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[CohoJake]

I hear other people saying the pin bones puncture the bag but in the 4 years or so that I have been vacuum sealing all types of fish, this has never happened. A thin glaze of ice and pre freeze the fish, never had a broken seal.

If you glaze -that is why.  The ice glaze is covering the pin bones.

[coyote spooner]

I Vac seal all my fish.  Small piece of paper towel on the pin bones, to prevent punctures.  Then I put in a small cooler, inside chest deep freeze.  This creates a separate climate within the freezer.  Every time we open and close, we introduce moisture, from the air.  Which speeds up freezer burn

[GordJ]

I am a firm believer in the Foodsaver sealers but I am careful about making sure the sealing area is dry. I wipe the bags before sealing and make sure the area where the seal is has been wiped dry and I don't let the moisture seep up to the seal. 2 and even 3 year old fish are as good as the day they went into the freezer. Never had a problem with pin bones.

[leadbelly]

Just like on-line reviews it seams not everyone is in love with foodsaver but most are.
Ray i would definitely like to hear what you think of yours once youve tried it out.

Have to wait till coho season I think. Hope to have a year like last year lol. Plus Chanterelles and other mushrooms.

I like the skim coat idea but I probably wont. Ive eaten enough 2 and three year old vac sealed fish from a certain hoarders larder to know unskimmed works well and I dont take enough fish that there will be any left come spring let alone years lol. And yes keep everything dry when sealing.

[firstlight]

Thanks a bunch folks.
Helps a lot.

[leadbelly]

Firstlight the foodsaver FM 2000 works like a champ, heavy duty rig that sealed up my king boletes no problem.

[halcyonguitars]

Just got a basic Foodsaver from CanTire on sale for 89$. Don't have much contrasting experience but it seems to do the job adequately. The bag rolls seemed a bit more robust than other brands, and more economical too.

Have had a good coho year, so sealed up a few years worth of fish. Made chowder from the bones, froze in ziplock bags then vac sealed the bags, so also piles of chowder on hand.

Like I said, no contrasting brand experience, but I don't see what more you'd need than the one on sale now. Plus with the sale savings, you can kit up with all the bags/rolls for future use...and buy the instant marinator...

[firstlight]

Well something got in the way and i had to spend my vac sealer money and then the other day while in the garage i came across a box of Bro,s old stuff and lo and behold a black and decker vac sealer.

I will give it a try shortly and hopefully it works well.

Glad to hear yours works well Ray and will keep it in mind in case the ol B&D isnt up to par.

Does anyone know a good place to purchase the rolls other than online?

[greyghost]

Does anyone know a good place to purchase the rolls other than online?

I load up on the rolls at London Drugs when on sale or Costco. 🎣

[StillAqua]

Commercial food processors have pretty much perfected the best methods for freezing fish although not all use them if you've ever browsed the frozen fish freezers at Superstore and T&T. Several west coast fishing lodges do though and we can too.

Don't buy a great vacuum sealer and then get cheap bags. Go for the commercial grade 4mil or better bags. You're not just trying to keep moisture in, you're also trying to keep oxygen out.

Pre-chilling the fish and freezing and glazing them with a thin ice layer on a prechilled heavy baking sheet in the coldest (i.e. chest) freezer you have ensures the fish freezes as fast as possible and has a thin protective layer of ice on all surfaces. The ice glaze slows freezer burn and reduces oxidation damage. Fast freezing ensures the ice crystals that form in the flesh are the smallest possible and do less damage to the texture of flesh. That's the technique behind flash freezers.

[santefe]

I have started to wrap my fish filets in saran wrap, freeze them, and then vacuum seal them.
This works well for me.

[Baxta]

Just a heads up - both the unit and the bags are on sale this week at Costco. I bought mine in Abbotsford last night for $129, $40 off.

[FishOn]

Commercial food processors have pretty much perfected the best methods for freezing fish although not all use them if you've ever browsed the frozen fish freezers at Superstore and T&T. Several west coast fishing lodges do though and we can too.

Don't buy a great vacuum sealer and then get cheap bags. Go for the commercial grade 4mil or better bags. You're not just trying to keep moisture in, you're also trying to keep oxygen out.

Pre-chilling the fish and freezing and glazing them with a thin ice layer on a prechilled heavy baking sheet in the coldest (i.e. chest) freezer you have ensures the fish freezes as fast as possible and has a thin protective layer of ice on all surfaces. The ice glaze slows freezer burn and reduces oxidation damage. Fast freezing ensures the ice crystals that form in the flesh are the smallest possible and do less damage to the texture of flesh. That's the technique behind flash freezers.

How is the glazing done, just a quick dip in water prior to freezing?

[Tadpole]

How is the glazing done, just a quick dip in water prior to freezing?

Mist them with spray bottle, and in the freezer for an hour or 2 and mist them again and in a freezer again they go for 15 min, or until they refreeze again.
 Then vacuum seal them and in to freezer again for good.