I have a lazy buddy that has had some fish on ice since Friday. I am wondering how long you can keep fish on ice before they spoil? Any answers other than dont keep em if you dont want to clean them.
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I have a lazy buddy that has had some fish on ice since Friday. I am wondering how long you can keep fish on ice before they spoil? Any answers other than dont keep em if you dont want to clean them.
They will keep quite a while on ice. Check their gills, if they are still red, they are good. They may be good longer than that, but thats what I go by.Quote:
Originally Posted by gooch
i try to hold mine on ice no longer than 3 days. But there's been a time or too when i've seen them on ice for 5 day b/4 they where cleaned. But one thing i don't do is let them set in water in the kooler even with ice on them mix together. (water and ice). Just the way i was taught to keep on ice out of the water.
Don't mean to derail....but I never did understand the saying of not letting your fish sit in ice water or water and ice mix. I have done this for the past 13 years and have never had anything out of the ordinary happen to the fish. Cold is cold is cold. I 've heard some say it ruins the meat. Never had the meat ruined. Always fresh as long as its cold. Someone enlighten me. And to your question gooch, if they've been on ice they should be good to go. When you filet the first one, look at the meat. If its normal opaque or clear color...it should be good to go.
crappster I dont know. I guess I subscribe to the same wifes tail that IBNFSHN does. That if the gills are not red and the eyes are cloudy dont eat the fish. I have seen some of the same info on the Food TV network. (Please dont report that I watch the food network. I could be kicked out of the Arkansas redneck assoc). My thought is catch em, clean em and eat em. I have a 12v electric filet nife and a 110. I clean my fish at the lake and bagem there when its warm and take em home if its cool. I was just looking for some feed back from some of you guys with a heck of alot more experience than myself. The 12 crappie and 7 huge bream I caught Sunday afternoon were consumed tonight. The only ice I needed was for the glass of sweet tea I washed those glorious pan fish down with.
When the meat is mushy when you squeeze it I throw it out. It may still be good but I can't stand the thought of frying mushy fish.
About the water.... I don't know about uncleaned fish but as for filets... any chef will tell you that water sucks the flavor out of any meat. Yeah I know some people have frozen fish in water for years and couldn't tell the difference but however good those filets tasted they would have tasted better vaccuum sealed ((IMO)).
I To Go With The Red Gills--if Their Not,i Dont Clean Them.i Usually Ice Mine Overnight-then Clean The Next Am!good Fishin Yo Ya!!!dennis
And that's only if we get home late and I don't feel like staying up and messing with it. Then, I'll wrap the fish in a towel and pack them in layers of ice, not water. (I use ice water for the ride home from the lake).
The exception is trout, which get strong if they're not bled out right away.
I think if I had my doubts (gills pink instead of red) I'd still cook them up for the dogs. No sense in wasting fish. - Roberta
My pa-in-law has kept fish on ice for up to 5 days and they have been just fine....my cut-off is usually somewhere around the 3 day mark....I always drain the water and keep the ice stocked up on them, but if I can't get around to cleaning them by day 3 I find someone quick that has the time to clean them. That part is usually not a problem at all.
I go by the gills and if they are red. Light pink or white the bacteria has started working on the meat and will have an unusual odor. I try to keep the fish alive as long as possible. when I leave the lake I dump a bag or two of ice in the livewell and the fish are generally still alive when I clean them. As far as not having fish in water. I never eat fish that haven't been in water overnight in the fridge after I have filleted them. It firms up the flesh, and to me it tastes better. I chill the fillets until the tail turns up a little. Fresh fillets are mushy when cooked right away, to me.
Why is it that a freshly caught crappie filet will curl up while frying or baking?
If the filets are frozen and thawed they will remain flat while cooking. Just curious as to the explanation for this.
I know that I prefer dressing and handling crappie caught in 35 to 40 degree water as compared to catching them in 60 to 70 degree water. The filets remain much firmer in the cooler water. Guess I could ice the fish down in the live well on the way home.
Heat, Moister and Flith will ruin meat quicker than anything.
Keep those three apart and you should be fine. What is meant by moister is "Hot Moister".
Keep them out of the Sun in a clean cooler with ice. Should hold for several days.
My two cents worth. I have kept them on or in icy water for 5 days and the fish be just fine. Yes, draining the water will keep thier gills reder than leaving them in standing water. The main thing to take in consideration is if the fish are firm or soft or mussy. If soft you need to throw out. After cleaning I let soak in a salt water solution for at least 2 days and have left up to a week. It seems to firm the meat up and they do cook better to me. I know as most of you that we should clean as soon as possible to keep form wasting such wonderful tasting fillets. If you have so many as not to clean in a timely manner maybe you should share with your friends or neighbors. H*** - I forgot friends only want them already cleaned. LOL There are so mnay different answers to this questions we could all go on for days or weeks and not come up with a conclusion that everyone would agree on. That's my ole daddy used to say that's why they made strawberry, chocolate and vanilla.
Well I think that once the slime is removed from the skin water can enter the flesh though osmosis and soften it up a lot. You want the fish flesh to be firm not mushy I would think.
Remember that water will enter the fish fesh as the flesh has more salts in it. That makes the water outside the fish go though the flesh and try to dilute the salts in the fish flesh. Humm Maybe that is why we always soaked our fish in Salt Water. That way the water didn't go into the fish flesh.
I caugth and cleaned some fish last week and put the cleaned filets in the frig in some water with ice cubes in the pan. They were in the frig for at least 4 days or maybe 5 days. When I took them out and rinsed them off with fresh tap water one of the containers smelled like Sea Food does when it's unfrozen. Sort of like the ocean or the smell around a saltwater bay or lagoon. I hope that the filets are still ok. I stuck them in a ziplock large freezer bag and put them up in the freezer compartment.
