Seafoods
are among the most perishable of all foods. Great care must
be taken from the time seafood is caught or bought until it
is consumed. The following tips should be useful for handling
and freezing seafood.
Handling
Fresh Seafood
KEEP IT COLD! Seafood should be as fresh as possible before
freezing. Do not wait until it is almost spoiled to freeze
it. This will result in almost spoiled quality when it is
thawed and ready to use. Handle the fresh seafood correctly
before freezing.
Fresh
seafood should be well iced at all times. Fishing and shrimping
trips require a quality ice chest with plenty of ice. As fish
are caught, they should be well iced by mixing ice and fish
together. Initial icing requires at least one pound of ice
to every pound of fish, with 2 pounds ice per pound of fish
recommended. Shrimp should also be well iced by mixing. Water
from melting ice should be drained off and more ice added
as needed.
Live
crabs and crawfish should be kept cool, in the shade, and
provided with good air circulation. Wooden crates covered
with moist, clean burlap sacks are good for storing live crabs
and onion sacks are good for crawfish. Never put live crabs
or crawfish in sealed or water-filled containers. They will
quickly die and spoil.
Live
oysters are generally sold in burlap sacks and this is a good
way to hold live oysters. When buying oysters, always make
sure that the sack has been properly tagged. Oysters should
be refrigerated for safety and quality. Do not bury oysters
in ice or fresh water, which could kill them. If using a cooler,
place the ice in the bottom, and then the oysters on top of
the ice.
Freezing
Seafood
There are many advantages to freezing seafood at home. Done
properly, they are almost fresh in quality when thawed. In
addition, seafood tends to be seasonal and freezing offers
a method for preserving seafoods when they are plentiful for
times when they are scarce. There are many methods for freezing
seafood at home. However, your home freezer was designed to
hold products that have already been frozen and not large
quantities of food.
Seafood
should be frozen rapidly. First, thoroughly pre-chill the
seafood. Research has shown that rapid freezing results in
the best quality of the seafood. Make sure that the temperature
of the freezer is around 0°F (-18°C). Put the seafood
in small packages and spread them out to allow cold air circulation
around them until frozen. After they are frozen, they can
be stacked or boxed. One of the worst problems in frozen seafood
is freezer burn (dehydration). This is best controlled by
using a protective packaging material as discussed in each
of the following sections:
Fish
Fillets freeze best when placed flat in sealed ziplock freezer
bags. It is not necessary to add water. Before completely
closing the bag, force the air out through a small opening,
and quickly finish closing the bag. The bag should be pulled
down tight around the fillets (like a vacuum package). Remember
to spread the wrapped fillets out in the freezer until frozen.
Putting fillets in a milk carton or other large container
with water can damage them and can waste fish. Large, whole,
dressed fish (skin on) are best when they are first frozen,
then dipped in ice water to form a protective glaze over the
whole fish and wrapped in freezer paper. Small skin-on pan
fish may be frozen in water with good results (the skin protects
the meat).
Shrimp
Shrimp freeze extremely well. Headless, shell on shrimp should
be frozen like fish fillets. The bags should be spread out
in the freezer until frozen.
Crabs
and Crawfish
Crab meat can be frozen with only fair results. Crab meat
should be frozen like fish fillets. Do not put crabmeat in
water as this will remove all flavor.
Crawfish
meat can be frozen if the fat is washed off. This can be done
by placing the meat in a colander and rinsing it under the
faucet with cool water. The washed crawfish meat should be
frozen like a fish fillet. Dipping the crawfish meat in dilute
lemon juice solution before freezing will help prevent discoloration.
Oysters
Although oysters can be frozen with fair results, they do
not have the same texture and appearance of a fresh oyster
when thawed. Commercially frozen oyster retain very good quality
and are growing in acceptance because commercial units freeze
the meat extremely rapidly. Oysters are best frozen in a freezer
bag or small rigid container. There is generally enough oyster
liquid in the container to protect from freezer burn.
Thawing
Seafood
Rapid thawing is important to protect the quality retention
of rapid freezing. Thaw frozen seafood in the package under
running water. Opening the package and putting the seafood
directly into the water may cause texture, color and flavor
changes.
Download:
handling_freezing.pdf
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