Beard. — Canning of Sardines. 125 



had already been eliminated in Maine, because a steamed 

 pack was much cheaper to prepare. Steaming as done 

 there, however, is evidently not suitable for California use. 

 In this study three methods of preparing the fish for making 

 the California "pound oval" pack were investigated, samples 

 prepared, stored and shipped. These methods (named 

 from a characteristic step in the process) are: steaming, 

 cooking in brine and packing raw. 



The preparation of fish for canning can be shown to be 

 essentially a process of removing excess water from the fish 

 and getting them into good physical condition for canning. 

 If sufficient water is not removed from the fish — sardines let 

 us say — before being sealed in the can they will shrink badly 

 and give up much water during the sterilizing process. This 

 gives a slack, so called "sloppy" pack which not only pre- 

 sents a poor appearance when opened, but is in no condition 

 to withstand the treatment it might receive in being shipped. 



Study shows that the procedure used when the fish are 

 fried is an excellent one for removing water from them. To 

 succeed, another process must accomplish this same end. If 

 this removal of excess water is well done, and if the fish are 

 in good physical condition when packed, a very good product 

 will be obtained having satisfactory keeping and shipping 

 qualities. This has been shown to be the case with the 

 experimental packs put up by the different processes. 



The big drawback to the steaming of California fish, 

 especially fat ones, is that the skins break badly during the 

 process and that they then stick to the trays and to each 

 other when cold. Brining and drying before steaming, 

 especially the latter, were found to lessen, but not eliminate, 

 these bad effects, as does the use of trays the wires of which 

 are oily. The preparation for canning them in this methodis 

 to brine, steam, drain and cool the fish. Good results were 

 also obtained by packing the well dried fish into cans, invert- 

 ing them to facilitate draining and then steam. 



Instead of passing the fish through hot oil, simmering 

 strong brine may be used. The fish should first be dried, 

 but not brined, as this combined with cooking in a salt solu- 

 tion gives a too salty final product. This same trouble is 

 encountered when small fish are used so the method is not 

 applicable to the preparation of "quarter-oils." A ten- 

 dency towards a too salty final product can be met by leaving 

 the salt out of the tomato sauce. Although not so pro- 

 nounced as when the fish are steamed there is found to be 

 some trouble in this method regarding the sticking of the 

 cooled fish to each other and to the wire trays. 



