544 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
retail trade. When prepared in this manner it is sometimes subjected to a process 
dilferent from that employed for packing it in kegs. 
In 1875 Max Ams, an extensive dealer in fishery products in New York, devised' 
and patented* a process, which is as follows: 
After the eggs have been sieved and salted in the usual manner, except that preservaliue is not 
generally used, they are placed in tin cans, which are immediately soldered and then exposed to water 
in a gentle heat, which is very gradually increased to not less than 140° nor more than 200° F. The 
can is then vented and immediately reclosed to retain the caviar in an air-tight package. By this 
l^rocess the salt mixed with the eggs will he combined with the extraneous matter sufficiently to protect 
it against decomposition and to constitute a protective covering for the eggs. If the temperature he 
less than 140°, this effect would not he obtained and decomposition would probably ensue; and if the 
heat exceeds 200°, the essential oils would evaporate and the eggs be left dry, brittle, and tasteless. 
The usual size of cans for the retail trade in this country is | pound, pound, 
1 iiound, and 2 pounds. The price received for ^ pound cans is about $1.85 x)er dozen, 
and for 1-pound cans $5.10 iier dozen. Other sizes sell at proportionate rates. 
A very choice product of caviar, which, however, seems to be little known in this 
country, is the freshly salted eggs. The fresh eggs on removal from the fish are at 
once mixed with a small quantity of salt and served in that condition within 2 or 3 
hours. This makes a delightful dish, quite superior to the usual caviar of commerce. 
In order to obtain the article in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the living sturgeon are 
transported from the Volga in tank cars, so that the eggs may be had perfectly fresh. 
A special method of preparing caviar was patented in this country in 1851, t which 
does not appear, however, to have ever been employed to any great extent. This 
Iirocess is as follows : 
The roe, Ijoing I'emovecl from the fish, are squeezed gently by hand in order to remove the individu al 
ova from the membranes by which they are covered. Sprinkle a small quantity of fine salt in a clean 
tub and place in the tub a layer of ova and a layer of salt, to the extent of 100 pounds of roe and about 
5 2>ouuds of salt. When it has remained about 6 liours, pour 6 quarts of strong brine-pickle over the 
mixture. After 12 hours a like quantity of pickle is again poured over. In from 30 to 50 hours, 
according to the state of the weather, the ova will rise or float on the pickle, while certain refuse 
matter will settle to the bottom of the tub, the extraneous matter being separated from the ova by a 
process similar to fermentation. The ova are then spread about half an inch thick on sheets, and are 
exposed to the air from 20 to 40 hours, being turned over in the sheets in the meantime 4 or 5 times 
a day. When dry, mix with it about 2 ounces of black pepper and 3 pints of oil extracted from the 
liver or milt of the male sturgeon, the purpose of the oil being to restore to the roe the sturgeon ilavor 
removed by the salting process. Let it stand for 10 or 12 days and then pack in kegs for market. 
RUSSIAN METHODS OF PREPARING CAVIAR. 
Large quantities of caviar are manufactured in Russia, especially in tbe vicinity 
of tbe Casiiian Sea, not only from tbe eggs of sturgeon but of various other species. 
Of tbe sturgeon caviar two kinds are prepared, (1) fresb or grained, and (2) bard or 
pressed caviar; tbe former is more valuable than tbe latter, selling at Astrakhan from 
$21 to $25 Iter xiood (36.112 pounds), while pressed caviar sells at $15 to $17 per pood. 
Tbe method of jirepariug each kind is as follows:! 
In preparing by either method the roe of the sturgeon is spread on a not stretched on a wooden 
frame and with narrow meshes forming a sieve. The grains are passed through the meshes by slightly 
pressing the whole mass with the hand till nothing remains on the sieve but the cellular tissue, the 
* Letters Patent No. 169668, November 9, 1875. t See Letters Patent No. 7895, .lanuary 7, 1851. 
t See Notice siir les Pecheries et la Chasse aux Phoques dans la Mer Blanche, I’Ocean Glacial et la 
Mer Caspienne. Par Alexandre Schultz, St.-Pfitersbourg, 1873. Also Rapport sur les Expositions 
Internationales de Peche, par J.-L. Soubeirau. Paris. 1871. 
