CHAPTER 24 



Canned Fishery Products 



R. G. Landgraf, Jr. 



History of Canning 



The preservation of fish for use during the off season is an age-old idea. 

 The drying and smoking of fish are processes developed shortly after the 

 discovery of fire. Salting dates back to the stone age and pickling to the 

 Greeks and Romans. The modern day application of these methods of 

 preservation, which are referred to as ' 'curing/' are covered in Chapter 25. 



As compared to curing, canning, by far the most important method of 

 preservation, is relatively new, dating back only 150 years. The father of 

 the canning industry is generally recognized to be Nicolas Appert, a 

 French chef, who began working on canning in response to a Napoleonic 

 government offer in 1795 of a prize of 12,000 francs to anyone who could 

 find a new method of adequately preserving foods for France's fighting 

 men. Although initial success was obtained in 1804, his method was not 

 completely developed until 1809. His results, after being investigated, 

 were published under the terms of the award in 18 10"^. Appert's method 

 was simple. He merely sealed his products in glass, immersed them in 

 boiling water, and ''processed" them for a time sufficient to keep them 

 in edible condition. The length of the process was determined strictly 

 through trial and error. 



Canning in the United States began in 1820, with Ezra Draggett and 

 Thomas Kensett canning oysters in New York and William Underwood 

 packing lobster and fruit in glass in Boston. However, it was not until 

 1844 that true commercial quantities of oysters were produced by 



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