About freezing fillets....

Had a great day crappie fishing yesterday and managed to land several keepers from shore, gotta love Spring! Of course when I got home I filleted them up but already had some fillets in my fridge that needed to be eaten so I put the newly catched fillets in a zip-lock freezer bag, got all the air out and stored them in the freezer. However, I was reading some old post regarding freezing fillets and saw majority put water in their bag to cover the fillets then froze. I didn't do this. Why do the crappie need to be submerged in water when stored in the freezer? Did I ruin my fillets? Thanks ya'll....GEO

I've heard this before. What's causes freezer burn in meat is air. If the meat is submerged in water then frozen, you essentially have a giant ice cube. No air can get into the ice cube, thus saving your meat from freezer burn. I've never tried it, but then again I've also never caught enough fish at one time to freeze any for later. lol I believe I read about this theory in field and stream. I may be mistaken tho. Hope this helps!

Jesse


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Originally Posted by GreenEYESfromOHIO

Had a great day crappie fishing yesterday and managed to land several keepers from shore, gotta love Spring! Of course when I got home I filleted them up but already had some fillets in my fridge that needed to be eaten so I put the newly catched fillets in a zip-lock freezer bag, got all the air out and stored them in the freezer. However, I was reading some old post regarding freezing fillets and saw majority put water in their bag to cover the fillets then froze. I didn't do this. Why do the crappie need to be submerged in water when stored in the freezer? Did I ruin my fillets? Thanks ya'll....GEO

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I freeze mine in water and have never had freezer burn. I have eaten fillets that are 5 years old and you could not tell they were that old at all. When you thaw yours and the real white parts feel spongy then I would pass on eating them but that's just me.

Jman is right. I've done it for years and works great. No way I would throw my fillets in the freezer naked unless they were vacuum sealed. The only drawback is thawing that sucker out. It takes a while.

+1 on water in bag

The experts say freezing in water will rupture cell walls resulting in mushy fillets..
I vacumn pack

Chefs will also say never put water on a fillet period.
If they are too bloody blot with paper towels
I have tried it with striper fillet and noticed a big difference in flavor

Same as above - that's the only way I do it. I put ~2lbs worth of fillets in each bag, before the water is added, just for some portion control.

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Water in bag for all fish and game that I freeze, yes even deer. It can't get freezer burned that way.

Ok so consensus is water in bag to avoid freezer burn.....I doubt I'll have to worry about freezer burn on my fillets without water added because they won't be in their longer then 3-4 weeks, I love em and eat em quick lol....what's your all's thoughts on how long it would take to develop freezer burn without water in bag? Thanks.

That differs with the type bag(Zip lock etc) and how much air is left in the bag.