How It's Made - Canned Sardines

Summary

This video takes you through the detailed process of how sardines from the Pacific Coastal Waters near Costa Rica are prepared and packaged. Fresh sardines are chilled, sorted by size, and descaled before being cut, cleaned, and arranged for packaging. They are cooked at 212°F, treated with oil or flavored sauce, and then sealed airtight to ensure freshness. The cans are sterilized, labeled, and made ready for shipment, showcasing an efficient, quality-controlled operation from ocean to can.

Takeaways

• 🐟 Sardines from Pacific Coastal Waters are freshly packaged in various flavors.
• ❄️ The process begins by placing sardines into icy water to keep them fresh.
• 📏 Sardines are sorted by size using a machine that deposits them onto sorting lanes.
• 🧼 Workers load the sardines into a machine that removes scales, which takes 3 to 11 minutes depending on the fish size.
• 🔪 The descaled sardines are arranged on trays and sent into a cutting machine that removes the heads and tails, and cleans the bodies.
• 🏷️ Cans are manually filled with sardines to reduce the risk of foreign matter entering the cans.
• 🔥 The open-bottom cans are sent into an oven that cooks the sardines at about 212°F.
• 🥫 After cooking, a filling machine adds oil or flavored tomato sauce to the cans.
• 🎯 The machine then seals the cans airtight and sterilizes them to maintain freshness.
• 📝 Finally, the cans are labeled with a pre-cut paper label, ready to be shipped.

Q & A

What is the initial step in the sardine packaging process?

The initial step is placing the sardines into a vat of icy water to keep them fresh.

How are the sardines sorted by size?

The sardines go through a machine that deposits them onto sorting lanes, where fish of certain sizes fall through specific gaps onto chutes below.

What happens after the sardines are sorted by size?

Workers load a specific size of sardine into a machine that removes the scales, which takes 3 to 11 minutes depending on the size of the fish.

How are the sardines prepared for packaging after being descaled?

The sardines are placed on trays that take them into a cutting machine, which cuts off their heads and tails, and cleans out the bodies.

How are the cans filled with sardines?

The packing cans are filled manually to minimize the risk of introducing foreign matter, and the open-bottom cans are then cooked in an oven at about 212°F.

What happens to the sardines after they are cooked?

After cooking, the sardines are funneled into a single file and treated with oil or a specific flavor of tomato sauce, depending on the product.

How is the amount of sauce in the cans regulated?

The filling machine overfills the cans with sauce, but a flute inside the machine removes just enough sauce to allow the lids to be put on properly.

How are the cans sealed to ensure freshness?

The machine pressure seals the lids onto the cans, making them airtight before they are sent to a sterilization chamber.

What is the purpose of sterilizing the canned sardines?

Sterilization ensures that the product remains fresh during storage and shipment.

How are the cans labeled for shipment?

The cans pass through a labeling machine that applies glue and pre-cut paper labels, producing a finished product with an attractive full-color label, ready to be shipped.