freezing fish

i freeze in water. i have a vacuum sealer but to me water works best and i can do it faster. i have two deep freezes so room isn't usually a problem. that is the only drawback to freezing in water.(room) i have to put my fish and partially freeze it them use my vacuum sealer on it. else it draws liquid and won't seal right. i tried paper towels...nothing seemed to work. so i went back to the way i have been doing 30 years. a $100 lighter

 

I have been vacum packing my crappie for a couple of years now. Usually pat the fillets dry before putting in the bag. Seems to taste better to me than frozen in water.

 

I JUST FREEZE IN WATER.BEEN DOING IT ALL MY LIFE.SEE NO REASON TO SPEND THE EXTRA MONEY.

 

I've gone both ways in-water & vac-pac, but I like the vac sealed, they keep fresh and thaw out alot faster than the ice cubes.

 

I vacuum seal mine. I put the fillets in the bags then lay them in the freezer until they start freezing then take them out and vacuum seal them. Keeps the vacuum from trying to pull the moisture out of them. I like being able to stack whole bunch in the freezer too. jmo

 

I haven't had a chance to try this yet, but I see no reason it wouldn't work great. Get some Reynolds Handi-Vac bags, put in your fillets (or bait), and instead of using the little battery operated Handi-Vac, use your wet/dry shop vac. From looking at the bags and using the Handi-Vac on them, all that's required is a good vacuum over the little hole in the corner of the bag. The shop vac should provide an even better vacuum than the Handi-Vac (more powerful), and if you should suck up some liquid, well, it's a wet/dry vac, right?

 

Well, yeah, it's a wet/dry vac, but you'd better wash that sucker out, or you are gonna have one stinky vac. I'll just stick with my foodsaver.

 

i vacuum seal all my fish and I never get freezer burned like I used to before I got it.

 

to keep all the goods in the freezer tasting good for over 4 years(trust me on this) 5 pounds of kingsford charcoles put in your freezer distribute around . that is it no more freezer burn taste or funky smells

change every year...Baking soda does not work

charcole has been used for many years in all types of filters to remove tastes and smells

 

I freeze mine in water

 

You are correct about charcoal and it's air purifying quality. When I was a kid in Arkansas 50years ago my folks gave charcoal pills to the dog because he slept in the house and they kept his farts from stinking.

 

I HAVE ALWAYS FROZE MINE IN WATER.NOT SAYING SOMETHING ELSE WOULDNT WORK BUT THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN GOOD FOR ME!

 

A BAD DAY OF FISHIN IS BETTER THAN A GOOD DAY AT WORK!!!!

 

I have a foodsaver,But I never remember to try it on fish,I'm so used to the old saltwater method.I freeze all my fish in quart bags with around a half to full teaspoon of non iodised salt.

 

I freeze my fish in water but add lemon juice to the water. About a teaspoon to the quart freezer bag. I saw this tip on a outdoor cooking show, seems to work well for preserving the flavor.

 

I've gone both ways in-water for 20 years & vac-pacfor a strate 6 years now, ya just cant beet vac sealed, they keep fresh and thaw out alot faster. I use paper towle in the bag to catch the moisture so the bags will seal. it does take a little longer but if your like me and like to keep alot of fish year round in the freezer vaccume seal is the only way to go. no more two day fish ice block thaw days only to fry mushy fish. vaccume bag thaws in about an hour or so and feels, taste, and fries up a year later just as if it was cought that morning.

 

i dont have much trouble. i freeze whole fish wrapped with 3 layers of plastic wrap and vac seal the fillets. mine never sit over a year. about this time of year i dig out all my fish and get it ate so it dont go bad. just my way of doing things. i just try hard not to let any game go bad.

 

i will tell you what happen to me one day. i forgot to put the plug in. my fault but i had two people with me unhooking the boat and it got me out of my system. after a couple of minutes i figured out what was going on.so i went to swimming in fifty-five degree water. next the lake was low so i had to followed a creek channel out to the main part of the lake. i run aground three times before i got there. so we got to the main part of the lake and threw out some jugs. the wind came up 20 to 30 miles an hour.(we were on eufaula lake in ok) we didn't catch a fish and i couldn't retreive all of my jugs because of the wind.(safety reasons). on the way back home (on 69 hwy)
i had an elderly lady pull beside me flagging me down. i pulled over and she told me i had a boat seat fly out. i would have paid to been to work that day. therefore i am not a believer in a bad day of fishin is better than a good days work.imho

 

Its a little more trouble but if you lay them on a cookie sheet .........let them freeze then dip in water another time and freeze again they wont freezer burn for a really long time and they are super easy to thaw out! Just use ziplock freezer bags!