Freezing fish ??

[scott craven]

I generally don't freeze much fish as we live close enough to access some kind of fishery all year.
I've found vacuum sealed Halibut and cod freeze well for 2-3 months.
After that I notice a "fishier" smell and a texture change.
Vacuum sealed frozen salmon just doesn't seem to taste the same as fresh so I don't bother.
What do you think ?

 

[spring fever]

I generally don't freeze much fish as we live close enough to access some kind of fishery all year.
I've found vacuum sealed Halibut and cod freeze well for 2-3 months.
After that I notice a "fishier" smell and a texture change.
Vacuum sealed frozen salmon just doesn't seem to taste the same as fresh so I don't bother.
What do you think ?

Guess it depends how it was sealed-I had a piece of ling which had been sealed in my chamber vac last fall with the skin on and when it came out of the freezer this spring I said to my wife-look the colour is exactly how it went in the bag-all the colour was still in the skin-and it tasted fresh!! So I think it is good if sealed well for at least 6 months.

 

[Fisherman Rob]

I agree. Nothing beats salmon cooked the day it's caught. If I do freeze it though, I vacuum seal in thick plastic. There are expensive machines that will do this for you, but I just use a straw and suck the air out of a zip-lock. Works well enough to keep for a few months.

I'll add that I find using recipes that have more flavour and spice, such as teriyaki, works best with frozen salmon.

 

[SpringVelocity]

The way I got around it with costco vaccum sealer which takes more time is to saran wrap fillets than vaccum seal. When this is done no issues. It's workaround when using cheap vaccum sealers. The fish last this way beyond a year easily if not more. no fishy taste and texture changes.

I was going to get chamber sealer but a lodge we went to last year had chamber seal and I had a few of seals fail and now I am skeptical...It was probably done quickly so who knows. That's just workaround I do right now.

 

[tubber]

If the seals stay in tact, I keep white fish and salmon up to 11 months. Any salmon still not eaten go in the smoker in June. Tastes good to me. I always bleed quickly and always have ice in my cooler/kill bag. I gut and gill carefully for the ride home, leaving the head on to minimize exposed flesh and assist in keeping the salt ice in the upturned fish. The scales stay on always, but the slime gets scraped off with the back of the knife just before filleting. When I filet, I never let water touch the flesh. I think these things help the fish stay good for longer in the freezer. I would like to fish all year but my truck won't pull the boat over the mountain passes in the snow, so June to August it is. I do often trim the strong flavoured grey meat off fresh or frozen fish if I skin them, but I don't really know what "tastes too fishy" means.

 

[wolf]

The chamber sealer works great tastes just as good as day 1 in my opinion BUT you have to make sure of a few things when you catch a fish keep it cold and BLEED it . when you get home filet and clean and wash it then seal and freeze on baking sheets so its frozen in a few hours quick freeze makes a huge difference.
AS for the seal not holding thats caused manly bythe seal area not clean and wiped free of slime I invented a funnel system for my sealer that the bag slides up into about 3 inchs high fish slides down into bag so seal area isnt even touched by fish in 3 years havent had a seal fail....

After owning them crap food saver to this chamber sealer they dont even compare to the quality of product we seal everything out garden veggies, soups, stews,sauces, farm raised chixs,my smokies and pepperoni baked goods etc it gets used ALOT

good luck Wolf

 

[Kildonan]

I use an older foodsaver "game saver". It works pretty well, I rarely have a seal failure. Like Roy said, it's important to keep the seal area clean. I put the fish in the bag, wipe the seal area clean with paper towel and good to go.

As far as freshness, I find I can get up to a year out of one but as mentioned above, when I get to about May and I have fish left, I smoke it.
You can smoke the heel of your boot and make it taste good. ;-)

 

[SpringVelocity]

The chamber sealer works great tastes just as good as day 1 in my opinion BUT you have to make sure of a few things when you catch a fish keep it cold and BLEED it . when you get home filet and clean and wash it then seal and freeze on baking sheets so its frozen in a few hours quick freeze makes a huge difference.
AS for the seal not holding thats caused manly bythe seal area not clean and wiped free of slime I invented a funnel system for my sealer that the bag slides up into about 3 inchs high fish slides down into bag so seal area isnt even touched by fish in 3 years havent had a seal fail....

After owning them crap food saver to this chamber sealer they dont even compare to the quality of product we seal everything out garden veggies, soups, stews,sauces, farm raised chixs,my smokies and pepperoni baked goods etc it gets used ALOT

good luck Wolf

True....but your chamber sealer is equivalent to an industrial one which would be in the 3 to 5k range...Not saying your wrong I saw it in action good sealer.

Maybe instead of talking about it it's time to design one that size...

Btw I am not foods saver are better than chamber sealers.

 

[Salmon Seeker]

I like my food saver, it does the job for me. I cant afford a chamber sealer. I packed sockeye from last summer and im still eating it a couple times a week and it tastes almost as good as fresh. it has alot to do with how it was handled between bonking it and freezing it.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

The chamber sealer works great tastes just as good as day 1 in my opinion BUT you have to make sure of a few things when you catch a fish keep it cold and BLEED it . when you get home filet and clean and wash it then seal and freeze on baking sheets so its frozen in a few hours quick freeze makes a huge difference.
AS for the seal not holding thats caused manly bythe seal area not clean and wiped free of slime I invented a funnel system for my sealer that the bag slides up into about 3 inchs high fish slides down into bag so seal area isnt even touched by fish in 3 years havent had a seal fail....

After owning them crap food saver to this chamber sealer they dont even compare to the quality of product we seal everything out garden veggies, soups, stews,sauces, farm raised chixs,my smokies and pepperoni baked goods etc it gets used ALOT

good luck Wolf

Wolf, really like the funnel idea, any chance of a picture of it. You are correct in that the bag has to be clean on the edge to seal perfectly.

 

[ziggy]

I've been using "perfect portion Bags" to contain moisture and then a Costco sealer works pretty good. Kind of double wrapped/bagged!

 

[frayedknot]

I use the Costco sealer . Since I have been partially freezing the fish first ( just to freeze some of the moisture) it has been working great know failed seals anymore great product up to 6 months .