How do you freeze your trout?
- This topic has 11 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated Aug 27, 2012 at 5:37 pm by
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When i was fishing Tasmania a few years ago an old bloke showed me a few trout he had hanging. He had gutted, gilled and removed the head of the fish then hung them by the tail inside a mesh meat locker/airer/dryer(looked like a bird cage with insect proof mesh) or whatever it was called. He left them for 3-4 days depending on the weather(pretty cool up in the tassie central highlands). According to him letting the liquids drain from the flesh lets it firm up and also helps to prevent freezer burn. The fish holds together much better when defrosted from what he was saying. I think he might have also smoked quite a few of these fish as well.
Brian –
That is really similar to what Georgia Pelligrini described seeing Scottish ghillies do to game birds after they were skinned and gutted.
Billy, as alternative, you can Hot Smoke decent sized trout, then freeze them whole. When they thaw they can be quickly grilled to serve hot or they can be served cold as well. Here’s how.
Clean decent sized trout (12-16″) with heads on, gills removed. The more uniformed sized the trout are, the better.
Mix Coarse Kosher Salt and Brown Sugar in a 4:1 ratio and add whatever favoring you want: pepper, garlic or onion powder, etc.
Dredge the trout inside and out with the salt mixture and pack in a plastic container refrigerated for 24 hours.
Removed from the salt bath and rinse throughly in cold water. Allow to air dry at room temp (or in the refrigerator) for at least an hour.
On a charcol grill (preferred) or gas grill get the temp up to about 325-350 degrees and then cook the trout over indirect heat for about 1 hour. Add smoke chips if desired.
Don’t over cook as this will really dry out the meat. When you see juices starting to seep out of the fish, its done. The smaller the fish, the shorter the cooking time.
If you want to save Hot Smoked trout, wrap tightly in aluminum foil and freeze, otherwise tightly wrapped, they will keep refrigerated for several weeks.
Bon Apetite!
Zach, if you have a look around many nationalities seem to hang meat, fish or poultry of some sort either to preserve it or as a step in whatever preservation process they use. It seems as though as long as there is not high moisture/humidity in the air most meats can be hung successfully without spoiling.
I would be really, really careful about doing this with poultry but it seems to be common with fish and other meats.
Oily fish don’t seem to survive freezing as well as other fish but as far as freezing raw fish in general I remember an article many years ago (I believe it was in one of the hook and bullet mags).
I plan on living forever, so far so good.
Like Zach,I use a zip-lock freezer bag. Pour in water and freeze it in a solid block. I don’t eat trout, but I do eat bass, white perch, and bream (bluegill).
My brother and father had some fish flash frozen in Alaska and carried it on an airplane in their luggage on a flight from Anchorage, ALaska to Texas. One of the shipping companies in Anchorage froze the fish for them and told them that the fish would be fine over the course of the trip and might even stay frozen for days if stored properly. My brother opened his suitcase 26 hours after the flight because he forgot to unpack his fish when he came home. It was still as hard as a rock. Over 300 pounds of halibut was in two suitcases. – I think it is funny that they decided that they could do without some clothing and threw things away to make room for the fish. Priorities. I assume that you can always buy new clothes, but you can’t buy over 300 pounds of halibut in Texas very easily.
I freeze mine in ice…Fillets are best when breaded and fried in peanut oil…Whole trout skin on…grill in foil with butter & lemon, or brine and hot smoke them.
The trick to smoked trout is the brine. Add salt to water until it will float an egg, add other flavors if you want. I like a bit of brown sugar and some Zatarains liquid crab boil..
Dont brine them for longer than 12 hours…and let the fish dry on a rack for an hour or so after brining and rinsing…It should look shiny and be a bit sticky to the touch before you toss them in the smoker. That sticky coat (pellicle) is whats gonna keep your fish moist when you hot smoke. Bon Appetit.
Hanging birds is pretty common, not sure about fish unless you’re trying to dry it.
Good article on hanging birds.
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