freezing fish

[Ryan Berger]

How do you freeze your fish?

[Fishn'Lady]

We vacuum pack ours. Works great, no freezer burn.

[Ely Lake Expert]

yeah, vacuum packing them is definately the way to go.

[shorefisher]

Vacuum pack is great. But if you do not have one I use a ziplock type bag. Add some water to the bag with your fish. Then fill a pail with water and put the bag in the pail and when it is under the water in the pail work out all the air and seal when it is still under the water. The key is no air in with the fish.This has worked great for me.

[M.T. Bucket]

I just shake each fillet dry a little, place them in a ziploc--no water or vacuum packing--and stick them in the freezer. Maybe I've been lucky, but I've frozen a lot of fish this way without dealing with freezer burn a single time.

[The Grebe]

M T...Same deal, wash em up and put em in a zip lock. Seal the bag so that there is maybe only an inch left open and force the water and air out at that point.

Once most of the air is out, seal the bag and put them in the freezer. Fish don't last long enough around our house to get freezer burn.

[The_Duckslayer]

Ahhh Yup, freezer bags and water is the ticket! Only problem is they don't stack very well! However the fish will keep for quite some time that way and with my luck at fishing that is a good thing! Takes me a while to get enuff in the freezer to have a fish fry sometimes! Take care and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[Captain B.R.K]

Food Saver is a must for keeping your game freshly frozen.

Otherwise if you don't eat up your quarry in a timely manner using water/zip lock freezer bags- you seem to always get freezer burn.

Plus with the food saver, you can vaccum any meat, vegetable, or fruit!

[The_Duckslayer]

I have a food saver that I use for venison, beef, pork, chicken etc but use the water for ducks and fish. Never seem to have any problem with it, but then it never stays in the freezer that long either. Another thing that helps is the chest freezer is not frost free. However that can be a pain in the butt also! Take care and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[stick]

I used to do the water in a ziplock, but switched to double wrapping in saran wrap. I wrap tight to get the water out and then wrap the 2nd layer. The reason I went to this was since it is such a compact package. They are stackable as well. I also have a special freezer shelf that aids in a fast freeze. Freezing as fast as you can is critical so that ice-crystals don't form in the layers of the meat (any meat). My fish has kept for long periods of time this way with no freezer burn.

[icehousebob]

I like to give an aunt of mine a bunch of fish every time I can. She lays the fillets on a cookie sheet and freezes them. Then she puts them in a ziplock, so whenever she wants a meal, she can take out three or four and reseal the rest.

[Ray Esboldt]

I vote for the Foodsaver vacuum sealer as the best way I have found to preserve wild game. Plus, the other uses for it are limitless. Well, with regards to vacuum packing, there are many uses.

If you don't have one, the bag in the water trick mentioned above is pretty effective as well.

[over the limit]

if you have a whole lot of fish and like to cook large fish meals,say 30 perch fillets,instead of a lot of zip locks, try this

take a lage wax paper orange juice or milke carton,

fill it with water, and place in freezer standing up for about 3 hours

till all 6 edges start to freeze, top bottom and sides, then

take a butter knife and chop out the top to train out the water that still has not frozen on the middle,

fill with fish, and add water to about an 1" from top, place back into frezer till fish starts to feeeze and is stuck in place, then fill with water to the top, now you have your fish frozen in a solid block of ice, when ready to use, just peal carton and place under running water

[Jeremy airjer W]

I also freeze the individual fillets on a cookie sheet before I vacumm seal them. That way if I only need a couple of fillets I just grab them and reseal. You can't beat the food saver for all kinds of stuff!

[Walleye Guy]

Vacuum sealed fish can be arranged in a bag so it is easier to count and identify the filets if you happen to get stopped by a conservation officer. Filets frozen in a big chunk and transported in a vehicle are illegal unless packed by a certified packing agency.