I caught some fresh fish Sunday and fried them up and ate some six of them and a few other filets that were in the batch in the fridge soaking in the salt water. Not sure how long those other filets had been in the frig. 4 or 5 day and some only for two days. Anyway I got an upset stomach at 6 am the next morning. But I drank a lot that night and I had more of a heartburn sensation than a food poisoning sensation. Nothing that a few extra strenght tums could not resolve.
But I am now wondering just how long I can keep the fish filets in the refrigerator in salt water. I do know that bacteria can still grow at 40 deg F but their growth is slowed down. Now at 32 deg F or lower bacteria can still survive but they only grow very slowly. Most bacteria should die at below 32 deg F. or Zero Deg C. There are some bacteria that can live in freezing conditions and some that even can survived in the under the ocean thermal vents where hot lava is coming out of the ocean floor. Bacteria can really adapt to a lot of different conditions. But when you consider that each generation passed ever 20 minutes you can get a lot of genetic variablity over a few years. While we humans have a life span of 60 to 80 years and are slowlying changing our genes the bacteria are mutating all the time and they reproduce much faster than most other species on earth.
I think that they have now proven that bacteria were found on Mars even.
Quote:
Originally Posted by crappster
Bart:
I think that they may be saying that is sucks the flavor out of the flesh as the water is sucked into the fish filet meat over time.
Try adding some salt to the water that you soak your fish in. That should help equibrate the water to the salt content of the fish flesh and prevent water from going into the fish meat by OSMOSIS.
Water go though a semipermeable membrane to equalize the water/chemical concentrations on each side of the semi membrane.
If you take some fresh water and put it in a rubber and then stick that rubber full of fresh water into a bucket of salt water you will see what happens. If not reverse the ingredients and then observe again. ie put salt water inside the rubber or ballon and fresh water in the bucket.
In one setup the ballon will swell up as the water flows into the ballon.
fish flesh has minerals and proteins in the meat and less water than the water in the tub. So the water will flow into the fish flesh if you don't add salt to the water in the tub.
Try this with a few spare filets and see if this holds true.
It's always best to clean and eat the fish right away fresh. Keep the fish alive in a live well or immediately put the caught fish on ice and then clean and cook them as soon as possible to prevent bacterial contamination of the meat.
I would not soak the filets too long as even in salt water they get mushy in a day or so.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bart
Most folks here in Arkansas with the nickname MOOSE are not very smart. This is obviously not true in Hoosier land.
Not only is that more than I wanted to know about how long fish would stay on ice. Its more than I ever thought I would know in my life about the subject.
Thanks for the biology/physics/chemestry lesson moose!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I liked it!!
CC
I keep my crappie on ice for 2-3 days..for one, they are much easier to filet and for two, if the filets are pinkish and 'smell' I throw em out.. I've had a cooler of 25-35 good fish, kept on ice fileted up, no trouble.. the post about draining out the water is what I go by...drain and replish with ice.. I have 6 tubs if filets in my freezer and would not hesitate to feed my friends.. it's a treat that most would come back for time and time again..
I've always cleaned my (panfish & walleyes) the next day. As long as they're laying on ice (and NOT in water) they'll be fine. I've also gone as long as three days with no problems.
Crushed ice is better than cubed ice but its hard to find it. I read long time ago that crushed ice has better cold coverage, problem is it also melts faster.
That's my 2 cents...lol :twocents
I try to clean the next day but have let them sit in ice and water for 4 days. No problems
Twelve-year-old thread.
That's close, but it's not the record.
If any of the original fish are still on ice, better sniff em twice!Quote:
Originally Posted by deathb4disco
I had an eye opening experience recently in Panama City while watching a commercial fishermen unload their catch of snapper. Having done a lot like the previous posters, I was surprised when I found out that they stay out at sea for up to 14 days without coming in to the docks. I ask them if they froze their fish to keep them from spoiling. They answered no, that all they had to do was gut them immediately and place them on ice to keep them fresh and to keep water drained off of them to keep their eyes clear.
I was shocked that they kept them that long, so that makes you wonder just how old that fish is your buying at the seafood counter at the supermarket.
Two takeaways from my conversation with that gentleman.
1) Fresh Fish- is fish that has never been frozen regardless off age!
2) Applilacola Bay Oysters- only have to be shucked in that area to be considered Applilacola Oysters!!! They can be grown and harvested in Texas, then shipped there before shucking!
Kinda makes you wonder what we are really eating when we go out to eat!!!
:popcornQuote:
Originally Posted by deathb4disco
Big Crappie is correct, commercial fisherman/shrimpers keep there catch on ice more than five days before coming back in to unload/sell/process. Clear eyes and red gills are good indicators of freshness.
I guess I am lazy. Catch and release. Catch and give away. Or, bring home enough for a meal and clean the same day.
If 12y ant the record what's the record lol.
Sent from my SM-G930V using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app
I Put Ice In Bottom Of Cooler, Then Fish, Follower By Water. Never had A Problem-But I Also check Gills.
If their eyes are not clear that is what i use as a guideline. Usually that is the first thing that i have noticed is the give away and rigormortis the second, gills change color definitely throw out..!!
I'd like to also know the answer... AND, what happened to Moose?! :Rofl (I'd never heard that about folks called "Moose!")Quote:
Originally Posted by lowe175
I've seen at least one thread from 2004 bumped. If somebody bumped a thread titled "Kennedy Shot Today in Dallas", people would still post without looking at the date.Quote:
Originally Posted by Beavz
Moose was banned in 2005, I believe.