by Rex Trulove

Created on: July 24, 2009

Whether you catch the fish yourself or purchase them, if they are not properly stored, the fish may quickly become unsuitable for eating. Even freezing the fish isn't quite good enough, if they end up freezer burned or spoiled. Luckily, the techniques for doing it properly aren't difficult to pick up.

It should be understood that freezing doesn't prevent decay; it merely slows it down considerably. In most cases, given enough time, the fish will spoil. However, freezing them is still one of the best ways to preserve the flesh for eating if it is properly done.

Freezer burn most often happens when the flesh of the fish comes in direct contact to the cold air. The outside portions freeze faster than the inside, not only drying out the outer layer of meat, but causing the cells of the meat to burst. Over time, more moisture is also leached out of the fish meat, drying it out more. The result is unappetizing, unsafe, and unappealing. It should be clear that the first step is then to prevent the fish from coming in direct contact with the cold air.

Wrapping the fish in aluminum foil, making sure that no part of the fish is left exposed, can do this. This may seem silly, since the foil will still become cold and the fish will be exposed to the cold foil, but the wrap causes the fish to cool evenly and forms a barrier to the air. Even wrapping the fish snuggly also leaves a fine protective layer of air around the meat to prevent the frigid air from cold-scorching the fish.

Thick butcher paper is even better for this purpose, and is one reason fish bought in a fish market is often wrapped in this sort of paper. Butcher paper is also a lot easier to remove from a frozen fish than is foil.

For smaller fish and fillets, there is an even better way: Encase them in ice. To use this method, place the fish or fillets in a pan, such as a bread pan, and cover them with water. Make sure that no part of the fish or fillet is out of the water, and then put the entire pan in the freezer until the water becomes a solid frozen block. The ice-enclosed fish can then be removed from the pan by rapping on it, and can then be placed in a plastic bag, and then returned to the freezer.

Both the ice and the plastic bag protect the fish from freezer burn, and slow down spoilage greatly. This technique has been successfully used by many people to allow them to enjoy a nice fish meal even a year after the fish were originally caught.

People have also been known to go to extremes, and

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