A NEW OR IMPROVED PROCESS OF TREATING FISH TO PRESERVE AND PREPARE IT FOR EATING
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Hönck, of Nos. 150 and 151, Fenchurch
Street, in the City of London, Gentleman, for the Invention of "A
NEW OR IMPROVED PROCESS OF TREATING FISH TO PRESERVE AND PREPARE IT
FOR EATING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Hönck at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd October 1874.
I, JOHN HÖNCк, of Nos. 150 and 151, Fenchurch Street, in the City
of London, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "A NEW OR IMPROVED PROCESS OF TREATING FISH TO PRESERVE AND
PREPARE IT FOR EATING," to be as follows :—

page_text: described, will be ready for eating. To this end I cleanse the raw fish
with water.
Comparatively small fish such as mackerel, haddocks, herrings,
flounders, cels, and the like may be treated entiro; but larger fish such
as salmon, et cætera, I split open so as to reduce the thickness to ensure
⚫effectual treatment, or they may be divided into portions. After
cleansing I sprinkle the fish with dry salt and allow it to lic undisturbed
for about one hour or more, according to the size of the fish or portions
of fish, or according to the degree of saltness required. After this I
immerse the fish in water and wash it, then thread the fish or portions
of fish on rods and place the same in an oven wherein the fish undergoes
the process of drying by heat in the following manner:-A wood fire is
placed underneath the fish and the oven is warmed to a temperature of
about 85° Fahrenheit, and is maintained at or near such temperature for
about one hour or until the fish is sufficiently dried so as to prevent
the same falling from the rods into the fire. By feeling the head of
the fish it will be readily ascertained whether it has been sufficiently.
dried.
After drying, as described, the above-mentioned wood fire is removed
and another wood fire is made in the oven. This last mentioned fire is
produced by burning either oak, becch, or alder, and by it the process of
cooking and smoking the fish is effected. The oak, beech, or alder fire
is continued, keeping the oven at the temperature of about 120 degrees
for about four hours or until the fish is thoroughly cooked and smoked.
During the time the above cooking and smoking process is in operation
the fire is continually sprinkled with water to produce, sufficient steam
to assist the cooking. On the completion of the cooking process the fire
is damped down and gradually extinguished. In about half an hour
after the fire has been extinguished the fish is taken out on the rods and
placed in a room to be gradually cooled. After this the fish- may be
packed in boxes or other receptacles into which the fish or portions of
fish are to be put in layers, and they are to be sprinkled with dry salt.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Hönck in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 6th April 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HÖNCк, of Nos. 150 and 151, Fenchurch Street, in the City of London,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent bearing date the Twenty-second day of October, in the
year of our Lord. One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Hönck, Her special
license that I, the said John Hönck, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Hönck, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED
PROCESS OF TREATING FISH TO PRESERVE AND PREPARE IT FOR EATING," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Hönck, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Hönck, do hereby declarc.
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to.
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof (that is to say) :-
--
This Invention has for its object to prepare, cook, and smoke fish of
various kinds, which after being treated by my process, as herein-after
described, will be ready for eating, and will keep good for a considerable
time. To this end I cleanse the raw fish with water.
Comparatively small fish such as mackerel, haddocks, herrings,
flounders, eels, and the like may be treated entire, but larger fish, such.

page_text: as salmon, et cætera, I split open so as to reduce the thickness to ensure
effectual treatment as they may be divided into portions. After
cleansing I sprinkle the fish with dry salt and allow it to be undisturbed
for about one hour or more, according to the size of the fish or portions
of fish, or according to the degree of saltness required. After this I
immerse the fish in water and wash it, and then I thread the fish or
portions of fish on rods and place the same in an oven, wherein the fish
undergoes the process of drying by heat in the following manner :—A
wood fire. is placed underneath the fish and the oven is warmed to a
temperature of about eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit, and is maintained
at or near such temperature for about one hour or until the fish is
sufficiently dried to prevent the same falling from the rods into the fire.
By feeling the head of the fish it will be readily ascertained whether it
has been sufficiently dried.
After drying the fish, as described, the above mentioned wood fire is
removed and another wood fire is made in the oven. This last mentioned
fire is produced by burning cither oak, beech, or alder, and by it
the process of cooking and smoking the fish is effected. The oak, beech,
or alder fire is continued, keeping the oven at the temperature of about
one hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit for about four hours or
until the fish is thoroughly cooked and smoked. During the time the
above cooking and smoking process is in operation the fire is continually
sprinkled with water to produce sufficient steam or vapour to assist the
cooking. On the completion of the cooking process the fire is damped
down and gradually extinguished. In about half an hour after the fire
has been extinguished the fish is taken out on the rods and placed in a
room to be gradually cooled; after this the fish may be packed in boxes
or other receptacles. When so packing the fish or portions of fish they
are to be put in layers in the boxes or receptacles, and are to be sprinkled
with dry salt.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and explained the
manner of carrying it into practical effect, I hereby declare what I
consider to be novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent to
be,―
MHAAANN
of tanation fick ta

page_text: Secondly. The process of cooking and smoking fish by the use of
water in conjunction with a wood fire produced by the combustion of
oak, beech, or alder, the water being sprinkled on the fire to produce
steam or vapour, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hönck, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.