Every year I can 70 to 80 cans of albacore tuna that is harvested here in the Pacific Northwest. I have a huge amount from last year I was to dry for hiking.. I know dehydrating tuna in water from the grocery store shelves is very common, but I'm wondering how safe it is to dehydrate home canned tuna because it is processed a bit differently.
Really the difference is the commercially purchased tuna from the store is steam cooked before it's put in the cans and then water is added meaning the vast majority of the fat is gone before it even enters the can. Home-canned tuna is pressure cooked inside of the can/jar. This means fat from the tuna releases into the jar giving the appearance that it is cooked in oil. It technically is cooked in its own oil, even though you don't add any. The fish releases a lot.
Now this is where I'm wondering what the best practice would be to remove this fat from the fish so It can be dehydrated and stored safely. I know with beef people like to boil it and run boiling water over it. Has anybody done this with home canned tuna? The tuna is largely in big dense chunks so it's not as though the meat is permiated with oil. The chunks are actually pretty dry. It's once you mix in its oil where it gets moistened up.
Any insight appreciated. I can't be the only one who has thought of doing this.