EEPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 159 



to cook the salmon twice. After the retort is filled the door is 

 securely fastened and the steam turned on, entering- at the bottom. 

 The amount of pressure is about pounds, sometimes 12 pounds, the 

 heat 250^ F. In some establishments the first cooking is continued 10 

 minutes,«but 00 minutes is considered by most canner^^ men the proper 

 time for it. 



After the first cooking- the crates are taken out and placed on a long- 

 table, called a ^'venting table," where the cans are pricked to allow 

 the steam and superfluous water to escape. The method of pricking- 

 is to use a small mallet with a short brad in the center. From 30 to 

 40 cases are placed on the table, and some six or eight Chinese, with 

 mallets in hand, go over the entire lot with great rapidity, striking- 

 each can with a quick, sharp blow. With each stroke a jet of steam 

 and fluid issue forth, rising to the height of 3 or 1 feet. No particu- 

 lar spot is aimed at; usually the puncture is made from one-half to 

 three-fourths of an inch from the center of the top, and after the 

 pricking or venting has been done the holes are soldered up. Dur- 

 ing this process an occasional defective can is found, and these are put 

 aside to be repaired, a can which has been mended being substituted. 

 When all the cans have been gone over the coolers are again loaded on 

 the trucks and rolled into the second retort, where they are subjected 

 to the same pressure of steam and heat as in the first cooking. 



It is claimed by nearly all canner3^men that if the cans were kept in 

 the first retort long enough to complete the cooking the amount of 

 steam generated would spoil the contents. It is understood that Mr. 

 William Munn, superintendent of the cannery at Alitak, Kadiak Island, 

 has successfully experimented wdth one cooking, but so far as known 

 none of those fish have been placed on the market. Mr. F. A. Seufert, 

 however, owner of a cannery at The Dalles, Oregon, has l^een placing 

 on the market for the last fivej^ears salmon which have undergone but 

 one cooking, and says that not a single case has been returned. 



The same species of salmon in different localities often requires dif- 

 ferent treatment, the method to be determined by observation. As 

 the same superintendent usually has charge of a cannerj' each season, 

 all local difficulties, which for a time w^ould be serious obstacles to a 

 new man, are reduced to a minimum; but the different opinions 

 advanced regarding the cooking and handling of salmon in a cannery 

 are necessarily the result of individual experience in different regions. 



Cooling. — As soon as a retort is emptied of cans it is filled with a 

 fresh supply from the bath, and Avhen the cannery is operated at its 

 full capacity the bathroom men are kept very busily employed. On 

 coming from the second retort the coolers and contents are lowered 

 into a bath of lye, which removes from the cans all grease and other 

 material. A slight rinsing and a few rubs with a brush over the top 



