Vacuum Seal vs freezing in water

[Don G]

After 3 years of doing both I have come to the conclusion that freezing fish in water is much better than vacuum sealing..

We have a top of the line vacuum sealer and use new 1/2 gal milk containers for freezing in water..

The fish we cook that has been frozen in water is much better..

What is your opinion??

["G"]

I have always froze in water but everybody that I talk to says to vacumn pack. I was going to buy a vacumn pack rig but you have me thinking maybe not now.

[J_ROW]

DonG I am in agreement with you. I think they taste a lot better frozen in water than dry sealed in a vacuum. I use half gallon plastic ice cream buckets and they work great.

[SteveJ]

I too freeze in water but have a friend who is a saltwater fisherman that uses the vacuum and what he does is glaze the fish is a light salt and water solution on a cookie sheet in the freeze before he vacuums them, says the only way to go. I'll stick with freeze bags full of water. I put the bags in a pan of water and fill up the bag with water holding it down in the pan of water to force all the air out of the bag, works for me.

[Fishaholic]

I was gonna get one of them things this year, but I think I'll save my money and continue to freeze 'em in water.

[rnvinc]

IMO the vaccuum sealer does not get out all the air...which is generally the cause of freezer burn...the air...

[kycreek]

I use the vacuum sealer on a lot of stuff. But my fish gets frozen in water everytime. Can't beat it. IMO

[Eager Beaver]

I wouldn't give my Vac/sealer up for anything. If you aren't getting all the air out than you must be doing it wrong. After I fillet the fish and cleaned them. I put them in the fridge in water and let them sit overnight to chill. The next day I will drain the water off them and rinse them thorourghly with cold fresh water. I put them in a strainer and let them sit for a short time to let the water drain off of them. Then I use paper towels putting one on the counter and placing 12 fillets on it and then putting another paper towel over them and then adding another 12 fillets until all the fillets are dried in this manor. I use gallon vac bags and place 20 fillets in each bag. I take the top paper towel off the fillets and use another dry one to blot dry the fillets one more time before placing in the vac bag. I do this with each layer of fillets until they are all placed in the bags. It is important to keep an adequate amount of space from the end of the bag. I place the sealer on the fast and dry setting on the sealer. I will double seal the top of the bags.
I keep fillets all year around and have never had freezer burn on any of the fillets in the vac bags, as I use to have with the water in the milk cartons and ziplock bags. Another big plus is it takes about 10 minutes to thaw out a bag of fillets compared to several hours with the milk cartons. I just place them in the sink in luke warm water and they thaw right out.
I keep a lot of fillets for my fish fries and another plus is the amount of space they take up. If I kept them in the milk cartons I wouldn't have enough freezer space. EB

[Don G]

I wouldn't give my Vac/sealer up for anything. If you aren't getting all the air out than you must be doing it wrong. After I fillet the fish and cleaned them. I put them in the fridge in water and let them sit overnight to chill. The next day I will drain the water off them and rinse them thorourghly with cold fresh water. I put them in a strainer and let them sit for a short time to let the water drain off of them. Then I use paper towels putting one on the counter and placing 12 fillets on it and then putting another paper towel over them and then adding another 12 fillets until all the fillets are dried in this manor. I use gallon vac bags and place 20 fillets in each bag. I take the top paper towel off the fillets and use another dry one to blot dry the fillets one more time before placing in the vac bag. I do this with each layer of fillets until they are all placed in the bags. It is important to keep an adequate amount of space from the end of the bag. I place the sealer on the fast and dry setting on the sealer. I will double seal the top of the bags.
I keep fillets all year around and have never had freezer burn on any of the fillets in the vac bags, as I use to have with the water in the milk cartons and ziplock bags. Another big plus is it takes about 10 minutes to thaw out a bag of fillets compared to several hours with the milk cartons. I just place them in the sink in luke warm water and they thaw right out.
I keep a lot of fillets for my fish fries and another plus is the amount of space they take up. If I kept them in the milk cartons I wouldn't have enough freezer space. EB

Beav, I have never had freezer burn using our vacuum sealer..I do just about everything you do before freezing...To us, they just don't taste as good...I guess to each his own but I learned the milk carton freezing of fresh shrimp in water while living on the Gulf Coast...I agree the vacuum sealed stuff thaws quicker and stacks better but I will give that up for better taste..

Thanks for your input...

[Don G]

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