Freezing crays

hey guys. Been trying to freeze some of my catch for Christmas lunch. Soo far I am putting in ice slurry to kill, then before boiling I am using the feelers to remove the poo tube. Then boiling in salted water with a splash of vinegar about 10 mins for average size. Then straight into ice water for 10 mins. I then break off the feelers/ miuth bits and hang upside down for about 10 mins before wrapping in newspaper, then in glad bag and into the freezer.

is there anything I should be doing differently to minimise the risk of spoilage? First time freezing crays, so any advice appreciated!!

cheers! 


Posts: 68

Date Joined: 12/05/17

 Add honey to your water. 

Tue, 2018-12-11 17:46

 Add honey to your water. 

Posts: 1522

Date Joined: 09/03/13

 I much prefer to freeze

Tue, 2018-12-11 18:05

 I much prefer to freeze green

Posts: 694

Date Joined: 16/08/09

I chuck them straight from

Tue, 2018-12-11 18:20

I chuck them straight from the esky into the freezer green. 

Posts: 936

Date Joined: 26/03/17

I see. Will try that. In that

Tue, 2018-12-11 18:23

I see. Will try that. In that case do you defrost them in the fridge overnight before cooking? 

ChrisG's picture

Posts: 558

Date Joined: 30/12/11

Nowadays I always Freeze

Tue, 2018-12-11 19:31

Nowadays I always Freeze tails or whole green not cooked.

drip dry first but don’t go nuts wasting time

cryo vac (wrapped in paper first to stop piercing the vac bags with spiky bits)

last for 12 months easy

remove from bag but leave in paper in fridge to defrost then staight on bBQ or into pot to cook

 

 

I personally have had terrible results freezing boiled Crays in the past, anymore than a few weeks in the freezer - always seem to thaw wet, flesh goes soft or sometimes black or brown

Stevo81's picture

Posts: 1278

Date Joined: 16/04/12

 I vac seal green tails on

Wed, 2018-12-12 12:43

 I vac seal green tails on foam trays. 2x trays doesn’t pierce bags  

 

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kirky79's picture

Posts: 1351

Date Joined: 13/01/12

I get home, put them into the

Tue, 2018-12-11 19:56

I get home, put them into the beer fridge, inside an empty block carton. Go to work, come home. Take the tail off, put two tails together on cardboard (usually the can divider from the block) Then cryovac and freeze, works awesome.

Posts: 936

Date Joined: 26/03/17

Hmmm... bugger, looks like

Tue, 2018-12-11 20:14

Hmmm... bugger, looks like raw is the consensus... hopefully I haven’t wrecked the ones I’ve caught! 

brown364's picture

Posts: 247

Date Joined: 25/08/15

I moved to

Tue, 2018-12-11 20:48

 freezin cooked tails as whole green I found to go mushy especially tail side of head connection. Now I boil ,cool, put together 2 tails in a sort of 69 configurations, wrap with some paper towel and vac pac. I don't recall a failed tail last season.

Curndog's picture

Posts: 441

Date Joined: 21/11/16

 Nar freezing cooked no

Tue, 2018-12-11 20:50

 Nar freezing cooked no problem. I take a bucket when I go out and fill up with sea water and boil when I get home from work after Crays been on ice slurry. Just wrap in a heavy duty plastic bag and last for a year

little johnny's picture

Posts: 5320

Date Joined: 04/12/11

Like foam tray idea

Wed, 2018-12-12 08:04

I do tail to tail ( underside off tail facing each other) spikes

Bodie's picture

Posts: 3758

Date Joined: 05/11/07

Everyone has their slight

Wed, 2018-12-12 08:49

Everyone has their slight differences

Freezing green is my way, whole, wrapped in news paper and one key thing i do is put them in the freezer head down to any crap runs to the head (including the blue blood)

good for 6-8 months easily.

scubafish's picture

Posts: 947

Date Joined: 15/08/12

Just suggestion

Wed, 2018-12-12 09:21

If you wrap your crays in news paper then putting them into the freezer you are insulating the cray from the cold air and slowing down the freezing process.How long is that cray sitting in the freezer before it actually freezes ?

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