Preserve Fish Meat in Hot Climates?

[socaldmax]

Has anyone tried cooking fish or other foods and then vacuum sealing them with a Food Saver? Would you then be able to store it at room temp.? Are the bags rugged enough not to spring a leak?

[sparrowhawk1]

Vacuum sealing is not the same as canning. Meat still needs to be refrigerated. The bags are pretty tough. I have a vacuum sealer that allows me to use standard bags and I found I have to becareful with freezer bags( no sharp objects inside the bag like some pastas, and be very careful how I store it)

[eroot]

Absolutely. Where freezing fish is the plan, I find that freezing them in some water improves the eventual taste.

[zeehag]

you will find while catching fishies that teh lure size kinda determines the size fishie you will catch.
i will not bring onto my boat something so large that it is going to cause either storage or cleaning problems.
i have not had fridge on this boat until this year, since 2008 when i got her. lol i been in hotville since 2011 april. i have had no problem catching something too large to eat in one to two days.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by sparrowhawk1

Vacuum sealing is not the same as canning. Meat still needs to be refrigerated. The bags are pretty tough. I have a vacuum sealer that allows me to use standard bags and I found I have to becareful with freezer bags( no sharp objects inside the bag like some pastas, and be very careful how I store it)

So even if I boiled the food and prepped it exactly the same way as canning, but I sealed it in a bag instead, it would not last like it would in a can or jar?

[sparrowhawk1]

Originally Posted by socaldmax

So even if I boiled the food and prepped it exactly the same way as canning, but I sealed it in a bag instead, it would not last like it would in a can or jar?

Correct. But if you made jerky it would last a lot longer in a vacuum seal. Canning in jars is so simple you just put chunks of meat in the jar let steam escape for 10 minutes and pressure cook for 75 minutes for a pint.( always check time for the exact food you are canning that's just a general time) you can even get reusable lids sold by tattler

[youngson]

eat the whole fish then dont eat at all for a couple days till you catch the next
Lol on the serious side canning or drying works

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by youngson

eat the whole fish then dont eat at all for a couple days till you catch the next
Lol on the serious side canning or drying works

Yes sir. We are well aware of that. Do you have something of substance to add? That's what we're after, Captain.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by zeehag

you will find while catching fishies that teh lure size kinda determines the size fishie you will catch.
i will not bring onto my boat something so large that it is going to cause either storage or cleaning problems.
i have not had fridge on this boat until this year, since 2008 when i got her. lol i been in hotville since 2011 april. i have had no problem catching something too large to eat in one to two days.

That should be a mantra for the cruising sailor. Small lures generally catch more smaller fish. We're not looking for a trophy, just something for the pan.

[Blue Crab]

Nice post. Thx.

[sparrowhawk1]

I'm not recommending this at all but I found out there are some people that will vacuum seal the fish and then pressure cook it. Supposedly FoodSaver bags are safe to heat up. But to do all that work and use all that propane I can't see why you wouldn't want to can them in glass especially when you can get reusable lids.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Good article on canning FISH.

This article on QUART JARS SIZE.

NOTE the warnings and the requirement of 160 minutes of CONSTANT temperature and pressure for safe caning of fish (according to this source, govt department).

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_05/alas...ish_qtjars.pdf

it says IF you lose pressure you must start over again.

[sparrowhawk1]

Thanks for the article, it also says that you need to heat it for 20 minutes and then let the steam vent for another 10. before bringing to pressure. Compared to just 10 minutes of venting and 100 minutes of pressure cooking for pint jars( as recommended from the articles I've read and YouTube videos I have watched) they make a lot more sense to me