Cryovac Fish

Thanks get outmore for your informative reply, our Engel is usually on about 0 degrees and we often have cryovac meat stored in there for around 6 weeks,
Cheers

Thanks mike39 agree about the Barra but there is a hell of a differance between salt water and fresh water barra.
Cheers

yes meat spoils from the outside in with bacteria living on the surface
a dry exterior obviously helps inhibit bacteria - Hung meat primals usually you trim off the dried exterior befor slicing.
Fat doesnt rot as such - it oxidises - goes rancid, not good.
As for marinading in vinigar. normal marinade contains viniger as well as other stuff like salt and suger - besides tasting nice it also makes water unavailable for bacteria so its basically a combination of bacteria inhibiting products that tastes nice
as for meat thats gone slimey and green - thats usually pseudamonis which is what you recognise as spoilage - its not particulary harmfull but obviously smells and is slimey
wiping it away with viniger or trimming the surface off will usually leave edible meat ---- but then sometimes things have just been left too long :) this occurs when the acidity from hanging breaks the cell structure of the meat down too far (thats why hung meat is so tender)
but it releases enzymes and juice from the cells which if left too long will liquify too much and create a breeding ground for bacteria over too longer time --- basically a smelly mess aint no one gonna eat :)

This whole concept of "dry meat" is important in fish too.

SO many people have the idea of washing fillets and cuts of fish after it is cut.....lots of fish shops, bare fish flesh comes into direct contact with ice and is sprayed down with water in the display cabinet.....this is not a good idea...it degrades the fish and makes it go off faster.

You would not see a butcher washing his cuts of beef or lamb or putting them in direct contact with ice......why should we wash or otherwise contaminate fish flesh with water.

wash your whole fish well, before you begin to process it, by all means wash the gut cavity of gutted and gilled fish.

Wash your hands, your knife and your cutting board with clean water immediately before you start cutting....and maybe between each fish.

But avoid any water contact with cut fish flesh.

This is one of the major benifts of vac packing...it keeps the flesh clean, dry and uncontaminated.

As well as bones, remove the skin and avoid any portions of gut cavity on the fillets.

If you want to be realy fussy...and if you want it to keep, it pays.
dry your knife with a clean cloth before you start cutting and avoid contact between clean cut fish flesh and the cutting board.

if you leave the skin and scales on the whole fish.....cut your fillets and lay them skin side down on the board......then skin them skin side down.....they can be placed direct into pouches or contatiners with minimal contact with anything.
There is even a good argument for a second dry cutting board for portioning large fillets.

cheers

cheers

Thanks Bob, get outmore and The Bantam,
Unfortunately I'm not much of a fisherman and I catch most of my fish at the fish processors (cheaper but not as much fun).
I'm thinking if I cryovac some fillets I have in the freezer and store them in the bottom of the Engel I can have a nice feed of fish four or so days into my next trip, keeping a eye on them to see that they have not thawed out.

Cheers

if you are buying fish.

you are by far best off buyng it already vac bagged and frozen.

Much of the fish we buy over the counter has been frozen, thawed and handled.

There are processors that process direct to vac bag...either ashore or aboard the trawler.

some fresh fish markets......note FRESH.....will process the fish and vac pack it for you while you wait.


other than that buy vac and frozen packages from the supermarket.

cheers

Thanks Ron N, that's how I thought it might be. Interesting that you reckon lamb tastes better after being frozen I seem to find it turns out a bit tougher after being frozen.
Cheers

Yeah, lamb can vary a lot in tenderness and flavour - and I think a lot of "lamb" we get sold, is lamb that has died of old age! LOL

There's also a big difference between the various breeds of sheep as regards meat tenderness and flavour.
You get the sheep bred for wool such as pure-bred Merinos, that are pretty ordinary eating - but the sheep bred for meat, such as the Dorpers, Suffolks, and Merino cross-breeds, are much tastier eating.

Cheers, Ron.

I have had a cheap vacuum sealer for a while now but holy crap aren't the chequered bags expensive now! I had to buy some the other week at the local butchers' supplies and it was $88 for 100. Still, they last a while as I usually only use them for camping trips.

OnYaNBike - I buy the Sunbeam Foodsaver rolls for my el-cheapo vacuum sealer. You cut off the length you want, seal one end, fill it with your food and then vacuum seal it.

If I'm vacuum bagging something like bacon that I open and use, say once a week, then I make the bag longer than needed initially.
I then just cut off the end near the seal, remove the amount of bacon I need, and reseal the bag again.
You can generally do this about 3 times before you need a new bag.

Cheers, Ron.