Does speard fish last longer than hook/net caught fish?

[Jason IR-2010]

I was wondering about this as beef and other non-swimming meats are hung for a period of time before they are even sold, to tenderise and improve the flavour of the meat. Fish however is sold as fresh as possible and rightly so as the majority of it caught through hook and net; where the fish struggles and uses up all the glycogen in it's muscles and therefore there is little to no glycogen left to turn into lactic acid, which acts as a preservative. When non-swimming meats are killed they are kept as relaxed as possible and the slaughtering procedure is as 'gentle' as possible to keep the glycogen levels as high as possible.

What I am asking is: Does stone killed fish (ie. complete rexlation of the muscles, like what happens with the effective use of the hawaiian sling) mean a better taste and longer shelf life than fish that sturggle?

Thanks,
Jason.

 

[devondave]

I think you would be surprised at just how long fish can and is kept at a fishmongers.
Personally I'm not a fan of fresh fish unless it's oily or delicate.
For instance I would not eat a bass for at least 24hrs, 36hrs is even better.

Speared fish does taste better if a few procedures are followed,
kill the catch as soon as possible,
snip the gills to bleed-out the fish,
remove the guts as soon as you can, this is more important with delicate fish.
Try to keep the fish as cool as possible, the closer to freezing the better.

These simple measures will produce a fish superior to anything found in a mongers.

 

[foxfish]

I am sure Dave is right even if I disagree with him
I am a lover of fresh fish, I call anything that's been dead for more than 24 hours "pot bait" but, I realise some folk (especially land lubbers) like a good fishy fish!
You do make a good point about stoning a fish, a bit like walking up to a pig to pet it but, shooting it in the head instead = supposed to make for a far better tasting end product?
I think one + point about shooting fish is the fact that they do release quite a bit of blood, I don't like blood in my fish fillets!
I do totally agree with Dave that your speared fish should be gutted & gilled asap but, I very often go one step further by filleting my fish on the beach & washing it in the sea. However I don't expect this is a good idea unless you have a cool box handy to keep the fillets in peak condition or like me live right by the sea.
Interesting subject....

 

[Tunny]

Hi Dave,

Any chance you could explain snipping the gills and bleeding the fish. I understand bleeding the fish but I have always wondered how this is done.

Cheers

Ryan

 

[devondave]

I am sure Dave is right even if I disagree with him

Yeah, Foxfish and me always have different views on this one.
We just agree that he's wrong, I mean to differ, we agree to differ.

Of course to really stir him up just mention the taste of lovely red mullet, especially with the liver spread on toast. :inlove

 

[foxfish]

Would that be "sea Red mullet"!
I am going to cook for you one day Dave....

 

[devondave]

Hi Dave,

Any chance you could explain snipping the gills and bleeding the fish. I understand bleeding the fish but I have always wondered how this is done.

Cheers

Ryan

Yes mate.
If you brain your fish with a knife, then after braining use the knife to cut though the gills on both sides, I cut them across the middle but don't think it really matters.
After death the fishes heart still beats for a while, cutting the gills allows the blood to drain through them, leaving a cleaner, tastier fish and it is a noticeable difference.
Salt cod that has been bled fetches a higher price than non-bled.
While you have the knife and fish in your hands you might as well gut it too, it only takes seconds and saves lots of grief from the misses at home as does descaling.

 

[devondave]

Would that be "sea Red mullet"!
I am going to cook for you one day Dave....

Mart, it would be a pleasure.
And it's Red Sea Mullet.

 

[Tunny]

Yes mate.
If you brain your fish with a knife, then after braining use the knife to cut though the gills on both sides, I cut them across the middle but don't think it really matters.
After death the fishes heart still beats for a while, cutting the gills allows the blood to drain through them, leaving a cleaner, tastier fish and it is a noticeable difference.
Salt cod that has been bled fetches a higher price than non-bled.
While you have the knife and fish in your hands you might as well gut it too, it only takes seconds and saves lots of grief from the misses at home as does descaling.

Excellent thanks for the advice, but do you cut up from the bottom of the fish, or across the lateral either side of the gills?

I always gut and de-scale at the waters edge after weighing the fish...

 

[devondave]

Excellent thanks for the advice, but do you cut up from the bottom of the fish, or across the lateral either side of the gills?

I always gut and de-scale at the waters edge after weighing the fish...

Open-up the gill plate, hook a finger around the red gill rakers inside to steady them, slice though all the red gill rakers, repeat on the other side.
It does not take long for the blood to pump out.

 

[nadir1512]

well mate,

even if the lactic acid works like a preservative it gives a bad taste to the flesh for this reason you should kill the prey as soon as possible in order to avoid as much as possible the production of lactic acid
then you have to follow all the other devondave suggestions
By the way if you were ideally able to keep the fish at 4 degrees since its death it would be more tasty and tender after a day.
If you talk about octopus then there is no other choice than freezing to make edible!

 

[Tunny]

Open-up the gill plate, hook a finger around the red gill rakers inside to steady them, slice though all the red gill rakers, repeat on the other side.
It does not take long for the blood to pump out.

Excellent that explains it perfectly, cheers for the good advice.

Already fulfilling your new role on this fine forum very well!
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[mishu1984]

I dont know whta u guys are shooting but here we stick in our hand or fingers and just pull the gills out.

 

[devondave]

I dont know whta u guys are shooting but here we stick in our hand or fingers and just pull the gills out.

If I ever catch a fish big enough to put my hand in it's gills, I'll give it a go.

 

[Jason IR-2010]

Thanks for the info. I was aware of bleeding cows, sheep and poulty etc. but I didn't think of doing it for fish.
Thanks again,
Jason.

 

[monchan]

Personally I'm not a fan of fresh fish unless it's oily or delicate.
For instance I would not eat a bass for at least 24hrs, 36hrs is even better.

.

I love fresh fish, cooked how I like it. And I still consider fish that I catch to be fresh after 24-36 hrs, no problems.
As devondave said bass and other fish benifit from being left for a while.
here in japan most of the tuna and sushi fish have been frozen and imported. but other local fresh fish (not all) are much better after a day.
the flesh settles and actually softens a tad oils that make it taste better are present, but its not so old as to make it taste bad. in reality though once the fishing boat arrives back in port the fish is cooled settled and ready to go.

If I do sashimi or sushi (with fish I caught) I will absolutely leave it at least for 8hrs -24hrs
then fillet it. much better than live and wriggling which really is just a gimmick, makes the customers go "wow thats fresh"

 

[Padaxes]

I always brain and gut straight away I guess you have to leave the guts for a while after you've cut the kills so there is actually a heart to pump the blood!



Does anyone practise Ike jimi?

Ike Jime 3: Fish Killing 7 Ways

Interesting that Japanese bleeding comes out with the best results in their study. I notice that Mullet and Pollack twitch for a long time after being brained/gutted and wonder if Ike Jimi might be a good technique to use on them.

 

[Jason IR-2010]

Thanks for that link it really helps, I didn't realise that bleeding improves the flavour of the fish so much.