FREEZING FISH IN PROTECTIVE WRAPS

Michigan State University Extension
Preserving Food Safely - 01600800
10/13/97

FREEZING FISH IN PROTECTIVE WRAPS


     1.  Use fresh fish, cleaned and dressed.               
     2.  Cut fish into appropriate serving pieces.  Fish can
be frozen whole or as portions.   The most economical way to
freeze  fish is in meal-size packages of steaks or  fillets.
To separate one frozen fillet or steak  from another, insert
a double layer of wax paper between  fish portions when they
are packaged for freezing.                                  
     3.  Dip  fish in one of the following solutions to help
preserve  quality.   FOR LEAN FISH  (almost all Great  Lakes
fish):   Add  1/2 cup salt to each quart very  cold,  almost
frozen water.  FOR FAT FISH (salmon, lake trout, whitefish):
Add  2  tablespoons  powdered  ascorbic  acid to each  quart
water. Place fish in solution for one minute; drain on paper
towel; dip again.                                           
     4.    Wrap  or  place  fish  in  airtight,  vapor-proof
package.  To  wrap  fish,  pull  the wrap tightly around the
fish,  squeezing  out  any air  pockets.  Never freeze large
containers of  fish.   It  may  take  three  days before the
center of the pack freezes.  In the meantime,  quality  will
deteriorate.  Packages freeze  from  the  outside toward the
center,  and the food  expands when  frozen.   This pressure
may turn the fish in the center of the pack to mush.        
     5. Store  in  freezer at 0 degrees Fahrenheit or below.

Fatty fish are best used within a few months.               


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