How long will whole frozen fish be ok to thaw out and fillet?
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How long will whole frozen fish be ok to thaw out and fillet?
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Depends on how you froze them. If they are packed in water and then frozen, they'll keep indefinitely. I also freeze my fillets in a little salt water to cover them. The salt water freezes harder and at a colder temp than regular water and keeps freezer burn off them. Ate a batch this last week from '15 and they tasted like I caught them yesterday!
They are in water in freezer bags.
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Caught a few a while back and something came up and I didn’t get to fillet them. So I did that. Was thinking about thawing and cooking them tonight but have heard whole fish won’t last long. I think it was around the 1st of April.
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They would be good from December, but not from 3 years ago
I've never really frozen whole fish for filleting at a later date although (occasionally) I have stored them on well drained ice for up to two days before filleting. But, as for fillets... I've always frozen mine in salt water in freezer bags... but I still make it a point to label them by date and rotate the cooking dates... cooking older ones first much like the grocery store rotates stock moving the older merchandise to the front to keep everything fresh and moving as it is sold or in the case of fillets... used. About six months is the preferred amount of time that I personally like to keep filleted fish frozen although I have and will probably go longer than that from time to time.
Not sure about whole fish but fillets are good for years. If frozen in water like Bob said. I've eaten them 3ys old before and they tasted fine. I remember my grandmother cooking whole fish - the heads and guts that where frozen for a year or so.
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I've never frozen a fish whole. I have left them under ice in a cooler for 3 days, then cleaned them. I think earlier in the year I even left some on ice for 5 days, but it wasn't hot then. That was pushing it even with it cool. When kept on ice, as long as their eyes aren't cloudy, they're still good.
You can also freeze them without water. Just wrap the bag in 4 or 5 pieces of news paper and they wont get the burn either. It also saves space in the freezer.
How much salt per bagQuote:
Originally Posted by Bob D
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I'd say about a half a teaspoon in a gallon bag with 10 fish in it.
I frequently leave fish in iced cooler for 2-3 days before filleting. I check and change the ice frequently.. I don’t think I have gone any longer than three days. I also freeze fillets in water and don’t see a difference in fish frozen a week or 3years. I have never froze whole fish .
It depends on if they were gutted before freezing. If so ur good to go in my opinion. If not I would be weary. The breakdown of the intestines could cause issues as it soaks into the flesh. I as well will keep fish in ice for a day or 2 but any longer and it is risky. I’m not an expert but going by my own experiences
My brother and I use to fish in Grandma's pond for Bluegills.. if it was enough for A meal they were cleaned and froze in water.. if not they went in the pan of water and frozen solid untill they happen to be found and cleaned with others, 6 months, Year, or more judging by what was around them -- Squirrels, Rabbits were around hunting season. Frozen Bluegill when slowly thawed have a tendency to swim around in the pan but quickly die from lack of oxygen --- Now if you were freezing Shad they were bad then they hit the Box --- why would you eat Bait