When you get your fresh fish delivered, it usually comes with ice packs and wet cloths to minimize the impact of the summer heat on your purchases.
However, there is another way to preserve your fresh fish for the entire summer. Using vacuum sealing, you can keep your fish frozen for as long as three months. Although this method requires a little more effort upfront, it is well worth it. It allows you to enjoy your fish anytime you want during the summer. The benefits of vacuum sealing are numerous, so let’s take a look at them.
Table of Contents
No More Freezer Burn
If you’re using ice packs to keep your fish frozen, you’ll eventually notice that they are melting and re-freezing. This creates a lot of extra work for you as you’ll need to constantly monitor and refill the ice packs. As an added bonus, the melting ice also causes the fish to lose some of their flavor.
With vacuum sealing, you can prevent all of this by keeping the fish frozen during the whole summer. This is particularly beneficial to fishing enthusiasts who want to keep their catch fresh for as long as possible. The ice becomes a non-issue as you don’t need to bother with it once the sealing process is done.
Saving Money
One of the major reasons people opt for vacuum sealing is because it is cheaper than storing their fish in the traditional way. If you purchase whole fish at the fish market, you’ll pay about $10 per pound, per day. However, if you opt for vacuum sealing, you should be able to purchase the entire fish and still have change left over. This is because the cost of the vacuum is less than the cost of purchasing and keeping fresh fish in the freezer.
Keeping fish frozen is also more expensive than storing it in the vacuum. It requires you to use more electricity to run the freezer and constantly check and clean the unit to ensure it doesn’t become contaminated with any bacteria. These costs add up and make it more expensive to keep your fish frozen than it is to purchase them fresh.
No Thawing Need
If you prepare your fish ahead of time and leave it in the freezer, you’ll need to remember to take it out and let it defrost before you use it. This is something you have to keep in mind when you are cooking the fish as the texture will be all wrong. Having to prepare your fish a few days in advance is something most people don’t enjoy doing, so it’s definitely worth avoiding if you can.
Since there’s no need to defrost your fish once it is vacuum sealed, you can cook it as soon as you get home. This is one of the major benefits of the method. You can make your fish last longer by simply taking it out of the freezer and letting it thaw naturally at room temperature for 20 minutes or so. When you cook it, it will be fresh and will retain its texture and flavor.
Saving Environment
Another major reason people opt for vacuum sealing is because it helps protect the environment. If you think about it, fish are a major source of protein for those that opt for it, so it’s only natural for people to want to keep their catch fresh as long as possible. This is certainly a better option than purchasing previously frozen fish which has been stored for months in the freezer. The reason behind this is that defrosting and reheating frozen fish is actually worse for the environment than keeping it frozen all the time. In order to defrost it, you will need to use more energy which in turn causes more waste.
Even when fish is defrosted, it still contains a lot of moisture which will eventually cause it to go bad. The only way to prevent this is to vacuum seal it and keep it frozen. If you opt for vacuum sealing, you’ll prevent all these environmental issues as well.
The reasons for choosing vacuum sealing over other methods of storing fish are numerous, but the point is that it’s easier and cheaper to use it. If you’re looking to keep your fish fresh during the hot summer months, then vacuum sealing is definitely the way to go. It will allow you to do so at less cost and with less hassle. So, if you’re looking to keep your fish fresh, then vacuum sealing is the way to do it.