REFRIGERATION AND FREEZING OF FISH 355 



If in cakes not boxed, the fish may be readily glazed in a trough brought into the 

 storeroom. Boxed fish may also be immersed in tanks, box and all, and so glazed. 

 Fish that are not in cakes and not boxed may be sprayed with cold water with an 

 air brush or sprayer, such as that used for whitewashing or for spraying shrubbery 

 and trees. The adhering water freezes quickly. The glaze may be applied as 

 frequently as necessary. 



For successful glazing, the following points should be observed: 



(1) The water should be at a temperature between 34 and 40° F (1.1 and 

 4.4° C). 



(2) The temperature of the air, if in a separate glazing room, should be at 

 about 12 or 15° F (- 11.1 to - 9.4° C). 



(3) A series of dips is better than one prolonged dip. 



Cold Storage 



If the success in the refrigeration of fish depends more upon one part of the 

 process than in any of the others, that part is the storage. It is not that conditions 

 are more unfavorable, but that harm is much more likely to develop during slow 

 changes. 



Placing Fish in Storage. Large unboxed fish, such as large quantities of salmon 

 or halibut, are stacked in the rooms. When large quantities of fish are stored, 

 the room is filled up to the ceiling in such a way that the fish do not quite come 

 against the floor and side walls. Either a slatwork on 2-inch X 4-inch timbers 

 covers the floor, and a similar framework is on the side walls, or else a corridor 

 18 inches to 20 inches wide is left between the walls and the stack of fish. This 

 arrangement permits access for reglazing by spraying. In stacking the fish the tail 

 end is inside the pile, the shoulder end outside. 



When fish are boxed, the boxes are stacked in close formation. Salmon and 

 halibut are sometimes wrapped in parchment paper before being boxed. Al- 

 though the boxes are costly, they keep fish well and retard desiccation and rust. 

 However, fish can be kept as well without boxes. Fish are usually less fre- 

 quently stored in boxes in private freezers than they are in public freezers and 

 warehouses. Public warehouses are at a disadvantage in storing fish because they 

 rarely have one lot large enough to fill a room, and the fish must therefore be 

 separated into lots; the consequence of storing by lots is that much more sur- 

 face is exposed, rusting and desiccation do much more damage, and the capacity 

 of the storerooms is greatly reduced. 



Boxes make reglazing more difficult. If boxed fish are to be reglazed, the boxes 

 must be opened or dipped into a tank of water, either method involving con- 

 siderably more labor than spraying. Perhaps the most serious objection to storing 

 in boxes is the very much smaller amount of fish that can be stored in the rooms 

 as compared with the storage of unboxed fish. 



When fish are frozen in pans, the cakes may either be boxed or stacked un- 

 boxed in the store room. If the cakes are stored without boxing, care must be 

 exercised to avoid breaking tails and snouts in handling. Boxed cakes should be 

 stood up edgewise, not flat, so that any cakes that may not be fully frozen can 

 freeze by a circulation of air between them. 



Desiccation and Rusting. The loss of moisture and development of rust are the 

 great enemies of stored frozen fish. The preventives are simple, namely, packag- 

 ing or glazing and low temperature. The temperature cannot be too low. A 



