pounds of meat, sealed, and stored at 32 to 

 40°F. 



Whole and eviscerated crabs are cooked, washed, inspected for uni- 

 formity, and packed in crushed ice for shipment to the fresh market. In 

 recent years small lots of crabs in the shell have been frozen by immersing 

 in refrigerated brine at to 5°F for 20 minutes, packaged or ice glazed, 

 and stored at 0°F. The product should not be held for more than a few 

 months under ordinary cold storage conditions because the meat tends 

 to lose its tender texture and delicate flavor. Use of improved packaging 

 to reduce moisture loss and lower storage temperatures (—10 to — 20°F) 

 will extend the keeping quality. 



The greatest volume of crab meat is frozen and stored in hermetically 

 sealed cans. Dungeness crab meat that has been carefully prepared and 

 packed in the one or five pound cans can be stored for six months at 

 0°F with no marked quality change. For periods longer than six months 

 the use of vacuum packaging to remove oxygen, the addition of a dilute 

 salt solution (not over two per cent by weight), and storage at — 10°F 

 is recommended. 



Canned Dungeness Crab. The inspected meat is removed to a separate 

 packing area for canning where the meat is packed into half pound C-en- 

 amel cans holding 6.5 ounces of meat. Leg meat is the most desirable 

 and is packed at the ends or, in some cases, on the top only. Body meat 

 or leg meat portions are packed in the middle. About ?3 ounce of dilute 

 salt solution and citric acid is added to provide about 1.5 per cent salt 

 for flavor and a pH in the final product of 6.6 to 6.8 to minimize iron 

 sulfide discoloration. The cans are vacuum sealed, heat-processed at 

 240°F for 60 minutes (the processing conditions vary but this is the 

 recommended time and temperature), cooled immediately after retorting 

 to just above room temperature with fresh water, and allowed to dry 

 before casing or labeling. 



In order to produce a uniform, high quality of canned Dungeness crab. 



