‘ CANNING SARDINES 141 

and soluble extractives—the very substances that give flavor to the 
fish. The new process retains virtually all of these substances. 
Steamed fish flattened on the flakes and had a washed-out appearance. 
Those prepared by rapidly moving hot air retained much of their 
original appearance. The skins were toughened and _ slightly 
wrinkled, like fried fish. There were not as many cracked and belly- 
blown fish obtained as when the fish were steamed. This was espe- 
cially noticeable when heavily salted or ‘‘feedy”’ fish were cooked. No 
direct comparisons with fried fish were made, but it is certain that 
the product would, in the long run, as in California, be better because 
of the absence of the usual bad effects of frying in oil. 
Some excellent fancy packs were prepared—packs that would com- 
pete, on a quality basis, with the best of imported goods from France 
and Norway. 
Forty-one cooking experiments were conducted. The fish from 20 
of these were canned, and of this number 7 were compared with packs 
of steamed fish prepared from the same lots of fish. Both small and 
large fish were experimented with, also lean and fat ones, all with 
equally good results. 
STORING AND SHIPPING QUALITIES OF THE PACKS 
Some of all the packs prepared have now (October, 1926) been in 
storage more than 2 years. Many of the cans have been shipped to 
the Pacific coast and back, as well as elsewhere. The new packs 
have stood up just as well as those prepared by the steaming process.” 
This should furnish adequate experimental proof of the shipping and 
keeping qualities of the pack for those who might have doubts in 
this matter. 
APPLICATION OF THE EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS TO COMMERCIAL OPERA- 
TIONS IN CALIFORNIA AND MAINE 
Small-scale tests with the process were very successful, as evi- 
denced by the experiments. The best conditions for preparing the 
fish were worked out, and it was shown that such conditions produced 
excellent products. There remains to be explained, however, how 
large-scale commercial operations can be carried out successfully 
and how practical this proposition will be. 
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COOKING, DRYING, AND COOLING 
In the experiments certain conditions uniformly produced excellent 
results in preparing one or several flakes of fish. The same results 
are certain to be obtained with any number of flakes, one or a 
thousand, if each individual flake is subjected to these same condi- 
tions. These conditions are taken up here. In a following section 
ways for handling the flakes and treating them in the desired manner 
are shown and discussed. 

59 All of the packs were put up in cans having no gasket on the covers where the lid is double-seamed to 
the body of the can. If no gasket is used, an absolutely tight seam is not assured, and it is a well-known 
fact that fish put in such cans do not keep well over a long period of time. In the experiments the cans 
were stored in a room where the temperature probably never went below 60° nor above 90°. Few cans ac- 
tually spoiled, but a large number of them ‘‘wept’’—that is, oil escaped from the double seam, making quite 
a mess. When the packs were about 114 years old it was noticed that the fish in most of the cans had ac- 
quired a rather strong, fishy taste. The use of gaskets and correct processing temperatures and times will 
virtually obviate these difficulties. The 1926 season saw the general adoption of gaskets. 
