Any reason for packing Tuna in Oil?

I bought a can of tuna in oil yesterday instead of water, I haven’t done that in years. I was actually quite shocked to see just how many MORE calories there were. My Tuna in water is 60 calories, the same Tuna brand in oil is 110 calories (per serving)

Other than taste preference is there any reason to pack the tuna in oil? The taste difference isn’t great to me and all it seems to do is add calories.

I’ve never had the commercial stuff, but gourmet types do recommend it for certain dishes where the tuna plays a more conspicuous role than in your typical casserole or sandwich.
An example would be salade nicoise. I think the best is supposed to be the imported stuff in olive oil.

I have had home-canned tuna packed in oil with garlic and bay leaf and it was out of this world. Our Portuguese babysitter used to give us some when one of her fisherman friends brought her a whole, fresh tuna.

I’d imagine it’s a better preservative. More bacteria are going to like water than like oil. But that’s just a guess.

If properly canned, this should make no difference.

Moved from IMHO to CS, where the foodies hang out.

There have been Dopers attesting that tuna in oil yields better tuna salad.

Well, when we have a dinner salad with tuna as the “meat” the stuff in oil makes the whole salad a reminder of the tuna, in a light but tasty way. While I still prefer the water packed kind for a tuna salad sandwich, the variety packed in oil lends a certain gravitas to the large salad for dinner. It mixes and incorporates much better with the vinigarette, making a yummy coating for each lettuce leaf.

That’s the only kind of canned tuna I eat, light tuna in olive oil. The tuna in water is dry and tasteless to me. I guess if you’re going to use mayo or other dressing it would make less difference, but I usually take it straight out of the can.

I switched to water-packed many years ago. Every now and then I accidentally buy a can of oil-packed, and I can barely eat it. It seems to be slimy and gooey, even after draining off the oil.

I also switched to water-packed many years ago. But now my experience is the complete opposite of yours.

Instead of finding it slimy and gooey, I find tuna in oil to be positively decadent. Whenever I find that I’ve accidentally bought a can packed in oil, I clutch the tuna to my chest protectively and look around furtively to insure the safety of my prize. In my head, the skies part and the angels themselves appear like radiant Charlie Tunas adorned with flowing white wings. Oh sweet, sweet exalted ambrosia! How hath you found yourself lovingly scooped up in a net, packaged in metal, swirled with oil, and now here! In my pantry! Truly, the stars have aligned and fate has brought us to this place for some higher purpose.

At this point my dog has usually slunk up beside me. She gazes longingly from my joyous face to the can. The priceless can. Gently, I lean down and, very quietly, tell her “Lookit! Tuna… in oil!” I can tell from her eyes, she is always suitably impressed. To drive home the point, she licks her chops. But not greedily. Oh no, there is no place for greediness when handling tuna packed in oil…even a rank canine understands that intuitively. No, she licks her chops like a scholar gently turning the pages of the last surviving copy of the Magna Carta. Then, together, we nestle in the recesses of my kitchen and slurp the can dry of the delicious fish meat, still dripping with sweet, sweet oil. Most of the time we stop ourselves before we actually devour the can.*

So, yeah, that’s how I (and my dog) feel about tuna packed in oil.

  • Of course, if it appears that my wife might discover us ingesting the additional fat grams contained in oil-packed tuna, and we might then be scolded for our Gomorrah-like indulgence, we will indeed eliminate all evidence.