by Holle Abee

Created on: August 04, 2009

Fresh fish is delicious and nutritious, but old freezer-burned fish can be unpalatable. Worse, improperly handled fish can actually be dangerous. Through years of fishing and freezing my catch, I've learned a trick or two, which I'll share.

The major key to retaining the fresh taste is timing. You want to get your fish from the lake, river, or ocean into the freezer as fast as possible. As soon as the fish dies, the delicate flesh begins to break down if it's not kept ice cold. Fish is also very susceptible to bacteria, and cold temperatures will drastically slow their action.

Fish fillets seem to store better than fish with attached skin and fins. I've often wondered if these parts don't impart a stronger, fishier taste and smell to the flesh. If you're going to store your fish in the freezer for any length of time, fillet them first, being careful to remove all the skin.

After the fish have been filleted, rinse them thoroughly in cold running water. Then place the fillets in a large zip-loc freezer bag and fill it with water to cover the fillets. Next, remove all the air from the freezer bag. Then place the filled bag inside another freezer bag. Plastic gallon milk jugs can be used instead of freezer bags. These work especialy well for small fillets and for shrimp. Just cut off the top portion of the jug, add a little water in the bottom, put the fillets in, and cover them with water. Press gently on the fish to remove any air bubbles, then freeze.

Many avid anglers swear by using a brine solution for freezing their fish. This works especially well for lean fish like flounder, cod, grouper, and whiting. The saline solution helps to keep the fish firm, and it also helps keep the fillets moist. To freeze fish in this manner, dissolve one cup of salt in a gallon of cool water. Soak the fillets for 30 seconds, then place in freezer bags or milk jugs.

When you're ready to thaw your fish for cooking, place them in the refrigerator. Never thaw fish at room temperature. If you're in a hurry, the fish can be thawed quickly by running cold water over them. Do not, however, be tempted to use warm water to speed up the process. Warm water might be quicker, but it will also increase the chance of spoilage and the breakdown of the flesh.

The general suggested time for keeping fish in the freezer is three months for fatty fish and six months for lean fish. If you use the above methods, however, your lean fish will keep longer. To give you an example, a couple of years ago we caught a lot of flounder. We filleted them and froze them in ice and double bagged them. A year later, we had a huge fish fry and served the flounder to about 40 guests. Everyone thought we had just caught the flounder! They were shocked when we told them the fillets had been lurking in the freezer for an entire year.

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