Canning 101

[Tyler T]

Great thread. I canned albacore for the first time this week and it came out great. All I used was canned diced jalapenos and the juice from them. A little salt and pepper with DI water to fill the jar and it was good to go. I need to experiment some more with fine tuning everything, but very good as is already.

[damnifiknow]

By pre-cooking, you avoid having that grey overcooked blood in the jar. I put the fish in cheesecloth and put it in the pressure cooker. Bring it up to temp/pressure for a few minutes (batch size determines) , let it cool and start packing jars. I've done it both ways and prefer the precooked for "presentation". Covering with water/oil/hooch does keep the fish lighter colored. I fill the jar. Some don't seal, so darn! we have to eat fresh canned tuna for a day or three.

[SeaDawg]

I am about ready to start canning Thanks for pulling this old thread out of the archives

Anyone want to get some albacore canned, pm me No, I am NOT a nice fucking guy, I expect some of the tuna for my troubles

I am a canned albacore pig, seriously. It is one of the only fish I eat regularly, except vermillion.

We canned 18 cases of yellowfin one day with 5 pressure cookers and 2 guys (Jason & James) and it was an ALL day affair. Up by 4:30 getting the jars cleaned in the dishwasher and ready to go, cleaning up the mess around 6pm that evening

If you want to come down, and provide some manpower, then I won't want very much tuna I have 3 pressure cookers at the moment, if you can get 1 or 2, all the better.

But, if you want to just drop some off and have ME do it, well, then I have to provide the manpower and do all the work, buy the jars, get the salsa, etc etc etc. Then I would expect no less than half of what we can for you It IS alot of work, and my manpower wants to get paid in tuna

Anyhow, I just wanted to say all that in case you have a freezer full of albacore your wondering what to do with And I wanted to be up front about my intentions

This is, as far as I'm concerned, the only way to prepare, store, and eat albacore

Yes, smoked is good, but canned is a whole new level of good

Thanks for bringing up this old thread I re-read the whole thing and refreshed my own mind, I have a freezer full of albacore right now, I am done chasing them, time to start canning

[Az.monkey]

Hey Harrry, what day are you going to can, if I'm free I'll come by and lend a hand. I have a turkey fryer but no propane bottle that I can bring if needed

[Marcus]

Originally Posted by SeaDawg

I am about ready to start canning Thanks for pulling this old thread out of the archives

Anyone want to get some albacore canned, pm me No, I am NOT a nice fucking guy, I expect some of the tuna for my troubles

I am a canned albacore pig, seriously. It is one of the only fish I eat regularly, except vermillion.

We canned 18 cases of yellowfin one day with 5 pressure cookers and 2 guys (Jason & James) and it was an ALL day affair. Up by 4:30 getting the jars cleaned in the dishwasher and ready to go, cleaning up the mess around 6pm that evening

If you want to come down, and provide some manpower, then I won't want very much tuna I have 3 pressure cookers at the moment, if you can get 1 or 2, all the better.

But, if you want to just drop some off and have ME do it, well, then I have to provide the manpower and do all the work, buy the jars, get the salsa, etc etc etc. Then I would expect no less than half of what we can for you It IS alot of work, and my manpower wants to get paid in tuna

Anyhow, I just wanted to say all that in case you have a freezer full of albacore your wondering what to do with And I wanted to be up front about my intentions

This is, as far as I'm concerned, the only way to prepare, store, and eat albacore

Yes, smoked is good, but canned is a whole new level of good

Thanks for bringing up this old thread I re-read the whole thing and refreshed my own mind, I have a freezer full of albacore right now, I am done chasing them, time to start canning

Half? You stingy bastard. I was doing it for 1/4 but I collected cash for the jars and ingredients.......

I like your "price" better.

[SeaDawg]

Originally Posted by chuam

Half? You stingy bastard. I was doing it for 1/4 but I collected cash for the jars and ingredients.......

I like your "price" better.

I really don't want anyone to just drop it off Way too much work, but I will for half. Then I'm bringin it ALL too you since you only charge 1/4

What I prefer is to just have someone come over with a couple guys and then I really won't expect TOO much.

