Fish in Freezer - how long?

[noodlemantra]

Anglers,

How long do you reckon, fish fillets can be kept in the freezer for and still be safe to eat?

[kleiny]

about a month

[szopen]

Not an easy question.

Most important are freezer temperature and how the fillets were prepared.

If the temperature is below -18 and the fish was either tightly packed in foil or coated with water (both to avoid freezer burn) than 3 months should be fine.

If the freezer is below -20 or even better -25 than 6 months to a year.

[Leo_N.]

Also minimise the amount of air in the packaging.

[SURF_SNIPER]

if you crovac . 2 years

[noodlemantra]

hmmm, so my 8mth old cobia fillets aren't the go then :-/

they look alright, but might be safer to just bin it or use as crab bait. spoilt crabs they will be!

[Volvo]

Also depends on type of Fish...eg;Wouldnt give ya tuppence for frozen Blue salmon or Bream, but Fresh!!! ;D plurry luvly me earty..
Black Jew ive had in ye ole freezer for over twelve months and taste as if caught that day when thawed out..
Lipper maybe six months with the reef species holding up the best....
Experiment...
Cheers

[NeilD]

Defrost and check it out. You will tell by appearance and texture if past use by date.

Neil

[szopen]

Well, the question was about what is safe not what is worth eating.
True some fish "tastewise" keep better than others.

I try not to keep anything over 2-3 weeks.

[trout3030]

Have found reefies in the back of the freezer 12 months old at times. Still alive!

[trout3030]

Have found reefies in the back of the freezer 12 months old in the past. Couldn't bring myself to chuck it out. I'm still alive!

[szopen]

Another thought.

How long do you think the frozen fish people buy in the shops has been frozen?

And them fish fingers, frozen once, frozen twice, ....sold?

I work a lot with industrial and commercial refrigeration.
My refrigeration plant has 2.5MW capacity, big plant.

[chanquetas]

NEVER. You should never freeze fish because you should only catch what you can eat. If you want frozen fish go to the supermarket.

[NQCairns]

Chanquetas what about Eskimo's ??? or even Blaze in Tassi ;D Do they need to run home quick with their catch in a food warmer :P

[noodlemantra]

Right and the supermarket, I mean that would be fresh and taste so good - NOT

I do catch what I can eat - it will eaten on the weekend. :P

[Jeremy]

I reckon 2-3 weeks tops. Particularly for mackerel, which I have found develop a 'fishy' flavour if left for longer than a month.

Jeremy

[DICER]

I freeze my patagonian toothfish without any problems ;D

As long as you eat what's in your freezer I don't think it's a problem - certainly I believe in "I eat what I catch".

What about smoking, drying or salting your fish. Pickling your fish - yum! If you end up by freezing a lot and chucking the fish, then sure it's completely wasteful.

Fortunately I have a tape worm in my stomach and fish parasites in my head (that's the part where I forgot to freeze the catch). :P

[Volvo]

NEVER. You should never freeze fish because you should only catch what you can eat. If you want frozen fish go to the supermarket.


Hey changueta's, tell me one good reason why i should pay someone else ta freeze fish for me which i dont rightly know what it may be, how long its been frozen fer and where the feck it originally come from when i have a perfectly good freezer in my possession which knows what resides within it bowels..And most of all the quallity of what lays within ;)...
Cheers mate n no offence ey :)....

[chanquetas]

Oh you guys....you're all so defensive...
By all means freeze away. I just mean I prefer fresh fish, and generally only catch enough to eat straight away. I guess it all depends, if you came home with 5 x 69cm flatties then I think that is a little irresponsible, even though its within the bag limit. But if the mullet are running and you freeze a few then thats different. Also, I recently bought a whole fresh tuna from Morgans because it was only $3/kg, had sushi for a week, and froze a fair bit.
All things in moderation I suppose.
As for eskimos....I wouldnt have thought they had much of a choice...

