COMMERCIAL FREEZING AND STORING OF FISH. 9 



be thawed by exposure to heat or by soaking in either cold or warm 

 water. Such rapid thawing lessens their food value, and tends to 

 dissolve out flavors essential to their palatability. 



SUMMARY. 



Freezing and freezer storage will hold fish for many months in 

 the condition in which they were received, but will not repair dete- 

 rioration due to previous heating or mishandling. 



Freezers should accept only fish that are in prime condition. 

 Unless delivered within three or four hours after being taken from 

 the water, fish should be kept under refrigeration in the boats. 



Rapid freezing at as low temperatures as possible is necessary 

 in many plants in order to insure a good product and to handle 

 receipts as they arrive. 



Glazing by inclosing the fish in an envelope of ice prevents loss 

 of moisture, protects the fish from molds and bacteria, and makes 

 them less subject to mechanical injury. Fish to be stored for more 

 than three to five months should be reglazed occasionally, as in time 

 the glaze evaporates, even at low temperatures. 



The most economical temperature for storing fish is probably at 

 some constant temperature between 0° and +10° F., although some 

 freezers hold that lower temperatures tend to delay evaporation of 

 the glaze. 



Boxing fish before storage helps to prevent loss of glaze, and pro- 

 tects the product from mechanical injury. 



Properly frozen fish reach the retailer in excellent condition. He 

 should keep them hard frozen until they are sold. The practice 

 of thawing fish by warming or in water greatly lessens their food 

 value and flavor. 



Chemical analyses show no significant changes in fish held twenty- 

 seven months, or for a period much longer than would be necessary 

 or profitable in storing fish commercially. 



