Thread: Storage

What is the best way to store crappie? Freezer bag/ water? Do I Need to filet first? Tips for thaw out.

You're probably gonna get several different opinions on this, but here's mine. I fillet my fish......no bones. I freeze them in pint freezer Ziplock bags in water. Fill the bag to your liking, and fill with water, still holding the final bit of opening of the bag under the running water purging out any air....as you zip on up. I've eaten fish frozen this way that was 2-3 years old, and it wasn't freezer burnt.

Some use the vacuum sealers. I've tried that.....I'd rather freeze them in water.

Thawing....One thing you don't want to do, and that's thaw in hot water. It ruins the texture of the fish. I'm thawing some now. Just run enough hot water over the ziplock bag to get the fish/ice out, and let it thaw gradually, preferably where the water can drain off as they thaw, but still stay cool. If you want to rush it a little, let them thaw at room temp in a big bowl of water.

I freeze mine in quart ziplock bags with water and to thaw I use the cold water tap and thaw the ice off and does'nt take very long to do and it doe'nt seem to hurt the fish at all. Paul

fillet them and lay the fillets out on a cookie sheet and frezze them. Then I vacume seal with that little Reynolds wrap sealer you get at the food store in the bag section. Best vac sealer I have used. Then I freeze them. Used to frezze in water but that takes up alot of space

Freeze fillets in water, in pastic bags or disposable gladware bowls.

I vaccume seal them. Don't take much room and last for a long time. I have eaten fish and venison two years old and you couldn't tell.

Fillet the fish, put in baggie and fill with water.

storing fish on frozen bags works great however it takes up more room in my freezer so i started using vacuum bags and they stack much easier.

Time well tell if they last as long

I use a foodsaver vacuum sealer. After I wash my fillets, I lay them flat on a clean towel. Then, roll the towel jellyroll style to remove moisture. Place in sealer bags flat and seal. These only take 15 minutes to thaw in the sink with cold water. I've cooked fillets that were almost a year old with fish I had caught that day, and couldn't tell which were which. The problem with freezing in water is physics.... water expands as it freezes. Heck, freezing water creates pot holes in paved roads. What do you think it does to a delicate crappie fillet?