[stunnedmullet]

Gidday noodlemantra
When in doubt try red fish curry ;D ;D ;D
The mullet

[devocean]

I have frozen crays green for over 2 months and eaten them no worries. Fish even longer. If you are into freezing fish get one of those vacuum sealers. Awesome

[Burley_Boy]

Interesting to know if anyone has gotten crook by eating fish that was cooked after being frozen for a long time??
I'd expect to get 3-6 months no problems and at worst it will start tasting a bit iffy after this but not causing you food poisoning like steak or chicken.
My wife cooks a mean fish dish that uses frozen hake fillets from the supermarket and I must say that 2month old spotted mackarel works a heap better than the supermarket fish...
As far as the eskimos go i think they dry their meat..

[noodlemantra]

they do.

[noodlemantra]

sweet, taking all comments on board. try not to freeze fish, i normally never catch so much that i have to anyway ;D

the cobia was left over from my reef charter trip last year, thats why i asked. thanks all

[troy]

i have had fish in my freezer for well over a year that goes for meat too.
depends on the type eg trevally straight out of the sea not bad but freeze it bloody horrible.
you do not have to take notice of what your freezer has written on it about the times you should keep it frozen.
i thing i have the qualifications about freezers-about 33years of it.
troy

[bidkev]

Interesting to know if anyone has gotten crook by eating fish that was cooked after being frozen for a long time??
I'd expect to get 3-6 months no problems and at worst it will start tasting a bit iffy after this but not causing you food poisoning like steak or chicken.


With the kind of stuff my deckie eats, you wouldn't taste the difference if it was fresh or 2 yrs old ;-)

Seriously though, Even with the size of my mob, it's pretty hard *not to* freeze when you have caught something big.
I mean, you can't cut enough flake for one meal off a 3 metre jonah, and return the rest.

We've always been on a pretty tight budget (one income family), and freezing has literally been a life saver for us at times. I know we have eaten fish that has been in the freezer for at least 18 months and had no ill effects..the same with meat.

At the moment my deckie is clearing out (microwaving and taking to work for lunch) some cattie that is at least 8 months old. She's been eating it daily now for 4 days.........I'll let you know if she carks it :-)

cheers

kev

[Burley_Boy]

You crack me up Kev.
One day I hope to pull up to a straddie campsite and find you with a bit of flake over the fire.
Man I love this place. :D

[bidkev]

You crack me up Kev.
One day I hope to pull up to a straddie campsite and find you with a bit of flake over the fire.
Man I love this place. :D

Crusoe next long weekend mate. Pull up and help yourself to a muddie and catfish mornay.........accompanied by the best cognac of course :-)

cheers

kev

[szopen]

It's the cognac that makes the difference.

On a serious not again.
In anything freshly killed, well cleaned and frozen fast is kept cold enough (below -18C) no bacteria or other bad bugs can develop.
Point.

If you avoid freezer burn stuff should keep well and safe.
In theory forever.

[szopen]

Serious note again I meant.
Way too late now to be "working".

[PinHead]

Crusoe next long weekend mate. Pull up and help yourself to a muddie and catfish mornay.........accompanied by the best cognac of course :-)

cheers

kev


I might drop in Kev...but no way am I going to eat catty...ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...will supply the green ginger..always have that with me...nectar of the gods.

[bidkev]

I might drop in Kev...but no way am I going to eat catty...ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...will supply the green ginger..always have that with me...nectar of the gods.


OK mate, I'll leave the catty out and replace it with shovelly ;-)

Green ginger, whisky (lots of it), hot water and a slice of lemon used to be a favourite of mine to keep off those pommy chills.......think I'll hump a bottle along next time and see how it goes with the brandy.

cheers

kev

[chuss]

I keep my fish in a normal Westinghouse upright freezer and have had no probs keeping them for 12 months and have never been sick from it. The trick is to keep them from the air.

Another good method is to freeze them exposed to air, then dip them in water, allow to freeze for a couple hours again, then re-dip. This forms a layer of ice over the top and reduces the exposure to air.

IF not, seal them in an airtight back and you are ok.

[redlipper]

As in the previous posts pelagics freeze for shorter periods than white reef species, BUT listen...

Dont ever wash or clean fish in tap water [especially city water eg Brisbane]
If you havent got access to ocean salt water rinse your fillets or fish in a solution of 5 litres water to half cup salt. I clean whole fish or fillet and drop them in a bucket of salt water and crushed ice. This coats the fish and then seal them in bags getting rid of as much air as possible.
They will be great eating for at least 6 months if your freezer runs at minus 20 degrees.