cleaning fish with fresh water?
Submitted by ben89 on Mon, 2012-05-21 11:31
I heard or read somewhere that cleaning saltwater fish with fresh water is bad and can affect the flesh is this true?and if so how badly does it affect it?
mattyoga
Posts: 67
Date Joined: 03/04/08
Yes its true. Think it
Yes its true.
Think it depends which fish you are talking about. It can spoil the texture of the flesh as the flesh soaks up the freshwater. I think it also can change the conditions for bacterial growth and resultant degradation of the flesh.
If I have to wash fish at home, I make up some saltwater and wash them in that.
snappermiles
Posts: 2100
Date Joined: 05/11/10
personally i think its BULLS###
I have been cleaning fish with fresh water as long as i have been fishing and it has never affected the quality, i think it is more to do with how you look after your fish from the time you catch it to the packaging!
ALL FISHERMEN ARE LIARS EXCEPT YOU AND ME! AND IM NOT SO SURE ABOUT YOU!
TheJettyRat
Posts: 733
Date Joined: 02/03/12
I always clean them in the
I always clean them in the water I catch them. ( the ocean )
Jeffree
Posts: 489
Date Joined: 23/02/11
A substances will always
A substances will always travel from a hypertonic solution to a hypotonic solution through a semi-permiable membrane (cell membrane) until equilibrium is reached. so by cleaning your saltwater fish in freshwater will draw salt out of the fish and make ur fish taste bland. and vice versa when cleaning freshwater fish in salt water!
not all asians keep undersize fish.
Jeffree
Posts: 489
Date Joined: 23/02/11
well that was what i learned
well that was what i learned in my biology units! lol. dont know how much attention i payed so who knows how right or wrong i am!
not all asians keep undersize fish.
aalfred
Posts: 669
Date Joined: 13/06/09
You are right, just the salt
You are right, just the salt doesn't move its the water. So the cells from the saltwater fish will fill up with freshwater until, as you said ,there are equal in contens. or the other way freshwater fish would try out.
FreoBear
Posts: 121
Date Joined: 11/02/08
True
Clean salt in salt and fresh in fresh!!
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Salt water if you have to
Salt water if you have to wash fish at all.
Bodie
Posts: 3758
Date Joined: 05/11/07
im with Till, who actually
im with Till, who actually washes their fish????
If you need to wash fish your not filleting it right!
mattyoga
Posts: 67
Date Joined: 03/04/08
and if you are not
I gut my fish a long time before fillettting them so always wash out the gut cavity in salt water.
+1 I don't generally wash fillets or cutlets - just wipe with a paper towel if they have scales on.
ben89
Posts: 100
Date Joined: 10/05/11
I have always just used fresh
I have always just used fresh water and havnt had any complaints but will try salt water see if it makes much difference. What about squid? Same deal as the fish?
crasny1
Posts: 7006
Date Joined: 16/10/08
I think it is far better to clean in Sea/salt water
But its not always possible due to the legal requirement of fisheries. Your fillets have to be a certain size and not all fish fillets reach that lenght. If I process at sea use seawater, if at home lazy and use fresh.
As for not washing them, simple hygiene principles apply, and if you dont some off the gut bacteria can get into or onto the flesh. Sure they are killed by cooking, but some can produce nasty toxins which arent always heat deactivated.
Not saying you must, just suggesting that it does help prevent food poisoning.
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
Bodie
Posts: 3758
Date Joined: 05/11/07
if you get some of the gut
if you get some of the gut content on your fillets your still not filleting them right :)
Tracta
Posts: 9
Date Joined: 06/11/11
if you wash fish with water
if you wash fish with water and then freeze it, the water particles get soaked up by the flesh and then the water freezescausing the meat to get freezer burnt, well thats what i have found.
wipe your fish down with rag on a roll to soak up any moisture on the surface then vac seal the fillets will be good for around 10 months then they start to spoil.
if your going to wash your fish only do it before filleting and/or cook it fresh with out freezing
Morgs84
Posts: 7
Date Joined: 12/05/12
The way we do it.
We have had no problems like this
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18089
Date Joined: 11/03/08
have tried all ways and this
have tried all ways and this is the way to go. taste is so diffrent when done in this method.
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
trymyluck
Posts: 908
Date Joined: 06/05/12
Definitely dont use fresh
Definitely dont use fresh water on salt water fish. and yes squid is exactly the same ...no doubts about it.
ben89
Posts: 100
Date Joined: 10/05/11
cheers
Thanks for all your input will start making a habit of cleaning my catch before I head home where possible
carnarvonite
Posts: 8673
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Morgs84
Morgs has it spot on, fillet the fish at home, scrape whatever slime off , wrap, pack and freeze. When you defrost them then give it a quick rinse and in to the pan. Sharks, clean as soon as they come out of the water then do the same as for fish.
If you have spiked them and iced them properly there is no need to gut fish for 48 or more hours without affecting the flesh providing you have kept them well iced, not frozen.
Morgs84
Posts: 7
Date Joined: 12/05/12
carnarvonite
Cheers mate
Must be because I was also from Carnarvon and we rock lol
Daniel Y
Posts: 423
Date Joined: 30/09/05
From what i've head it's not
From what i've head it's not really do to with osmosis as jeffere said because you really aren't submerging your fish for that long if you are just cleaning them. If you were to leave your fillets in a bucket of freshwater for a few hours, then it might be a differnt story, but just cleaning them shouldnt be an issue.
The main problem that i've heard of is that cleaning with freshwater can promote bacterial growth, causing your fillets to go bad quicker. I doubt it will make them go instantly bad, but they probably won't keep as long as if you'd cleaned the fish in salt water.
joe amato
Posts: 731
Date Joined: 21/12/08
doesnt make a difference fresh or salt what a load of bull imo
if your working on a fishing boat and have to process fish fillets,they have salt water pumps to help clean the fish fillets,i worked for kailis in the early 80,s for a couple of years filleting fish,and proccesing them as a fishfilletter,we used lots of fresh water to procees and keep the fish fillets clean,aswell as the cutting equipment,they supply alot of hotels,restraunts,fish shops and also export,so go figgure, fish quality is how you treat your fish capture eg bleed and straight on ice,so threfore doesnt make a difference be it fresh or saltwater,like i say what a load of bull,anyway there isnt a right or wrong way,not every1 with a boat has a processing plant onboard eg saltwater pump setup,
Troy Summers
Posts: 408
Date Joined: 14/08/11
yeh I gotta agree with that
yeh I gotta agree with that Joe... A big majority of fish I clean tend to be at home.. the smaller stuff(with no seawater around) and Ive never noticed a difference... I reckon like you said, its all about how its treated once it leaves the water... and of course, how its cooked(some people have no idea!!!)
I did however cook crabs in freshwater years and years ago... big mistake!! bitter as!!! but thats a different topic!!
Id love to be shown by a pro how to fillet a decent sized fish... I can do it with minimal wastage, but it takes sooo long... especially baldies, those scales get into everything!!
Troy
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18089
Date Joined: 11/03/08
give it a go and see for
give it a go and see for yourself. i have tried all ways and you can taste the diff.
i was sceptical about this till i compared.
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
Deckie
Posts: 1296
Date Joined: 03/04/09
Salt Water
We always bring back a bucket of water from where we fish & not in the marina. We fillet then rinse in the bucket, dry off with paper towels, cryvac & freeze. In areas like Exmouth & Gnaraloo it makes a huge difference because the water is generally bore water.
cheersRob
Cheers & Stay safe