Putting Food By - Janet Greene [116]
Freezing Birds in Halves
Split dressed, washed birds lengthwise and cut off the backbone (use it in soup stock).
Pack and seal. Put a double layer of freezer paper between the halves. Pack and seal in a freezer bag or wrap as for Whole. Label; freeze.
Freezing Birds in Smaller Pieces
Cut in pieces suitable for intended use (see Canning Poultry in Chapter 10).
Pack and seal. Put a double layer of lightweight wrap between meaty pieces and pack them snugly together in a freezer bag or carton. Seal. Label; freeze.
FREEZING SEAFOOD
Fish and shellfish—seafood—are the most perishable of all fresh foods, and therefore are the most vulnerable to careless treatment. Fish must be cleaned immediately and washed in fresh, running water; ocean fish may be kept alive in sea water, but neither fish nor shellfish should be cleaned or cooked in sea water. Ice-pack refrigeration or an accepted substitute method of chilling is a must, especially if you catch your own. You must be meticulous about sanitation and sterilizing surfaces. The packaging materials will be adequate for preventing ice crystals or freezer burn. The seafood will be sharply frozen, stored at minimum temperature, and used relatively soon (compared with a frozen beefsteak).
But it’s all worth the trouble. And compared with canning, drying, and curing, the actual freezing procedure is simplicity itself.
Detailed instructions for preparing seafood for processing are given in Chapter 11, “Canning Seafood”: do read them.
All fish and shellfish must be stored at ZERO F/−18 C after initial sharp-freezing at approx. −20 F/−29 C.
Preliminaries to Freezing Fish
For handling, fish may be divided into two categories: Fat and Lean. The Fat—mackerel, pink and chum salmon, ocean perch, smelt, herring, lake trout, flounder, shad, and tuna—are more perishable than the leaner varieties; plan to freezer-store these not more than 3 months.
The Lean fish—cod, haddock, halibut, yellow pike, yellow perch, freshwater herring, Coho and King and red salmon—all keep well in frozen storage up to 6 months.
Dressing (Cleaning)
Scale the fish (or skin it, depending on the variety); remove fins and tail. Slit the belly with a thin-bladed sharp knife and remove the entrails, saving any roe; remove head (optional). Wash fish in cold, drinkable running water.
Flavor-Protecting Dips
The Fat fish (and roe) are given a 20-second dip in an ascorbic-acid solution—2 teaspoons crystalline ascorbic acid dissolved in 1 quart of cold water—to lessen the chance of rancidity and flavor change during storage.
The Lean fish are dipped for 20 seconds in a brine of 1 cup salt to 1 gallon of cold water; this firms the flesh and reduces leakage when the fish thaws.
Glazing with Ice
If whole fish or large pieces of fish are to be freezer-stored for longer than 1 month, they may be ice-glazed before wrapping. This helps keep the air away, thus saving the flavor. The fish is frozen until solid, then dipped quickly in and out of ice-cold water and tray-frozen, whereupon a thin coat of ice will form on the fish. Repeat several times until the fish is glazed with ice ⅛- to ¼-inch thick, then wrap the fish for storage.
Cutting to Size
Fish are frozen whole if they are small enough (under 2 pounds); or are cut in steaks—crosswise slices about 1 inch thick, or are filleted. Exception: largish fish you expect to bake whole, you freeze whole.
Fillets are made usually from fish weighing 2 to 4 pounds. Lay the cleaned fish on its side on a clean cutting board. Run a thin-bladed sharp knife the length of the backbone and slightly above it, and continue cutting to separate the side of the fish from the backbone and ribs; repeat on the opposite side. (This works on most fish; but not on shad—whose build is so complicated that it takes special skill to fillet them.)
Cooking Frozen Fish and Shellfish
With two exceptions, frozen seafood may be cooked when still frozen—the exceptions being a large whole fish you’re baking and pieces that are to be crumbed