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Fillet of fish


Moneymerse

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What is everyone's  routine when they are about to freeze fish to eat later. 

Should you put water in the bag before you freeze? What are the pros and cons of doing that?

 

 

Please chime in with your two cents 

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I used to use the water method in 1/2 gallon milk cartons but now use a vacuum sealer. For both methods the goal is to prevent air coming in contact with the fish. I prefer the vacuum seal method. You can thaw the fish out quicker.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

zip lock bag and water. I squeeze out most of the water. 

 

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24 minutes ago, leech~~ said:

Same thing. But, I squeeze out the air only leaving water!  Air is what causes freezer burn.

 

LOL no air in bag silly. 

nice and flat, no air

 

DSC_5174.jpg

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Used to freeze with water in ziplock but now also vacuum seal.  I just pulled a forgotten batch of March LOW saugs and of the 8 fillets 2 of them tasted fishy so a little burned.  I don't like to keep fish that long but it got lost in the freezer.  I have since switch from Foodsaver brand bags to Ziplock brand and I really like those as they are thicker and seal much nicer.

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try food vac bags from amazon smile.  I use the quart size for other stuff.  100 for 20 bucks.  I cut them in half for jerky.

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1 hour ago, eyeguy 54 said:

 

LOL no air in bag silly.

nice and flat, no air

 

DSC_5174.jpg

What your number system? 5 gills? May 2016?  Mines like 2 eye's and date.

Edited by leech~~
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Actually 5 grand hidden in the ice... ;) 

 

5 gills.   they dont last long enough to date. :) 

1 minute ago, Moneymerse said:

Thanks for everyones thoughts. I'm gonna go with little water and make sure it's air tight. 

 

I just use quart bags. half full of water then squeeze. 

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38 minutes ago, eyeguy 54 said:

 

I just use quart bags. half full of water then squeeze.

 

Like OMG me to me to! Are we brothers? :lol:

Edited by leech~~
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I never tried it but i might.  I saw a gal on a food channel of some sort fill the sink with water and then push the opened zip lock bag into the water just far enough to push the air out.  Kind of a poor man's vacuum sealer i guess.  i usually vacuum seal.

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6 minutes ago, Blackhawkxp said:

I never tried it but i might.  I saw a gal on a food channel of some sort fill the sink with water and then push the opened zip lock bag into the water just far enough to push the air out.  Kind of a poor man's vacuum sealer i guess.  i usually vacuum seal.

 

sounds like a waste of water :)

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Vac seal it, but before you do give it a wrap with saran wrap and get the air out. The second barrier really does a good job in helping prevent freezer burn. I use this method to put salmon/halibut away in the summer and its still good when Im eating the last pieces in the spring. 

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Simple solution to all of this! Eat the fish right away, and if you have to many invite a few friends over to eat. In exchange you tell them to give them one or two of their hotspots;)

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Vac seal my salmon and halibut. Everything else I just throw in a bag I usually only keep enough for two meals. One meal I eat right away and the second I freeze and usually eat soon after. If I go on a trip or some lake we hammer them I usually give my share to the guys that have kids.

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Tried them all.  A good vacuum packer will pay off.  I too all fish in vacuum, plus cheese, veggies, other meat.  I fish tuna and other ocean fish when in San Diego.   My processor vacuum packs all and ships them here.  Out of a couple hundred pounds of fish filet(I ship them to daughter, brother, etc as well) my estimate is that less than 5% are not in good a year.  

But, you need to be attentive with vacuum packing or you will not be successful.  I fished habit and ling in Alaska at a lodge different them my usual and their vacuum packing and being careless caused about 50% of the bags to lose seal forcing me to repack at home.

If worried about cost, buy a refurbished one--ours has lasted 4 years with lots of packing.

tight lines

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I second everyone saying vacuum seal it, I know it costs a bit but they save a lot of money in the long run. You can use them to save money in more inventive ways too lol. In fairness, since I bought mine I bulk buy a lot of stuff and freeze it, much cheaper. Make sure there is ZERO air left in, this is what causes problems. The more you practice this gets easier.

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I 2nd live4chrome's method as I just use Saran or cling wrap. I take 1 fish & carefully wrap it, squeezing all the air out when done wrapping, then throw them in a ziplock bag. Before putting the bag in the freezer I'll try to get most of the air out of the bag but that doesn't seem to make that much difference. It works great as I can just pull out any # of fish I want at any time. I try not to let any get that old but I've found some that were forgotten & close to a year old, that were still OK. I used to double wrap them in the cling wrap but not anymore. Much easier IMO & fits my needs perfectly

Edited by gunner55
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Vacuum seal mine now. Previously I used ziplock bags and remove all air and most water so they lay flat. Freezer burn doesn't have to mean throw the whole thing away either. All freezer burn is, is dehydrated meat so it loses its flavor. Just cut off the burn and the rest is good. I've pulled fish out of the freezer years later and it was fine. 

 

I vacuum pack all my venison too. Just last week I found a package of ground venison from 2013. It looked like a slight burn on the edges but I just mixed it all together and it was as good as it was in 2013. 

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