is this fish fresh or is it old?

[Karletto]

Today the transportation can literally bring the fish inland within hours but with the help of freezers and fridges there are more buyers. (damn it i live 3 miles from the coast and the local fish market gets fresh fish 1x/ week)

Smell: fresh smell; Put a fish in a fridge -> in 18°C it will start to smell in 2 days
Look: No blood in the eyes, mouth, skin is a sign of a fresh fish; Fish eyes are clear and shiny -> white is white/ black is black; Enlarged belly is a sign of an old fish; There must be no signs of pressings/ cuttings; If the fish was hunted with a hock, expect injuries around the mouth and cheek but its OK to eat. Light red gill is a sign of a fresh fish.
Touch: When u press the finger on the body, the skin has to come back again.

 

[agbiv]

Nice advice! (didn't mean to rhyme). Ran a fish market for a while and the rule is keep your fish (fresh or frozen thawed) at or near 32' F/0' C as possible. For every 2 degees above that the shelf life of 14 days from catch looses a day! So fish held at 36' F can only be kept 4.5 days! When we slacked out frozen we only kept 7 days @ 32' F. If placed in case & slacked that way kept for 8 days. Very strict logging dates of product too.

 

[Roomy11]

wow very nice. this is very useful for me, because I love to eat Fish

 

[brandon cadalzo]

So how long can you typically keep a fish kept in your usual household freezer?
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[spaghetti]

So how long can you typically keep a fish kept in your usual household freezer?
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Four to six months I've always been told. But six months sound quite much to me: I wouldn't trust much in a six months old frozen fish.
My personal best as for ageing a speared fish in the home freezer was a four months old frozen bass. I ate it foru months after the kill, it was good and didn't make me sick.
Not a technical reply, though, this is just what I experienced.

 

[brandon cadalzo]

Thank you very much,
You're reply was helpful to me. Was the fishyou kept fillet or keptd whole in the freezer?
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[foxfish]

You can buy vacuum bagging machines for quite reasonable prices now, that will help to keep you fish fillets it better condition.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW8qNSJ3Lds]YouTube - Vacuum Food Sealer Professional Quality by Andrew James. www.andrewjamesworldwide.com[/ame]

 

[monchan]

certain fish can freeze better than others. Fish that dont freeze well, will often go a greyish colour when thawed, with the flesh quite soft. Maybe still ok to eat. best to eat that fish fresh (often tropical fish, that you never see at market)

other fish freeze really well and thaw out with little loss of quality.
Maybe agbiv and confirm this and give some examples.

 

[Old Man Dave]

I feeze 90% of the fish I intend to eat. I now use an Icey-Tek commercial fish cooler/box on the boat and freeze my catch at home within a few hours of capture. From the shore I freeze then usually as soon as I get home usually within 2 to 3 hours. If I can't freeze them immediately they go in the fridge for a few hours.

I seldom freeze fish whole and fillet, debone and skin most of my catch before freezing it on metal trays. I could write a book on freezing fish (if I had time) as there are many many secrets to success. The point being most fish can be frozen and come out as good (even better) than fresh. Even oily fish like mackerel can be frozen perfectly.

Corretly frozen fish fillets can last 6 months with the main problem being freezer burn. The vacuum bagging machine looks a great solution to this and think I'll need to have a go with my brothers.

Dave.

 

[Happy]

I eat fish some a days because its very hot.Thanks to share tips about fish.halloween kids costumes

 

[Joe.A]

I usually vaccuum bag larger fish for the freezer and it keeps forever. To prevent freezer burn of small fish like trout I put them (fillet) in a zip lock bag and add plenty of water. This way the fish is protected by a thick layer of ice that prevents freezer burn.

 

[devondave]

I could write a book on freezing fish . . .

Dave.

Put me down for two signed copies.

Dave.

 

[agbiv]

Water in the bag helps with more delicate fleshed fish. I've actually found some mackeral frozen for 2 years in the bottom of the chest freezer. :head Trimmed of a few freezer burned areas 1/32 " and it grilled up great. No scours as a result. :naughty Visual & smell inspection are key to deciding whether to eat or not. Self defrosting freezers degrade items faster.

 

[foxfish]

Also heard about bagging up fillets under water (in a bucket) to expel all air - a bit like a poorman's vacuum bagger!

 

[monchan]

Wow lots of ideas I never heard of coming out of the woodwork

 

[ESpearfishing]

Some very good advice here!

A pretty obvious one but one that I learned the hard way a few weeks ago; Do NOT make sashimi from a fish that has been sitting in the open chilly bin in the sun all day LOL..

The next two days were bad..