Does vacuum sealed, salted pilchard need to be fridge/freezer?

[vcreation]

hey guys lately i've been LOVING salting my pilchards, buy fresh pilchards in bulk, and 10kg of pool salt for $5, salted them for few days and they're hard as rock. extremely good @ staying on the hook, and i use much less pilchard that way....

after 2-3 days of salting the pilchards are pretty dry and hard, and they don't go off!!! now i have a vacuum sealer at home so i separate them into 500G packs. final question is should i put them in the freezer/fridge? will they go off if left in just a cool/dry area?? i mean defrosting is easy inside vacuum bag, either defrost on the drive to ramp or dump in sea water for a bit, so just wondering if freezing is necessary??? my only problem is if i make them in bulk they take up alot of room in my freezer 🙂

Edited March 25, 2019 by vcreation

[kingie chaser]

Imo you need to refrigerate short term or freeze longer term.

Your not doing an 'canning' process like tinned tuna etc but more of a curing process.

Canned fish is cooked in the can & you are just salt curing, there is a difference in the longevity of the product.

Just my 2 cents 😉

Edited March 25, 2019 by kingie chaser

[Pafisho08]

HI 

All good pop them in the freezer . I do the same with poddy mullet and are ok for a year .

Bob

[Rob81]

Shouldn't need to defrost them if you freeze them. Sounds like they're well salted if they've gone rock hard and salt doesn't really freeze.

You can keep them in a cool dry place if you wanted to and should still be ok. But with the weather we've been having lately, the extreme heats, Id say in fridge or freezer it would be better. 

[noelm]

A good option is to salt them, then freeze straight away, they don't get all dried out, but defrost nice and firm because of the salt.

[Berleyguts]

I’m curious. How long do you need to salt them for? I tried salting some whole slimy mackerel, yellowtail and fillets of striped tuna after my last trip. I had no room in the fridge to do it but put a layer of pool salt in the bottom of a polystyrene box, then a layer of fish, then another layer of salt. I then put some ice packs on top, then the lid and left it overnight. Is this long enough? I brushed the excess salt off, then vacuum sealed them and put them in the freezer. Next trip will tell, I guess.

[Rob81]

Bigger items would require more time. Even for Yakkas I found they're best around 4-6 days. it really depends on how big/densed the item is. sometimes it takes a bit of playing around. I used to do pillies for 24hrs, but in some cases 48hrs worked better, and its something i don't always get right.

[frankS]

How I do it, maybe not correct but has served me well for many years.

I salt Slimies mainly, first fillet the slimies ( put guts head etc in bag for berley and freeze as is ) once filleted I get a stainless steel tray I built specially for the job this is a metre in length by 40mm wide by 60mm deep I put a layer of butchers/rock salt on the tray then a layer of slimey fillets then another layer of the salt, I then place this in a cool shed away from the cats and leave for 24-48 hours, I then take the salted fillets and place them in take away containers and put a lid on them. I then place them in the freezer and use as desired. 

They don't freeze and are pliable but solid and stay on the hook very well and don't smell, what you don't use just put back in freezer for next time. Before putting on hook just brush excess salt off, the heads etc that is berley can be put in a onion bag and lowered over the side and as it thaws will send out a good berley trail.

IF you use styrene tubs I believe the salt will soak into the styrene and not be as effective as Stainless Steel . BTW I use 304 grade stainless which is used in all food areas by chefs etc, just for the critics.

Frank

[New Signing]

I use basically the same process as frank and its served me well.

I like the idea of vacuum sealing pilchard etc as they should be ok to be frozen and thawed multiple times without going to sh!t

[macca02]

I've only done pilchards and aim for something firm with still some substance to it, which for me is either a single or double salting (24 or 48 hours).

Buy a bag of pool salt ($6).

For pilchards (e.g. a 2 kg block) i'll let defrost a little bit until they can be separated.
Put them in a large Tupperware container, sprinkle a large amount of salt over them and pop them in the fridge.

After 24 hours drain the liquid and repeat the process once more (if desired - i normally do it twice). After another 24 hours, drain and then freeze (though they don't really 'freeze' i guess as there isn't much water content left).

 

[New Signing]

1 hour ago, macca02 said:

I've only done pilchards and aim for something firm with still some substance to it, which for me is either a single or double salting (24 or 48 hours).

Buy a bag of pool salt ($6).

For pilchards (e.g. a 2 kg block) i'll let defrost a little bit until they can be separated.
Put them in a large Tupperware container, sprinkle a large amount of salt over them and pop them in the fridge.

After 24 hours drain the liquid and repeat the process once more (if desired - i normally do it twice). After another 24 hours, drain and then freeze (though they don't really 'freeze' i guess as there isn't much water content left).

 

Pro tip is to bottle the liquid in old coke bottle or similar and freeze it. If you just leave it hanging over the side you'll form a nice scenty slick for the bitey fish