Bornstein’s Albacore tuna products rate among the highest quality product available on Earth. Our tuna are surface caught in coastal areas at "the cold water edge" of the North Pacific Ocean. "Surface Caught" and immediately blast frozen, produces the highest oil content Albacore Tuna and ensures a Sashimi Grade product.
Quality starts with knowing the source of supply. Bornstein’s has partnered with several of the best Albacore fishermen in the North Pacific Fleet, and have strictly enforced quality standards that starts with the boats themselves. Our Albacore is brought aboard the vessel live, immediately bled and placed straight in blast freezers within minutes of being caught. In the blast, heat is quickly extracted and the core temperature of the whole fish is pulled down to a minimum of -20F within several hours of being caught. FROZEN CAN BE SUPERIOR TO FRESH!!!
Stringent handling and rapid freezing insures that the highest quality standards are being met. Our special on-board handling insures that our Sashimi Grade Albacore are in perfect form in terms of color, flavor, texture and shape before our hand-crafted canning process even begins.
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Bornstein’s Signature
Supermarket Brands
Quality
Bornstein’s only uses Sashimi Grade Albacore Tuna that is "surface caught" in the open seas off the Oregon and Washington Coast. An entire steak is cut from individual fish for canning.
Over 95% of the tuna used by major U.S. canners is caught and purchased from foreign sources. Like commercial ground beef, many fish and sometimes other species of tuna are used in canning.
Processing
Our Albacore tuna is troll caught by hook & line (no nets or long lines). When a fish is hooked - it is immediately brought on board the vessel. All of our fish is individually handled to prevent bruising. The time each fish is on deck is strictly controlled, and once on-board it is quickly bled and then blast frozen in the shortest possible time. Careful handling insures that our Albacore meets the Sashimi grade quality that is demanded by top sushi chefs throughout the world.
"Long line" boats harvest a significant quantity of tuna caught for commercial canning purposes. Tuna on "long lines" lay deep in warm water and are harvested every 24 hours or so. Lying in warm water for extended periods of time produces some of the darker, fishier tasting tuna.
Handling
Bornstein’s home-style canning method is similar to the earlier days of canning - before highly mechanized factories began modern day production. Hand-packed, solid white Albacore Tuna steaks (bloodline trimmed off & removed) are added to each can and cooked only once in their natural juices. We pack a solid loin steak with a piece of belly meat (Toro or Ventresca style) to give the product an added dimension of richness and flavor.
Commercially canned tuna starts with whole fish baked racks. The dark meat (bloodline) and white meat are cooked together - allowing the stronger flavor of the bloodline to infiltrate the white meat. Natural juices and healthy Omega-3 oils are allowed to cook away during this pre-cooking stage. Only then is the dark meat and white meat separated - the white meat is put into cans. To replace the natural oils that were baked out, vegetable oils, water or broth are added. The cans are sealed and the fish is cooked a second time.
Health
Considerations
Our "Hand Packed" Albacore contains about 1700 mg of essential Omega-3 fatty acids per serving - About 4 times more than commercial brands. The Albacore we catch are young, typically 3-6 years old that haven’t spent years accumulating the high levels of mercury or other contaminants that older, deeper caught tuna have; it’s quite safe for children and pregnant women.
Commercially canned brands "twice cook" their fish, once before canning, which removes the natural flavor and oils. The fish is then re-cooked in the can and re-hydrated with either oil or water. Vegetable broth and additives like hydrolyzed casein or pyrophosphate is added for flavor.
Catch
Methods
The Monterey Bay Aquarium lists short-line troll-caught Pacific Albacore as a "Best Choice." According to the National Marine Fisheries Association, the Pacific Albacore tuna is not over-fished and is not approaching over-fishing. No longlines or nets mean that there is no Dolphin, Marine Bird or Sea Turtle by-catch.
Eight species of tuna enter world markets. Most of the world’s catch is Yellowfin and Skipjack tuna, which are canned as "light tuna." Other major species are Bigeye tuna and Albacore. Their populations remain abundant, but some methods used to catch them have problems. Purse seines, even when "dolphin-safe," take a heavy by-catch of unwanted fish and other animals. Longlines are killing an unsupportable number of endangered sea turtles in the Pacific Ocean.
Other Differences to Consider
Other "Hand Packers" will pass along freight charges to customers that order from their online stores. Freight can add up to .40 cents per can!
Bornstein’s is one of the largest tuna unloaders on the Pacific Coast, unloading over 2000 MT for international traders & buyers throughout the season. This gives our company a vast amount of exposure and insight about which fishermen produce consistent quality product. Our opportunity to supply high-grade product out of every West Coast port is unmatched by any other "Hand Packer". We can ensure that as your program grows you can provide an uninterrupted supply of product of consistent quality. No other "Hand Packer" can incorporate large volume sashimi grade albacore into their program.
Bornstein’s Albacore tuna products rate among the highest quality product available on Earth. Our tuna are surface caught in coastal areas at "the cold water edge" of the North Pacific Ocean. "Surface Caught" and immediately blast frozen, produces the highest oil content Albacore Tuna and ensures a Sashimi Grade product.
