Freezing Rockfish?

The way I freeze it tastes like I just caught it!

Molly, who hardly eats fish and is very picky can't tell the difference between frozen and fresh prepped this way, and it tastes exactly the same to me. It may seem like extra work but if you live far from the ocean, dont spear fish and can't make it through the closed season, its worth it!

 

Rob -

Thanks for the tips and this has been an educational discussion. I am sure your technique will result in a better fish for dinner and I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. I think the other factor in the freeze/no freeze decision is trying to take only what you are able to consume. This isn't an issue for the Sac Town crew or others who live a long way from the ocean but for those who live close and are catching hundreds of pounds of fish it is an ethical dilemma. Bottom line is that if you have fish in your freezer when the next season starts, it will end up in the trash and that is not a good thing, IMHO. The ocean is good to us only as long as we are good stewards. Sorry to get on the soap box. 

Scott

It's also worth noting that wasting fish is not only unethical, but also illegal.

Thanks for all the input everybody, now it's time for some practical research.

I was told by a old timer once that he would only use salt water when cleaning his fish and would add a little in a ziploc bag before freezing his fish. Sounded interesting but I've never done it yet.

My dad does that too, he adds a little (tsp) of saltwater to the bag to help seal up around the fish so there is no air in the bag which will cause freezer burn.

The way I freeze it tastes like I just caught it!

Molly, who hardly eats fish and is very picky can't tell the difference between frozen and fresh prepped this way, and it tastes exactly the same to me. It may seem like extra work but if you live far from the ocean, dont spear fish and can't make it through the closed season, its worth it!

 

Rob -

Thanks for the tips and this has been an educational discussion. I am sure your technique will result in a better fish for dinner and I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. I think the other factor in the freeze/no freeze decision is trying to take only what you are able to consume. This isn't an issue for the Sac Town crew or others who live a long way from the ocean but for those who live close and are catching hundreds of pounds of fish it is an ethical dilemma. Bottom line is that if you have fish in your freezer when the next season starts, it will end up in the trash and that is not a good thing, IMHO. The ocean is good to us only as long as we are good stewards. Sorry to get on the soap box. 

Scott

Thanks Scott, I don't disagree, I am about 200 miles away from the places I like to fish most and still hardly take home a limit even when I can. I know bag limits exist for a reason, and hopefully they work to a point, but yes it's still up to the stewards in the end to exercise sound judgement for what they can actually consume. Luckily, I don't waste much, and if I do it goes in the crab pot but thats rare, even the carcasses go in my garden, not always good for WAF account though. Like the old saying goes, "fish and visitors stink after three days!"

Keep in mind that auto defrost freezers shorten the effective freezer time.  Store your fish in a good chest freezer.

Also, your typical home freezer doesn't freeze fish fast enough for best quality.  There is a neat trick to help out with this.  If you have room in your chest freezer in the garage, partially fill up a 5 gallon bucket with salted water, salted enough to keep it from freezing.  Drop your vacuumed packed fish in this water when freezing.  You'll be amazed at how fast your fish freezes.  It isn't as good as professional flash freezing, but it's better than just letting a bunch of fish slowly freeze in the freezer.

Then, while defrosting, you want to do so slowly, and you don't want your fish to stew in the juices that come out during defrost.  Remove the frozen fish from your freezer bag, wrap it with a paper towel and defrost it on a rack in the fridge.

I don't do this with every fish as it's a lot of work.  Shoot, I don't do it with most fish.  But, if you want a piece of fish to really store well, like a nice albacore loin, give it a try.

-Allen

If I drop a piece if dry ice in the top if my chest freezer, with some insulation between it and the fish, would that work, our would it damage the freezer?

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Polygamist Al and I freeze lots of rockfish on our road trips. We don't have the number of trips as you locals. I also like to leave skin on fillets. Keep fish on ice and clean ASAP. Dry fish completely and vacuum seal. We always bring a cooler of dry ice and hard freeze immediately. It all comes out good, and that's after a 1,000 mile road trip. I savour every flake. Coppers and reds age the quickest, but it's just aesthetic. Gophers, chinas and quill backs seem to freeze the best. I quit freezing whole fish because they seem to always poke through the vacuum bag.

I will be "that guy", I fillet my fish, rinse, pat dry, place in large ziplocs, fill with water, purge the air out so it cannot freezer burn, and then thaw in a bowl in the fridge. Not the same quality as that day, but not very diminished quality either. Like EWB, they usually go into fish n chips, panko fish tacos, or ceviche. I believe, the key is keeping air off the meat in the freezer. Or, I vac seal, but that takes too long, cuts into the beer drinking too much.