Enjoy Fish Filets with Flash Freezing using Dry Ice!
Going fishing and expect to come home with a large quantity of fish or fish filets? Fish begin to spoil rapidly, so prompt processing and freezing is necessary, for the best taste and food safety.
Flash freeze fresh fish with dry ice! Dry ice gives you two major advantages; first, it is a biocide. Studies have shown that using dry ice can preserve fish up to 10 days longer than using just "wet" ice, based on smell and bacterial growth testing. The second advantage is the quality and taste of your fish which stays better longer by using dry ice to preserve your fish filets.
Dry ice freezing is fast because dry ice is -109 Fahrenheit temperature, much colder than the 0 degrees Fahrenheit typical of home freezers. Fast freezing with super-cold dry ice prevents large ice crystalline structures from forming in your filets. These large crystals cause the “mushy” texture of frozen items, due to partial thaw and re-freezing, or very slow freezing.
Note: The National Center for Home Food Preservation recommends “lean fresh water fish be dipped for 20 seconds in a brine of ¼ cup salt to 1 quart of cold water to firm the fish and to decrease drip loss from thawing."
Recommended Equipment:
- Ice chest; deeper chests help contain the cold;
- Heavyweight aluminum foil;
- Aluminum pans, any size which will serve as "freezing pans"; freezing will work better if each pan holds one fish portion in a single layer;
- Wax or parchment paper;
- Gloves and tongs;
- Pump-N-Seal ® (or similar) vacuum food sealer, to pull all the air or carbon dioxide out of the freezer bags.
Procedure
Place a layer of dry ice, about 3 inches thick, in the bottom of the ice chest, covered with a sheet of heavy foil or brown paper. This will help prevent the pans (used to hold the food portions) from sticking to the dry ice.
Arrange filets one layer deep in the freezing pans on a double layer of waxed paper. If the filets freeze to the top layer, just cut between filets leaving the paper in place. The paper will be a divider and can be removed after thawing.
Place in the ice chest, close the lid, but do not seal the lid. The dry ice will sublimate (change from solid to gas without becoming liquid) and the gas pressure could become dangerously high in a sealed container. Allow the filets to sit in the chest for 20 to 30 minutes. Once fish filets are frozen, remove from the freezer chest, put into storage bags, remove air much as possible.
The Pump-N-Seal® or similar device makes sealing easier. Trapped air space is one of the causes of freezer burn. Evacuation of all air from the freezer bag will produce better and longer-lasting frozen food.
Transfer frozen fish filets to your freezer, or another ice chest with dry ice. If you are planning to store the fish filets in the freezer for more than 4 months, double bag or combine several smaller-portion bags into a larger bag and vacuum seal that, as well. This gives added protection against freezer burn.
Safety Precautions:
- Wear gloves; dry ice is -109 degrees Fahrenheit. The pans used for freezing will be nearly that cold. Do not touch the pans with bare skin to avoid a serious burn from dry ice.
- Do not seal or clamp lids of coolers containing dry ice. As dry ice goes from a solid to a gas, pressure builds up. One ounce of dry ice produces 1 cubic foot of carbon dioxide gas at room temperature.
- Work in a well-ventilated space. Carbon dioxide is heavier than air and replaces oxygen, which can cause suffocation or breathing problems if you are not working in a large or well-ventilated area.
Where can you buy dry ice to freeze fish and other foods? Continental Carbonic has 32 dry ice locations throughout the United States to serve you. You may walk up to any of our locations or call them to purchase dry ice. Continental Carbonic will sell you the dry ice products you need at the quantity you need with the appropriate containers, gloves, and machines you need to use the dry ice.
Call Continental Carbonic toll-free at 800-DRY-ICE2 to buy dry ice. Visit our News Archive to find out about more ways to use dry ice.