[Double Z]

Guess I need to buy a couple pressure cookers...

[robul]

what a great thread. Thanks a ton! I plan on giving your method a shot very soon. We have been catching the heck out of Blue Fin Tuna in the GOM out of port a.

[SeaDawg]

One major change After consulting with the Master (Salsa Chuck) I didn't add ANY water this year and it came out just fine. Ended up cooked in it's own oils, so no more mixing water and all that other stuff for me

[nate]

Good stuff Harry and others.

My buddy Shawn and I just got done canning some albacore last night....

We have been canning for about 5 years and have tried quite a few different recipes. Typically we use stuff like jalapenos, serranos, garlic, salt and pepper, canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, etc.

But this year we tried a couple different ingredients with good results.

The first is fresh rosemary from the yard. We used 2 stalks about 5 inches long in pint jars. Stong flavor but really good.

Secondly, which turned out better that any other method we have ever done was alder wood smoked first then canned and pressure cooked. We thought of this at the last minute so we did not have a chance to brine the fish like we usually would do if smoking.We only smoked it for 45 minutes at about 210degrees. We ate some that was still slightly warm, mixed in its own juice (we never put water in our jars) with sharp cheddar cheese and crakers. It was unbelievable!

[spize909]

Originally Posted by nate

Good stuff Harry and others.

My buddy Shawn and I just got done canning some albacore last night....

We have been canning for about 5 years and have tried quite a few different recipes. Typically we use stuff like jalapenos, serranos, garlic, salt and pepper, canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, etc.

But this year we tried a couple different ingredients with good results.

The first is fresh rosemary from the yard. We used 2 stalks about 5 inches long in pint jars. Stong flavor but really good.

Secondly, which turned out better that any other method we have ever done was alder wood smoked first then canned and pressure cooked. We thought of this at the last minute so we did not have a chance to brine the fish like we usually would do if smoking.We only smoked it for 45 minutes at about 210degrees. We ate some that was still slightly warm, mixed in its own juice (we never put water in our jars) with sharp cheddar cheese and crakers. It was unbelievable!

That's similar to what I have done but I do the brine (dry brine) thing. I like the idea of just throwing it on the smoker to get some flavor into it though........way less hassle.

Here's what I do with the smoked/canned.

1 part kosher salt to 3 parts brown sugar (if you like it salty go 1 to 2)you can also put some onion powder, garlic powder, etc in the mix.
Pat down the chunks with the mix and put in a shallow non-mettalic baking dish. Let sit for about 30 minutes and rinse it good. Dry the fish with a towel or paper towel and put on the smoking rack and let it sit out for a good hour. Put it into the smoker (I use alder also in a water smoker) and try to keep the temp as low as possible, like 150 or so. You want to get the flavor in it without cooking it. It will dry out. Smoke for about 90 minutes.
Remove from smoker and put it into the jars. With albacore I add about 1' of olive oil. With Yellow Fin Tuna you don't need the oil. The fish has enough oil and I think Yellow Fin Tuna comes out better but due to the fact that I seem to catch way more albacore I don't do much Yellow Fin Tuna.
So it goes into the canner (AA 941) at 13 #s for 110 minutes......I think. I have it written on the canner box.
Doing it this way is an all day affair for a couple of cases....but I've had lots of deck hands tell me it's the best smoked tuna they have ever had.
I have 3 big zip locks I am going to do tomorrow, no smoke, just can......might have to find some alder chips and try the quick method. Thanks for the idea.

Correction: 11 #s for 110 minutes. 16 cups of water....not sure with half pint jars and I have an All American 921.

[tecateando]

Originally Posted by SeaDawg

I am not going to pretend to understand or even know what the science is behind the pressure cooking, but my understanding is that the process kills the enzymes that eat dead flesh (decay is actually a living organism eating the dead flesh). Thus preserving the finished product. The shelf live is far greater than the amout of time it will take me to eat all this fish. Over 2 years for sure.............

Without going into a lot of scientific blabber water under pressure is able to get significantly hotter. The higher temps make it safer, since the botulism spores can live almost indefinitely in an anaerobic environment (canned food) and are very hard to kill. Botulism is one of the most deadly forms of food poisoning.