freezer burned fillets...

I don't know if these fillets are freezer burned yet, but while looking for some fillets to photograph last night for a post, I found a couple packages that didn't have a vacume anymore. And the fish inside looked frosted. Are they freezer burned and can they be salvaged? They have been in the freezer for over two months... Could they be smoked and canned to preserve them better? Pickled? I'm willng to try anythng that will keep them edible for a while. My first thought was to brine and smoke them, then can them in a pressure cooker into some pint jars.
Your thoughts?
Thanks, Glowgood

you can just cut off the part thats freezer burnt when you use them. you can also just reseal them in a new bag.

Put filletts in plastic bags fill with water--then freeze,no worry about the burn:cool:

Freezer bag them, fill it with water, and will be good for quite some time. I just ate some last week that we caught last May and they were perfectly fine, and I know that all the big fillets that were in there were the fish I caught.

You can also "pre-coat" them with whatever you normally use, then freeze them ... and they don't "burn" then, either.

Frost on them just means the moisture is leaching out of the fillets ... they aren't "freezer burned", yet. Freezer burned fish will turn a dirty white, and the freezer burned meat will be tough.

If you're using a vacuum sealer ... what you may want to do, in the future, is not seal the bag so close to the fillets -- leaving a couple two or three inches of bag past the edge of the meat. Then, if/when you see that the seal is compromised and the bag has taken on some air .... open the sealed end and then re-seal the frozen fillets, in the same bag. The thicker the plastic, that your sealer uses, the more likely it is to stay sealed. The thinner, cheaper plastics, of the cheaper model vacuum sealers, don't hold a seal quite as long .... so leaving a "tag end" section of extra bag will allow you to re-seal, if necessary.

........ cp :cool:

I put them in a freezer bag, add enough water to cover them and then carefully "burp" out all the air when sealing. I have opened packages 2 or 3 years later that got lost in the freezer and have never had any to freezer burn. They even taste as good as those that have just been in there a month or so. I never have had a vacuum sealer & always wondered how well they work.

I love my vacuum sealer. I don't think I've had any freezer burned fish since I got it. Vacuum sealed fish takes up so much less room in the freezer. No more big blocks of iced fish in the freezer. Takes less time to thaw out too.
Worth every penny. Found my FoodSaver at the thrift store for $3.00! :eek:

CP got it right about the moisture it sounds like from what you explained. Freezer burn is most noticeable by a combination of the meat yellowing & a wood grain-like appearance.
I use 1 lb plastic coffee cans, fillem 1/3 full of water put the fillets in, top off with extra water if need be. No air gets trapped in, they keep forever, and are stackable and fairly space-efficient in the freezer.

im with mrwillis, fill the bag with water and freeze em. they will last a year
with no burn. im glad ya found that jig glowgoodjigster :eek:

I took fillets and put them in a quart sized bag, keeping just the water that was left on the slab from washing it, and then got as much air out of the bag as I could and sealed it closed. Then put the quart bag into a gallon sized freezer ziploc and fill that with enough water to encase the bag inside. You don't have to make an iceberg.

I first tried this method during a trout trip and now use it when I freeze fish. Before, I had always just submerged it in water to freeze. I eat my fish within a year. Freezing it this way has always kept my fish tasting fresh. Might be something to do with not dilluting the natural fish taste with so much water...

I'm not an expert...just thought I would share this option with everyone.

Tight lines!

I froze my fillets in a baggie with water, for years. It keeps them fresh, that's for sure. But it's hard to thaw correctly. The huge ice 'cube' takes a long time to thaw and some fillets are thawed way before others. But it does keep them fresh.

I got a vacuum thingy, and I love it. However, I learned a trick. The first time I tried fish, the seal came undone in the freezer after a few weeks. I think the problem is that fish are wet, and the vacuum sucks moisture up into the seal area, and that won't hold once frozen. And it's probably impossible to get the fillets dry before vacuuming.

So, I finally figured out to seal them as normal, then use the part of the machine that makes bags, the sealer part that works without vacuum, and make about 3-4 additional seals past the first one. Then if the first one breaks because it's wet, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th one won't, it'll hold.

Works.

If you fish a lot and don't have one of these, get one. They're the cat's meow!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Buckrub

I froze my fillets in a baggie with water, for years. It keeps them fresh, that's for sure. But it's hard to thaw correctly. The huge ice 'cube' takes a long time to thaw and some fillets are thawed way before others. But it does keep them fresh.

I got a vacuum thingy, and I love it. However, I learned a trick. The first time I tried fish, the seal came undone in the freezer after a few weeks. I think the problem is that fish are wet, and the vacuum sucks moisture up into the seal area, and that won't hold once frozen. And it's probably impossible to get the fillets dry before vacuuming.

So, I finally figured out to seal them as normal, then use the part of the machine that makes bags, the sealer part that works without vacuum, and make about 3-4 additional seals past the first one. Then if the first one breaks because it's wet, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th one won't, it'll hold.

Works.

If you fish a lot and don't have one of these, get one. They're the cat's meow!

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Thanks I'll have to give the xtra seals a try. Haven't had any problem with seals breaking.
I pat the fillets dry then roll up a paper towell in top of the bag to catch any moisture. Easy to remove when fish is thawed.

Another vacuum sealer tip:
If your sealer is "cold" run the sealer without the bag in it to let the heat strip heat up.
This will ensure the plastic will melt enough to give a good seal.
I try to fill all my bags and seal them all at once to keep the heat strip nice and hot. Works pretty good.

I pack my fillets flat, large ones 3/4 inch thick, one layer in a quart bag. Squeeze all the air out. The bags are never over one inch thick with fish. This allows the meat to freeze completely through quickly. This is my secret to fresh tasting fish six months later.
When you freeze fish in water, the outer layer freezes and forms an insulation that keeps the inner portion from freezing for hours. This gives bacteria time to go to work to cause the funky, unfresh, smell and taste.
A man named Birdsey discovered this years ago.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by blairarnold

I put them in a freezer bag, add enough water to cover them and then carefully "burp" out all the air when sealing. I have opened packages 2 or 3 years later that got lost in the freezer and have never had any to freezer burn. They even taste as good as those that have just been in there a month or so. I never have had a vacuum sealer & always wondered how well they work.

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Same here. I've never had freezer burned fish, and they taste good after a whole year in the freeze. Since this works for me, I've never felt the need to buy a vacuum sealer.

this may sound alittle weird but i've been told to freeze the fish whole. this keeps it from being freezer burned, i have actually tried and it works but just the sound of freezing the fish whole with guts intact didn't sound to tasty. to my surprise it worked pretty well, kind of like just keeping the fish on ice.

what you do is basically wash/rinse the fish and throw them in a freezer bag and just freeze the whole fish. when ready to clean, throw them into some water and let thaw. they look like you've just caught them. weird but it works

Food Saver rocks!

We love the space savings and ease of thaw.

D