354 MARINE PRODUCTS OF COMMERCE 



but perfect glaze, provided the air of the glazing room is sufficiently cold. A glaze 

 may be applied in a room having an air temperature from 28 to 32° F ( — 2.2 to 

 0° C); how^ever in that event, the adhering film of water gives up its heat to the 

 fish, instead of to the surrounding air. Since the thinner parts— the fins, snout, and 

 tail— have not suflBcient heat capacity to freeze the glaze, these parts are not 

 glazed under such conditions. It is far better to do the glazing in a room of suf- 

 ficiently low air temperature so that the adhering water film, in freezing, gives 

 up at least part of its heat to the surrounding air. When glazing is done in this 

 way, the fins, tail, and snout are perfectly glazed. 



There is some difference of opinion on the question of the proper temperature 

 of fish at the time of glazing. When a fish comes from the sharp freezer, its 

 temperature may be — 10 or —15° F (— 23.3 or —26° C), and is to be stored 

 at about 5° F (— 15° C) (or higher). If the glaze is applied while the fish is at 



- 10 or - 15° F (-23.3 or - 26° C), on subsequently warming up to 5° F 

 (— 15° C) in cold storage, it is believed that expansion will crack the glaze. 



The cakes of frozen fish are removed from pans by showering the latter, while 

 inverted, with tap water, and a blow with a stick may then be necessary to dis- 

 lodge the cake. A trough, 12 or 14 feet long by 2 feet wide and 12 inches deep, 

 containing water, then receives the cake at one end. The succeeding cakes push 

 one another along, and are taken out at the other end of the trough. They re- 

 main in the water from Vz to 1 minute. In other places a much shorter trough is 

 employed and a much briefer immersion is practiced. The room in which this 

 glazing takes place should be at a temperature of 12 to 15° F (—11.1 to 



— 9.4° C). The cakes are then weighed, boxed, and stored, or else stored without 

 boxing. In some freezers a movable glazing trough is taken into the storeroom 

 and the cakes are glazed and stored immediately. 



During glazing the fish gain in weight, the gain depending on the number of 

 dips, the temperature of the air and water, the duration of dips, and above all, 

 whether the fish are in cakes or not. Cakes of about 30 pounds, dipped once in 

 water at about 34° F (1.1° C) and allowed to remain in the water 1 minute, take 

 a glaze equal to about 4 to 7 per cent of the weight of the fish. 



Large fish, like halibut and salmon, are glazed in an apparatus which consists 

 of a wooden tank and wooden framework, capable of being lowered into the 

 tank by a windlass, lever, or other such mechanism. The fish are trucked from 

 the sharp freezer to the glazing room, and are put on the frame. The frame is 

 then lowered several times (usually 3), each immersion being of only 5 or 10 

 seconds' duration. The fish are then returned to the same or another truck and 

 conveyed to the storeroom. 



An improvement on this method is a concrete tank below the floor level, into 

 which a strong basket of angle iron and heavy wire gauze is dipped by means of 

 a half-ton electric hoist. The basket is taken to the sharp freezer, loaded, and 

 trucked to the glaze room, where its contents are glazed. Then, still without being 

 emptied, the basket is returned to the truck and conveyed to the storeroom where 

 it is emptied. This method makes it possible to do all operations without re- 

 peatedly handling each fish, and also works with larger quantities. In these 

 glazing tanks little attention is paid to the temperature of the water as long as 

 the glaze is not pebbly, or the water too warm to glaze at all. Of course, ice 

 accumulates heavily on these tanks and must be cleaned off. 



When fish are in storage, it is sometimes necessary to glaze them repeatedly. 



