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Ingredients when canning tuna

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11K views 38 replies 26 participants last post by  Han Solo  
#1 Ā·
We canned tuna Monday after an incredible weekend of catching. Last year each jar was au natural. This time we added a slice of jalapeno or a bit of olive oil in some jars. Got us thinking if other ingredients like dill or a slice of lemon would work? Curious,what do you add?
 
#2 Ā·
I use olive oil in all my canned tuna. I have done the jalapeƱos, add more than you think or the flavor seems to be overcome by the tuna. Drill weed is one of my favorite s. Tried a mild smoke before canning, that was good for crackers and cheese. Liquid smoke gives a similar taste.

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#3 Ā·
I started using a dollop of Sriracha a few years back and EVRYONE loves it.

So in a half pint a pinch of salt and a dollop of sriracha. I put it in the jars before I load the meat. In a pint jar at least a tablespoon with a 1/16 oz measure of salt.

The heat will mostly cook out during canning, but theres a lot of flavor still there.

If I am making tuna sammiches I squirt a good shot of sriracha in the tuna as I am mixing in the other components.

Try It, I bet you'll like it.

Edit to add: I have canned yellowfin and blue fin as well as yellowtail. I have only ever added olive oil to yellowfin. Albacore is the fattest, bluefin is next. They are both fine making their own oil. Yellowfin is good, but a bit dry. Yellowtail tastes great but its tough. I eat it out of the jar with a fork.

$.02
 
#8 Ā·
Lots of good variations here. I generally have settled on either plain with a pinch of salt for half pints.

Or my favorite is coat in kosher salt for 15-25 minutes, rinse and cold smoke for 20-30 minutes, add a garlic clove, 3 slices of jalapeno or Serrano pepper to a half pint jar or retort pouch and can.

I also can some yft and bft like GRB, bft being the favorite of most canned. I might try a little oil for the yft but the other fish no need. And a little bit of belly meat will make albacore cans good and oily like Pearl says.
 
#10 Ā·
I tried a bay leaf once....yikes the flavor was WAY too strong. There are some good ideas on this thread.

As an aside, my 3.5 year old grandson likes making little "sandwiches" of a potato chip, a slice of pickle and a glop of home canned tuna! He ate 20 of those things a few days ago. Messy, but fun.
 
#11 Ā·
I cut the tune to size for filling a pint jar. I use a smoke tube for my Traeger so I get smoke, but no heat as I don't want to drive any of the fat out of the fish. I'm curious about my last batch, as the smoke was really rolling around inside the Traeger, I'll see if too much smoke was added. When filling, I add 1/2 tsp of kosher salt, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and 1 tablespoon of water. The jars come out with lots of juice rolling around inside, just like my canned salmon.

I tried the jalapeno and garlic in the past, but must not have put enough in, as I didn't really taste it when making sandwiches.
 
#15 Ā· (Edited)
Partial clove of garlic.
Little cilantro and lemon.
Ghost pepper chili salt.
Flavored olive oil.
Sun dried tomatoes and rosemary.
Shoot Levi, I didn't even think about cilantro along with the other ingredients you mentioned...great call!
Welp with all the excellent recipes, time to get more tuna!! Hope we call get out in September & get into 'em
 
#17 Ā·
I do all kinds of added ingredients to a lot of my jars, and those are always the jars that dissappear first. I always add a 1/4 tsp of salt to each jar regardless of what flavors I put in. I think adding a chunk of belly meat in each jar is a fantastic addition.

A few of my favorites:
-Huy Fong Chili Garlic Paste
-JalapeƱo, black pepper and Lemon juice
-Soy sauce, sesame oil and red pepper flakes

You can really get creative with it. It makes the jars great for eating with a fork, over having to make the boring tuna fish sandwich over and over.
 
#24 Ā·
We do 1/4tsp salt, 1ā€ chunk belly, 1/2 TBS water for 1/2 pint, double for pint on 90% of jars.
Done:
EVO
Light smoke
Liquid smoke
Smoked salt
Garlic
Several type peppers
Mae ploy
Old bay
Tony Chachere more spice
Cavenders Greek seasoning

The last batch we did Dan-O’s seasoning cause my kid likes that stuff. Haven’t tasted any yet.
 
#39 Ā· (Edited)
Still rocking the non iodized salt and tuna as ingredients. I will sometimes slide a half a jalepeno into an air space in the jar. The cooked pepper is not very appealing when you get into the jar but the flavor is in the fish when you eat it. Pasilla peppers work too.

Anything with sugar in it will turn black. IE: Thai chili sauce.

X2 Rymart. We tried the freeze then can later just the one time. Now all the fish goes from cooler to jar or prepped and frozen. We cut and set up any grill tuna before freezing. It is just too soft after the freeze. Cut the freezer bag, add marinade and let it thaw in the fridge. Then drain and grill when it is thawed.

BAM!