Freezing tuna

[Boonebird]

I have over the years had no luck freezing tuna. It come out of the vacum sealer like $hit. I gave up last year. A friend just gave me a brand new one the other day. I caught a couple albies the other day. I was going to try acouple steaks. How do you do it so it turns out allright? thanks for the help. Ps fish caught were longfin will it still work?

[Shortfin]

BB The best luck i have with Tuna for long freeze maybe a 2-4 months is ,first freeze the fish steaks or loins and let thm get firm and or hard so the juices are sealed in a bit ,then vacum seal them

you can par feeze it for 1-5 hours and do it as quick as possabile

remeber you std fridge freezer combos are self defrosting so the type of deep freezers that do not defrost are much better for long stays in the freezer

[bigfish4me]

I have over the years had no luck freezing tuna. It come out of the vacum sealer like $hit. I gave up last year. A friend just gave me a brand new one the other day. I caught a couple albies the other day. I was going to try acouple steaks. How do you do it so it turns out allright? thanks for the help. Ps fish caught were longfin will it still work?

Ahhh charlie tuna, love them penguins....it seems like yellow fin and long fin hold up better than blue fins, exactly why i have no clue but preperation has a lot to do with it. Are they loins or already steaked? It seemed like the quality was better for us when we vacume sealed the portions we would use for one meal...like 4 steaks cut about 1 1/2" thick, dont hit them with fresh water before you seal em and you should be good. We dont freeze them too often, usually just share the wealth as your friend did...im looking forward to some of the replys.

[sportfishingusa]

I freeze them inside blocks of ice. i vacuum seal them.. theni put them into huge zip lock bags and fill it with water and freeze it.. the tuna stays in the block of ice like a caveman in ice and it preserves it.. when you take it out it is not frozen but just perfect..

[shoefish]

I freeze them inside blocks of ice. i vacuum seal them.. theni put them into huge zip lock bags and fill it with water and freeze it.. the tuna stays in the block of ice like a caveman in ice and it preserves it.. when you take it out it is not frozen but just perfect..

Ditto. This works like a charm. Supposedly it works better if you do it with milk, but I can't see a reason why it would and have done it in water like sportfishingusa. "Fresh" wahoo steaks and yellowfin on the grill in January is just plain awesome.

[Baywolf]

tuna is a pain to freeze but I've had the best luck by freezing is in loins, if you leave the skin on it will protect that side. DO NOT let any fresh water come in contact with it, in fact I pat it dry. When you thaw it out, skin it and shave off the outside of the steaks back to the pretty pink meat. Water and juice will macerate the meat.

[Sea Draggin]

tuna is a pain to freeze but I've had the best luck by freezing is in loins, if you leave the skin on it will protect that side. DO NOT let any fresh water come in contact with it, in fact I pat it dry. When you thaw it out, skin it and shave off the outside of the steaks back to the pretty pink meat. Water and juice will macerate the meat.

Leaving the skin on is a good idea. I had not thought of that. Agreed, the bigger pieces, the better.

[bisquit]

Anything you vacuum seal has to be absolutely dry! If any moisture is sucked out while the bag is being sealed--it's not a good seal. One way to get a good seal is, after the first seal, I pull the bag out about 3/4" then cut it. Then I wipe the sealed end with a paper towel, put it back on the machine and seal again. Another way is, after sealing and cutting, turn the bag around and put it in another bag, and vacuum seal the second bag. I learned the hard way--had freezer burn on about 20 wahoo steaks before I figured it out...

[HOLWACHAGOT]

Lay your steaks flat on freezer paper right after cutting them. Let them freeze uncovered for a few hours. Then vaccuum seal them and put back in the freezer. I have good luck with this. Be sure to thaw in the sealed bag in cold water.
Another important point. The tunas should be bled and iced hard before being steaked out.
The idea of freezing the sealed bags in ice blocks sounds cool.

Holwachagot

[fishskipper]

[B]Ok ... this is a good topic.... If you got to freeze it, you caught to much!!!!.... but if you have to keep it for later, think about canning it. Its not that hard and its great for tuna salad or whatever you use that canned stuff for..... Freezing tuna will never be like it is fresh! B]