keeping fish for 8 days???

[timor 2]

Hi guys going on a house boat in a few months time, was wondering how to keep fish frozen without a generator. we have a 85lt eva kool esky we are ging to use?

Cheers sean

[Noelm]

hhmm you will be probably OK, but unless you get something really special, I would not keep anything for the first few days at least, there is a dozen threads here about dry ice and eskies and so on, the first and most important thing is to look after the fish when caught, do not let it sit around in the Sun for an hour or two, get it cool ASAP, and clean it soon after it is dead, make sure it does not sit in water (melted ice) for a long time so drain any water off, it seems the preferred method is a big block of dry Ice, wrapped up in paper, the normal ice on top of it, then some cardboard to keep the whole thing dry, then the goodies to be kept cool, but I guess that is open to discussion, also when fish are transported to the markets from Commercial operaters, it is in plastic boxes with drains, and covered in Ice, it will be like that sometimes for a week before sale or consumption, and is still considered "fresh"

[Custaro]

8 days will be hard to keep fish. i would suggest using another esky to pull fish down to cold temp first. as noelm said, take good care of them. transfer the fish to your eva kool after they are cold, filleted/packed/wrapped etc. avoid using the eva kool for any other purpose, so chock it full with block ice when you start and only remove ice when fish need to fit.

[keepitreel]

We invested in a small cryovac machine for this purpose.
It is also good for packaging your meat before you leave.
Comes in very handy on those extended trips.

[Lovey80]

8 days is a fair whack of time. You could always consider a keeper cage or similar for keeping fish alive for a few days or the large part of the time in the water then in the last few days pull them out and fillet them. This is of course if you can get the ice fresh in the last few days or is it a matter of not comming back to land for the whole time??

Cheers Chris

[Tailortaker]

Is it a private house boat or hire boat cause most of the house boats I've looked at hiring have a fridge and freezer onboard.
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MOTORCYCLE TIRES

[artesian]

sorry timor 2 if this looks like it is getting a bit off topic,

but,Keepitreel, I've only cryovacced using the mugs model with the quilted bags - and frozen fillets at that because that seems to be what the instructions said- any tips for cryovaccing fresh fillets?

timor2, If the boat has a freezer, I'd consider putting the stuff you are going to eat into the freezer and the esky, and putting fillets into the freezer as you empty the freezer. I haven't done the dry ice thing. Maybe a mate has a three way fridge freezer and you can run it safely? Alternatively, some houseboat companies running out of SE Qld can send supplies out if you run short- maybe you could do a deal through those operators to take your fish to a freezer?

[Mrs Ronnie H]

HI

I AGREE WITH THE CRYOVAC . Have had on e for ages and wouldn't be without it.
As you are on a houseboat I prsume you will be able to plug it in somewhere. The bags for them are expensive if you buy the proper ones but I use the resealable glad ones -- only you need to use one inside the other for it to seal properly. For good fish it is worth using the proper bags.

As said it is great for doing your meat etc before you leave and also your bait. I do my pillies 6 to 12 to a bag and half a dozen squid to a bag.

Nothing will leak out into the esky like blood from your meat and after thaweing I have had steak in the fridge for a week and still fresh as the day it was packed.

Maybe an investment to think about.

Good luck.

Ronnie

[hunge]

one guy at the frazer comp keeps his fish for 2 weeks on ice he guts them the puts into esky then covers them with crushed ice then sprinkes rock salt over the ice it helps keep the ice frozen just leave the bung out and only goes in there when putting more fish in he has been doing it for years and never has a problem with them

[ColacGirl]

Cryovac bags/rolls are available in bulk at -
http://www.vacuseal.com.au/

--
Bev