I bought a Foodsaver vacuum sealer this summer and used it to pac and freeze bass filets for the winter. While I figured how to use it after some experimentation, I am now questioning the results.

My question/problem is this: every time I thaw a fillet it smells like its rotten. I thaw in the refrigerator but the fish still smells really bad. Tastes OK although a touch fishy. I would never buy one of these fillets given the smell. I haven't gotten sick from eating...

I packed and froze these fillets within hours of catching. I used to put in zip lock bags and fill with water before freezing and never had this problem. I was careful to pat them dry, vacuum seal them, and freeze...

Did I do something wrong? Anyone else have this issue?

I have never had any issues with mine.
The only question I would have for you is this: Are they still sealed up after you take them out ? I have found that sometimes they lose their "air" in the ice box.

For fish I also get them frozen before I vacume them in the bag.
VB

I have been using mine for years and I have never had that problem. I wrap mine in plastic wrap before I put them in the bag. I do notice a slight fish smell but the fish tastes fine.

I have been using mine for years and I have never had that problem. I wrap mine in plastic wrap before I put them in the bag. I do notice a slight fish smell but the fish tastes fine.
Same here.
We have had ours almost 12 years and no problems.

Never had a problem with mine. VB brings up a great point, you really have to bag the fish and put it in the freezer for at least an hr. Its a critical step as the machine will suck the juice out of the fish, not get a good seal and you will have an inferior product when you thaw it out.

If you freeze the fish before vac. pac . aren't you risking freezer burn ? now I'm worried :eek5:

Nope, I think it may even tell you to put in ice box for 1 hr .
I do it to everything, not just fish.
vb

Got one this year and sometimes will put 2 seals on each side to make sure it's closed.Fish smells fine.Would not recommend freezing prior to bagging though.

No risk of freezer burn as you are kind of flash freezing it. Its not completley frozen when you actually seal it with the machine. Your really just firming it up and freezing the juices up a bit. The intructions say to do this. If its not partially frozen it will not work well and there is no chance of freezer burn.. They are so powerfull it will suck all the blood out of a steak if not partially frozen and yes it will completely crush an empty beer can. Its really a great tool. I have Striper and Blue fillets that I will eat in March that taste like you had just caught them!

After re-reading my first post, I think I overstated the problem a bit. "Rotten" is too strong, fishy is a better word for the filets upon thawing. Still, I would not be happy if I bought a filet in the market that smelled like that. I thought maybe it was due to thawing on the counter instead of the refirgerator so I tried that. Same result.

I did not pre-freeze these filets prior to sealing, will do that in the future.

I have found that some of the seals fail in the freezer and the vacuum is lost, maybe 10% of the time so far. I still get the fishy smell regardless of the seal condition.

Thanks for the pointers, I hope to have better results next year. As it is a little spice rub on them and I don't notice...

you catching the fish in NJ ?
only kidding !

Good luck

VB

I'm having Bluefish tonight that I froze in August.. :hihi:

The issues with the quality of your fish are probably not from improper sealing. That won't make your fish go bad (fishy is bad), they'll just give you freezer burn (dry spots), etc. I'd suspect that your freezer was not set low enough or maybe you lost power and things thawed. I would not eat "fishy" fish, and definitely would not serve it to guests.