CANNING SARDINES 79 
Drying 55 minutes, average air temperature 100°, and velocity 
about 500 feet per minute, 6.5 per cent. 
Frying 9 minutes, average oil temperature about 230°, plus 
9 minutes draining, 7 per cent. 
Draining, 18 hours, 7.1 per cent. 
The total loss was 20.6 per cent. This is larger than usual. For 
large ovals the loss in various canneries probably will run around 
12 to 18 per cent. In the two experimental runs on frying oil, 
described in the first part of this document, a total of 3,711 pounds 
of oval-sized sardines were cooked in oil 8 minutes at 230° and drained 
8 minutes over the frying vat. The average loss in weight during 
frying was 7.7 per cent. 

Fig. 7.—Drying. Fish from the brine tanks are flumed to the conveyors shown in the foreground. 
See Figure 8 for detailed plan of operation 
Cooking the fish destroys autolytic enzymes and partially steri- 
lizes the fish, so that under ordinary conditions they keep in excellent 
shape one or two days, and even longer, while waiting to be packed. 
A cross-sectional sketch of a typical fry bath is shown in Figure 10. 
The baskets of fish are drawn through the oil by an endless-chain 
conveyer, or they are lifted in and out of the oil by hand. ‘The oil is 
heated by means of steam coils placed in the lower part of the oil 
just below the place where the baskets travel. Underneath the 
coils (yet not touching them) is water, on which the oil floats. This 
water is placed there to take care of particles and body juices coming 
from the fish, as they, being heavier than oil, smk. The control of 
temperature is accomplished by regulating the steam supply. The 
speed at which the conveyer is run determines the time the fish 
remain in the oil. 
