Thread: Blue Runner Taste Test ???

I've tried a lot of the so-called undesirables, most are okay, some are pretty good and a few are great.
Some really depend on cooking method and seasoning as to their eating quality, can be poor one way and good another.

Hardhead, poor, no thank you.
Hardtail, okay, but I don't keep them.
Sailcat, good, my family loves them.
Pinfish, good, but hard to find one big enough to worthwhile.
BoBo, good, makes an acceptable sashimi or ruby rare
Blues, very good, I keep all I can, prefer them 10"+.
Gar, very good, break out the tin snips for easy cleaning.
Lookdown, excellent, at least 12" to be worthwhile.
Spades, excellent, comparable to Flounder.

I like those fish, but struggle to freeze the oily fish without them tasting like tuna fish later. Blues and Spanish especially. To the point that I will only eat them same day. Any tips or suggestions?

I vacuum pack Spanish (all fish for that matter).
I've taken 1 year old vacuum packed Spanish and blues out of the freezer and they tasted almost as good, if not as good, as fresh.
How are you preparing them?
Check out my recipes on the Recipe page.

Originally Posted by bamafig

I like those fish, but struggle to freeze the oily fish without them tasting like tuna fish later. Blues and Spanish especially. To the point that I will only eat them same day. Any tips or suggestions?

Try this: We used to catch big bluefish during the summer and freeze the fillets to eat over the winter. The trick was to rinse the fillets in sea water, blot them dry, and then dip them for 20-30 seconds in an ascorbic acid (vitamin C) solution. If I recall, we would use 2 tablespoons of ascorbic acid powder per quart of cold water. It worked very well. Ascorbic acid is an anti-oxidant. It prevents the fats in oily fish from becoming rancid during storage. That prevents the fishy flavor from developing. Rinsing the fillets in water before cooking removes the ascorbic acid.

You can make "sea water" by dissolving a 1/4 cup of non-iodized salt in a quart of water. Rinsing any kind of fillet in either clean sea water or this brine solution will reduce water loss upon thawing. That's why you don't want to rinse fish in fresh water before freezing. The fresh water swells up the cells and lets out a lot of moisture when you defrost the fish.

I have done this with Spanish and it works great.

Thanks for all of the info!
Don't look at me like I'm crazy when I'm filling the cooler with "trash" fish next month! LOL! Hopefully there will be some desirable fish mixed in. ��
Thanks again!
Toby

Originally Posted by tmgrimm3

Thanks for all of the info!
Don't look at me like I'm crazy when I'm filling the cooler with "trash" fish next month! LOL! Hopefully there will be some desirable fish mixed in. 😀
Thanks again!
Toby

The only blue runners we eat around here are the ones that come out the can.



For those who didn't get it: Blue Runner Beans.

Howabout this?
From Trash Fish to $100 Sushi - Blue Runner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh8KCwSXhzI

I had trouble with your link David. I'm hoping this one works.

Wow, gotta try that!! Never thought about using them for sushi.

Would you need to flash freeze the meat or would the ones near shore be okay fresh?