i buy canned tuna every week and at the supermarket there are two columns of canned tunas: tuna in water, tuna in oil. the column of water tuna is always more popular than the oil tuna, as if no one ever touches the oil tuna cans. who buys tuna in oil and why do the keep selling it? i once bought oil tuna when the water tuna was sold out and all it did was make draining the tuna really slippery and messy.
I think it’s a matter of taste and tradition…tuna and many other meats were often preserved or conserved in oil before refrigeration and canning. People became accustomed to the taste of the preserved product, and in fact, prefered the flavor that these preservation techniques imparted (The reason bacon and other pork products are still smoked and salted, although these vestigial preservatives are really unneccessary due to modern refrigeration.).
I for one, don’t really care for tuna in water… I think the texture and flavor of the tuna in oil is far superior to it’s dry and bland alternative.
Just an addition in pondering tuna…
I think the tuna in water is a few cents cheaper than the tuna in oil and there seems to be a pervading health consciousnesses nowadays regarding fat intake/cholesterol.
Amen. I consider myself to one of the world’s great tuna salad chefs, and would never consider using tuna in water.
It seems better for a pasta with tuna as well. I think to me what it is is that is can be tricky to drain all the fluid from the tuna and I’d rather have my pasta sauce a bit oily than soggy.
It’s still made because it still sells. Water packed tuna has only been around for…well, I don’t really know when it came out, but it used to be oil-packed was it. I think the WP tuna is used when you don’t want the extra fat and calories that the oil adds. I use WP because I add mayo to it and the mayo has enough f&c. Of course, you can look at it the other way and say what’s a few more calories. I tried to find a date when water packed came on the market. Didn’t find it but the site I checked said 85% of tuna sold is WP.
I buy tuna packed in Olive oil. I drain most, but not all and I add nothing to the sandwich. It is a staple meal of mine. I’m repulsed by water loggeg tuna.
Also I find that the premium tuna varieties are packed in Olive oil. I buy “Italian style” tuna, and it’s darker and packed in Olive oil.
Where I live, it’s a big seller, but I am Italian and there are alot of Italians everywhere in the NE United States.
I have no idea why I put Olive in caps.
The answer to this question is obvious.
People buy the tuna in water for themselves and the tuna in oil for the cat.
Or am I the only one who does this?