Do Whole Fish Freeze Well?

[TDaly25]

I just made an amazing meal that involved grilling a whole fresh sea bass.

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of how black sea bass and tog hold up when scaled, gutted, shrink wrapped and frozen?

Would definitely like to keep some of these "in stock" to replicate what I did tonight.

Thanks in advance for your input. Tom

[aruvio]

Stay very well. Soak or rinse in salted water. Wrap in syran wrap and then reynolds wrap. Otherwise just vacuum seal whole if you have it.

[tuna13]

Follow aruvio directions and the sea bass will last for months.
Holds true for most non-oily fish.

[frugalfisherman]

Don't do anything to it. Freeze it just like it came out of the water. Gut it later when you thaw it.

[TDaly25]

Wow, good stuff guys, thanks so much for the info!

[SeaLevel]

What's just as important as freezing it is how you defrost it. Take the fish out of the freezer on the morning you want to eat it and let it come down slowly all day in the sink or on the counter. Another way to do it is take the fish out of the freezer and put it in the fridge a day or two before you want to eat it. This is the best way to defrost fish w out damaging the meet. People always tell me they don't freez ling because it doesn't stay we'll. this defrosting technique makes a world of a difference and the ling filets come right apart perfectly if done properly.

And I would definitely gut it before I froze it. The guts are what will taint the meet while defrosting

[torchee]

I freeze and cook all of my fish whole.


It is not a problem - wrap it tight.

Blackfish are easier to scale (slippery!) when still a bite frozen.

[TDaly25]

Guys, thanks for all the good scoop! Now I need to get out there to catch again :D

[Happy]

Most of the time I cook my seabass whole (grilled, baked) with the head on.
After it is cleaned, I vacuum seal it and throw in the freezer. Even few months after it tastes delicious.

[tropics]

Don't do anything to it. Freeze it just like it came out of the water. Gut it later when you thaw it.

I second that been doing it for years I do mean YEARS:D

[PeteyHD]

I freeze porgies and Seabass whole all the time. Main thing is not to rinse in fresh water and I actually prefer to leave scales on and prep the fish after defrosting. Porgies and Seabass hold up really well and taste great grilled whole.

[spyro]

same as 1/2

[RnK]

the fresh/salt water rinse debate: http://forums.floridasportsman.com/archive/index.php/t-30555.html

whatever water you use to rinse, best thing you can do is vacuum seal fish you are freezing. For example takes striper from 3-4 wk shelf life frozen to 4+ months frozen vacuum sealed.

ling whose texture turns mushy and lasts a few days at best if not frozen and less than 1 month if frozen, will last 3+ months vacuum frozen. pretty much the same with fluke

non-oily, flaky texture white meat fish (sea bass, tog, cod etc) vacuum sealed 8-12 months

catch a lot of fish, you should get a Food Saver, ca. $100 and a chest freezer.

[TDaly25]

the fresh/salt water rinse debate: http://forums.floridasportsman.com/archive/index.php/t-30555.html

whatever water you use to rinse, best thing you can do is vacuum seal fish you are freezing. For example takes striper from 3-4 wk shelf life frozen to 4+ months frozen vacuum sealed.

ling whose texture turns mushy and lasts a few days at best if not frozen and less than 1 month if frozen, will last 3+ months vacuum frozen. pretty much the same with fluke

non-oily, flaky texture white meat fish (sea bass, tog, cod etc) vacuum sealed 8-12 months

catch a lot of fish, you should get a Food Saver, ca. $100 and a chest freezer.


Thanks.

I've had the shrink wrapper and chest freezers for years now. Freezer is currently 2/3 filled with venison, pheasant, striper, fluke, seabass and tog filets. I'm hoping to get out Sunday for more jumbos so I can top off the freezer with whole biscuits :)