cooking tuna in its tin

sandbag47

Full Member
Jun 12, 2007
2,104
140
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northampton
Hi All, I was looking at a outdoorsie YouTube video the other day.
And the gent on it was showing what he carries in his bag. He mentioned a tin of tuna that he had for cooking in it's self. And spoke about it like we all should know about it already.
That got my attention as I had never heard of this before.

Quick search on YouTube and only one find. But wow what a find. Never knew this what a great idea.

Basically you open the of tuna with oil in it (not water!!!!) put a clean bit of tissue or toilet paper on the top.
Soak up the oil into the tissue.
Set fire to the tissue.
And the tissue acts like a wick soaking up the oil from the tuna cooking the tuna at the same time.

In the video the gent adds the tuna to some veg in a bag mixes them up and put them back in the tin, and then cooks the tuna.

What a great idea !!! I'm going to have a go at this in a couple of days and show the results on here

Anyway heres the link to the video

Enjoy :)
 
Last edited:

Clayze

Tenderfoot
Dec 28, 2018
77
27
West Sussex
Superb! I'll have to try that with my son during the Easter holidays.
Might just add some chopped wild garlic. I have to say I was half expecting the tuna to be covered in flecks of burnt toilet paper...obviously not!
 

Keith_Beef

Native
Sep 9, 2003
1,399
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Yvelines, north-west of Paris, France.
Some cans these days are lines with white plastic, probably mostly acidic foods like concentrated tomato paste, but it would be wise to check the inside of the can before setting fire to it. Any plastic will be officially considered non-toxic, but could become nasty-tasting and possibly toxic when it burns.
 
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John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,306
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Pembrokeshire
It was a bunch of Irish Bushcrafters show that to me (and the others in the South Wales Bushcrafters) several years ago - it works a treat!
My main problem with cooking Tuna in it's own oil is that I do not like fish - especially Tuna and especially Tuna in oil....
 

sandbag47

Full Member
Jun 12, 2007
2,104
140
57
northampton
Some cans these days are lines with white plastic, probably mostly acidic foods like concentrated tomato paste, but it would be wise to check the inside of the can before setting fire to it. Any plastic will be officially considered non-toxic, but could become nasty-tasting and possibly toxic when it burns.

Good point worth checking
 

sandbag47

Full Member
Jun 12, 2007
2,104
140
57
northampton
It was a bunch of Irish Bushcrafters show that to me (and the others in the South Wales Bushcrafters) several years ago - it works a treat!
My main problem with cooking Tuna in it's own oil is that I do not like fish - especially Tuna and especially Tuna in oil....

Lol
 

Clayze

Tenderfoot
Dec 28, 2018
77
27
West Sussex
I assume that this would work with other varieties of oily canned fish. I might even try poshing it up a bit with a tin of salmon.
A few peppercorns and a lemon can easily be accommodated in a day bag or rucksack;) A little of the fennel that we usually pass by on our jaunts to the coast probably wouldn't go amiss too.
 

Van-Wild

Full Member
Feb 17, 2018
1,526
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UK
I do this quite regularly. It gives the tuna a nice crispy topping, charred and tasty. It's a nice addition to any meal if you're in need of the protein. I add garlic powder or chilli flakes sometimes as well. It's good.

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
 

Ogri the trog

Mod
Mod
Apr 29, 2005
7,182
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Mid Wales UK
Yup, been doing it for years, warms the meal up, imparts a barbecue flavor and doesn't really use up that much oil, there's still plenty left after 10 minutes of burning.

ATB
 
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