What tips does everyone have for vacuum packing fillets?

in a food saver , leave the bag long , place a folded up paper towel in the bag to fit al the way across just after the fish and before the empty space , the paper towel catches the liquid and lets you still get a good seal.

Nice tip there,Pete

I was told to partially freeze then vacuum pack

This is what we do. Lay them on baking sheets until they freeze enough that the liquid won't come out and interfere with the seal. Usually an hour in the freezer is enough time.

This ^^^^. Learned that in Alaska halibut fishing. You don’t pull the juices across the seal area.

That's how I do it too, partially freeze the filet to avoid the moisture and a poor seal.

10 4 thanks have 50 or so lbs to freeze today. Hopefully this speeds up and uses less bags when seals don't work

That's what I do.It works great.

I always double seal them. Easier than waiting to freeze. Vacuum seal pull back half inch seal again

Even the professionals freeze before vacuum packaging. you get the best seal ever even soup and stew I freeze in bag then seal. For fish and meat I put on trays in the freezer till firm then package and freeze always works. Very seldom will I have a seal that breaks of leaks.

I do the paper towel trick , freezing works if you have the time and don't forget them LOL

Plastic wrap them then vacuum seal. Can suck them tight without liquid in the seal.
Ted

How frozen should they be?

They don't need to be solid. If they aren't wet on the surface or dripping liquid I would try one. If you suck juice then leave them freeze them a bit more.

Good to know !

Just waiting for it to freeze




Sorry for the bad pic phone dying. Top 2 racks halibut bottom 2 rock fish & ling cod

Let me tell you, my wife is a pro fish processor...so much that she demanded I buy her an expensive heavy chamber vac. It was worth every penny.
She is very picky about the fillets that go in the bag....her main rule is that it must be dried. It's really simple to lay out some clean cloth towels on the counter and let your fillets dry or pat dry...she laughed and said rookies when I read this thread to her. Half freezing a bag seems like a waste of time to me. Deal with the water and move on.

On the charter boat I worked on in high school, 22 yrs ago we ran 7 day trips outta Juneau. Had a pallet of one gallon zip lock's on board. Made a poor man's vac seal, using a bucket of saltwater and running the bag down into bucket and sealing, then into freezer. Worked pretty well.

I freeze in water.