Hog Daddy meat counter

[Hog Daddy]

ready for the freezer....



HHD

[marmooskapaul]

Nice bunch of fish. We sometimes do the bread and freeze too. Always with breaded tenderloins.

[Hog Daddy]

When the kids come home or company stops by, I can get the peanut oil going in a few minutes, drag a vacuum pack of fish out of the freezer and in a few  minutes I can be in business.  I like doing the work on the front end, rather than all the thawing and prep work on the back end.  Maybe it's an instant gratification thing, lol. 

HHD

[tater140]

Thats a good idea... I should take up that method.  I have often wandered if placing the fillets in water and freezing them like I normally do allows them to absorb a lot of water.  I think I heard somewhere fish should not be stored in water... however I have always stored that way and they seem fine.

[SK8TNPIGEZ]

Yeah that’s a great idea!

[Hog Daddy]

I usually eat mine within a year. but I know many who freeze in water and ziplocks....and keep for several years claiming they keep.  It certainly would protect against freezer burn. My daughter who is classically trained in culinary, gives me hell if I even soak fish in water overnight in the fridge ... so I rinse and drain, then put into ziplock and into the fridge until I can bread and vacuum pack them.  If you are a guy who likes breaded and fried fish, but your wife likes baked fish, she can still bake these.  My wife will put them on a cookie sheet, drizzle some olive oil on them, then bake/broil on high temp like 400 and almost like fried.

HHD

[tater140]

We have done lots of both baked and fried through the years.  I may have to re-think packaging process... it probably doesn't take long to just shake some breadign on them before freezing.

[Hog Daddy]

This is flour dredge, egg wash, dredge in panko, then onto cookie sheets....place in freezer for a few hours, then vacuum pack.  By freezing them on the baking sheets for a few hours then vacuum packing....you can pull apart just after removing from freezer and plop into the oil.

Of course, the good fishermen who are catching lots of fish probably don't have time to do this on the front end and just freeze as soon as possible. 

HHD

[abishop]

The question I have is this, Don't the fish cool the hot oil and have a problem cooking fast? I would think they might soak up more oil. How many at a time do you fry to prevent this?

[Graygills22]

Yum. 

[Hog Daddy]

I use a propane fish cooker with peanut oil at a temp of 350 degrees.  I usually drop 10 or so bluegill / crappie size fillets in the oil and only takes 4-5 minutes for them to float.  Repeat as needed.  I don't have much trouble keeping the temps right around 350.  Different oils have different smoke/burn temps, thus using peanut oil can withstand higher temps as opposed to say canola oil, or others.  I've not had any trouble with being over oily.  I do lay down some paper towel on a tray and dump the fish on that but then just salt to taste.  Down side may be the expense of peanut oil.  If my son-in-law is helping me, I have to account for all the fish he samples before we can even get them to the table !!

HHD

[Hog Daddy]

packing them up

[WildBill91]

Just a helpful tip that I have learned the hard way, be careful freezing catfish. You definitely want to eat that within a couple months. If they are fatty, they just don't keep well. Caught 3 through the ice on cut up bluegill this year, thought about freezing them and remembered back to that rather unpleasant meal from the last time we caught a bunch of cats through the ice...and froze some for later...waited a bit too long to enjoy the bounty.