question on keeping fish

[Sneaky Duck]

question on keeping fish

I'm no cook, but i seem to remember it's not good to freeze thaw and re-freeze stuff.  I was out fishing today and kept a couple perch.  I didn't get enough for a meal so rather then clean and filet them, I just left them whole and frozen (since they froze while i was fishing.)  is this ok?  Or should I gut them before tossing them in the freezer?

[Xxx]

In my younger years I went to culinary school. I first attended a vocational technical school, which I was #1 student and I got a scholarship to the CIA. Culinary Institute of America. We often discussed this "only freeze once theory" the reason people say only freeze once is, if you freeze say a steak then you thaw it out you lose a lot of the juices. You pour them off then you cook, grill, whatever you like you loose more juices, but you still have a nice juicy steak at from rare to medium rare, and from medium to well done, your border line on the juices that the meat has to offer. If you freeze, thaw, freeze soon the meat will be like cardboard before it ever hits the pan because all the juices are gone. In culinary school there were different times you could freeze things before cooking that there's  still enough juices in the meat to still have a ample amount of blood in the meats. Also things are more prone to freezer burn the drier they are. Although the invention of a frost free freezer was the best thing since sliced bread, they are the major reason why food that isn't vacuum packed, like a ziplock bag get freezer burned quicker. The older freezers made the air in the freezer itself cold, and didn't remove the moisture in the air of the freezer. The new frost free freezers act like a dehumidifier and remove all the moisture even your food if it isn't sealed 100%. They allow 5 freeze and thaws in the food industry!! but I never agreed to this and did a theists on their theory, I've found that after 3 thaws people in our restaurant that was open to the public, at school, they said they didn't like the steak. "They claimed there was no flavor and dry as a fart.LOL That table or persons got a free meal on us because I was doing a study on how many times one piece of meat could be thawed and froze before it didnt appeal to peple anymore. There's no law or sickness you can get from multiple freezes and thaws, its basically your loosing all the flavors and juices from any food. This old theory of you can only freeze food once has been in graved into our heads from generation to generation, which is a good thing because their food will be much better to eat. So after my long winded way of saying your fish will be delicious, after you fillet them and "refreeze" Now you made me hungry!!  PAP  

Edited January 10, 2017 by pap

[FishingTheFL]

Bring a cooler with water. Keep them alive and stick them in the cooler with a coffee can full of water. It helps the perch stress level go down by giving them cover. The coffee can has to be full of water so it sinks below the surface some but also floats above the perch. Guy told me about the cooler idea.

I left a perch on the back my truck to freeze thinking no big deal just fillet when I get home. It ended up being really really slimy. I personally like them as fresh as I can get it. Also he dethawing process allows bacteria to grow since its coming above freezing. When I did my ServSafe they taught proper handling techniques to dethaw fish and other meats to prevent bacterial growth by running cold water over it. I suppose if you cook it properly it kills most that bacteria but ever since I was told about the cooler idea... Keeping them alive makes more sense.

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[fisherdude]

in the day when smelt ran in the tribs in grate numbers . we come home late and fill milk cartons with the smelt (not cleaned) and water then freeze . we thawed and clean as we would want them for dinner . 

[jayjay]

I just toss them on the ice and they freeze .When get home, I fill stationary sink and put fish in there .95% come back to life and are swimming in the sink before I fillet them.

Edited January 11, 2017 by jayjay

[chinook35]

There are enzymes in the guts that will degrade the quality of the fish (or deer or rabbit etc. ) . It' s best to gut the animal as quickly as possible . commercial fishermen gill an gut their catch immediately .

[FishingTheFL]

Agreed with chinook35. As for freezing and coming back to life... That's hard to believe.

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[BSmaster]

You can use the lobster tank method too.  A cooler or large pail with an aereator. 

[Xxx]

4 hours ago, chinook35 said:

There are enzymes in the guts that will degrade the quality of the fish (or deer or rabbit etc. ) . It' s best to gut the animal as quickly as possible . commercial fishermen gill an gut their catch immediately .

Yea I always clean my fish asap. This is absolutely correct!!

[ontherise]

I just toss them on the ice and they freeze .When get home, I fill stationary sink and put fish in there .95% come back to life and are swimming in the sink before I fillet them.

Yes [emoji1591]. I think perch have two lives, unlike cats, which have nine.


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[Kevin J Legg]

Pap, that was some interesting reading. I had a freezer go out on me once and had some thawing. I refrozen it all and had no issues.


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[moonfish]

Always clean mine when I get home and then freeze. If they freeze shortly after coming out of water, IMO I could keep them frozen and clean within 24 hrs. As long as they are frozen there ain't gonna be much bacteria growing in 24 hrs or less. 

I would be more concerned about hanging a deer to bleed out. That's just me.

Edited January 13, 2017 by moonfish

[Sk8man]

Over the years and thousands of perch most of the time after ice fishing I clean them afterward and leave them outside in the cold before I do for awhile. There have been times however that I have been really beat when I came home and I left the fish in a pail outside and then cleaned them next morning. Sometimes they are actually easier to clean that way (stiff) but your hands get colder than usual while doing so. As long as their temperature is reduced like that the whole time it has never been a problem refreezing them as I do in zip lock bags with water covering them inside. I believe the only problem might arise if they were left to warm way up and bacteria might be activated before refreezing them. I also rinse my fillets briefly before putting them in the zip locks and I have eaten perch five years after doing that and they were delicious

Edited January 13, 2017 by Sk8man

[FishingTheFL]

Bacteria cause heat. I would say if the entire fish freezes, including intestines, stomach, sure no problem. But if not frozen solid, I would still say that bacteria has a chance to spread. Just my opinion.

"Lobster tank" still working.

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[Xxx]

9 hours ago, Kevin J Legg said:

Pap, that was some interesting reading. I had a freezer go out on me once and had some thawing. I refrozen it all and had no issues.


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Thanks Kevin and I'm pretty sure I remember you vac-pac also. Les's way is also a good way to freeze fish by adding water, that basically defeats the dehydration process of a frost free freezer. I slice my jerky into 3/16" and freeze in 5 pound quantities I've just used the last of my meat from 2 years ago. I didn't hear any complaints, trust me my girls aren't afraid to tell pop, this isn't as good as your other batches.  

[Kevin J Legg]

I froze in zip locks with water for years but vacuum seal is even better. I buried mine in a snow drift the other night and they didn't freeze and were nice to clean in the morning. A cooler with ice or snow and a drain so there is no standing water is a great way to keep them.


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