Hey guys, I’m keeping a trout or two here and there this fall for a fish fry. I’ve been fileting them and putting them in a ziplock bag with a little water and getting out all the air then freezing them. Anyone else have a better method to keep the meat better? Freeze whole? Freeze non-fileted? Freeze no water, more water, etc? Thks.
Alex V
I place filets in Ziplocks and fill them with water. When thawed, they’re almost as fresh as the day they were caught.
If you batter your trout when you fry them, try battering them before you freeze them. The batter protects the fillets from freezer burn. Take them straight from the freezer to the fat. The only way my wife and I like trout is fried and that is how she does it. She makes a spicy homemade tarter sauce and you are ready to eat.
Spicy Tarter
I used to always freeze fish in water, but a couple of years ago I bought a Food Saver vacuum bag machine and haven’t used a ziplock bag since.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
Marine Surveying & Repair
Vacuum sealing is by far the best. I hear people often say they can’t tell a difference once they freeze fish and I strongly disagree - you can definitely tell a difference. If you freeze it fresh versus freezing it after it sits in the refrigerator for a couple days, that makes a big difference.
The “freezer burn” is caused due to the meat drying out. Frostless freezers dehumidify and cause the meat to dry out if not absolutely air tight (like you get with a good vacuum sealer). Filling a zip lock bag with water helps to prevent this since it wraps the meat in water (then ice) so that the meat is not exposed to drying. Leave a little room for expansion as it freezes.
Vacuum sealers at Walmart. Great if you’re gonna freeze fish each season. Great for sealing spare batteries for boat, and lotsa other little preservation projects.
A hundred bucks or less.