Best method for freezing salmon

[spaceship]

I'm heading out to Neah this weekend with the intention of catching salmon for a friends wedding next weekend.

I'm thinking the fish will be better frozen rather than sitting in the fridge for a week. Right now my thought is to freeze them whole in a block of water.

Your experienced input is much appreciated.

[Titan]

The most important rule when freezing any food is to freeze it as quickly as possible in order to minimize the size of the ice crystals that form during the process. To achieve that:

1. Chill the meat/fish in the fridge or in ice slurry before freezing it.
2. Limit the amount of fish you are putting in the freezer at one time to 2-3 lb/cu ft.
3. Maximize the surface area of the food to speed up the heat exchange. For example, cut into smaller pieces and spread them around on several shelves, rather than one compact pile or a whole fish.

Additionally, you want to eliminate direct contact with air, which causes freezer burn.

In my opinion, freezing in a block of ice, while effective in eliminating contact with air, will make freezing times longer and thus result in suboptimal texture of the thawed fish. It is better to just vacuum or at least ziploc.

[The Jerry Dean]

I agree with Kamen. Tried it your way before and it takes about three days to thaw out too.

[Rbob32]

Here is my 2c.

First order is catch the fish! Bleed it (them) immediately, then remove guts and pack with ice right away. Then fillet it and vacuum pack it and put in in the fridge (colder the better, maybe even packed in ice) until it is time to cook.

I have not tried the next method: Catch it, bleed and put on ice without gutting. Freeze whole! This way no air gets to the meat. Just have to thaw for a day in the fridge then gut and fillet and on to the barbecue.


It will keep just for a week or more and be like just caught. Just the freezing and thawing will have its downside.

[BuonaForTuna]

I will go with the vacuum seal if the time of consumption is a whiles away. Here is another and far more effective way to do it if you should find that you will consume the fish with in a few days after the catch.

Place fresh salmon on a platter or pan with a double layer of paper towel underneath. Put two or three slices of lemon on the top of the fish. Then dampen a tea towel with tap water and lay over top. Wrap the fish and tray with plastic wrap and store on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. The salmon should store this way for up to two (2) days.

Well-wrapped salmon will freeze for up to two (2) months in a refrigerator and three (3) to four (4) months in a deep-freeze. Using lined freezer paper, wrap the salmon tightly with at least two (2) layers of paper from head to tail. To thaw slowly, unwrap, place in pan and cover. Leave for 24 hours in the refrigerator. To thaw faster, place the whole fish in a sink with cool running water allowing about half an hour per pound. For even faster results, use the defrost setting of your microwave, allowing two (2) to five (5) minutes per pound with equal standing time in between zaps.

[got2fishsd]

Here is what we did a couple of years ago in AK with a good friend who puts ALOT of fish in his freezer every year.

Because he is a AK residend he is allowed to substance fish. Drive down river with large nets in the water scooping up fish.

Gill and gut like normal. Dehead. Roll as tight as you can with suran/plastic wrap. Freeze whole. The fish will freeze like a log.

He said he has tried every way out there to store fish. He said yes a vac. sealer is a little better but this is a lot cheaper/quicker.

[jskfish]

Build a large pool/resevoir...fill with saltwater and hire a chemist to make sure it is properly controlled....now rig a large live well on the boat with the same considerations....let the suckers swim around in your backyard untill barbie time...pluck one out and flop it on the grill...does not get much better Realistically, catch, bleed, get on salt ice instantly, & should be OK for atleast 4 days before freezing..do not touch with fresh wateras that starts the decay...have seen the frozen whole technique with big trout (in the display case at fishing/tackle store in the sierras) and heard they taste fine when eaten...never tried that before....jsk

[lugger]

have for many years frezze them hole your way in water is best but I wrap them in a plastic bag then newspaper in that order and frezze them will taste like fresh fish when you thaw it out . takes a few hours to thaw if you put in cold water no freaaer burn aon dno belly burn

[tinmanxx]

We fillet all our fish then vacuum seal and put directly into the flash freezer. They are frozen solid in about ten minutes. Fish that is vacuum sealed and frozen quickly will last and keep that fresh caught taste for a year.

[alumadon]

Vac pak is the way to go ,the ones at Costco work fine if not over taxed/ a really good trick is to wrap the fish tight in saran wrap and it won"t slim your vac bags and ends up double wrapped and vac sealed. Sure it takes time but worth it a year later and it tastes really good still. Have ice for fish on board ,bleed,gut as soon as possible, remove fins and tails, use cardboard to spread out and layer the bags in as cold a freezer as you can get and after they freeze you remove the cardboard and tight pack em. In a perfect world a commercial chamber vac bagger and a flash freezer onboard my new 54' sportsfisher ,dreaming here. Also another thing that really works great are those costco plastic tables for the fish processing . I have used one 3 years as the cutting table and its holding up fine. Try to get the 6' one with adjustable legs. One more thing if you start using one of the Chef Choice electric knife sharpeners you will always have sharp knifes to process you catch. Take care , and some time ,for good food.

[spaceship]

Thanks for all the tips.

[dragonballs]

i strongly recommend that you bring them to my house and I will freeze them properly for you