You should buy any seafood you intend to freeze as freshly as possible and should keep them as cold as possible right up to the point at which they are put into the freezer. The length of time that seafood has been held on ice or in chilled storage greatly affects the storage time of the frozen product.
Clams and oyster will keep for 3-4 months and prawns and crab will keep for 9-12 months. This is dependent on how long the fresh seafood has already been kept on ice prior to vacuum packing and freezing. Experiments have shown that seafood held for two days on ice will last up to three times longer than the same items which have been held on ice for seven days.
Whichever type of seafood you are going to freeze, it is the exclusion of oxygen and moisture which improves the longevity of the frozen product. This is why it is so important to produce a good vacuum and to use good quality vacuum bags which are relatively impermeable.
There are very large differences between the permeability of packaging materials, with cellophane and polyethylene (used in cheap plastic bags) offering very little protection to seafood products compared to quality PVC vacuum bags.
If the seafood that you buy has already been frozen then you can improve the longevity by re-packing it in smaller quantities in vacuum bags. Frozen prawns are a ideal for this. Simply re-pack them in suitable portions depending on how many people you usually cook for at a time. You will notice that they retain their flavour much better than prawns which have been left in a normal plastic bag in the freezer.
It is not generally recommended to store fresh seafood in the refrigerator for any length of time as (unlike meat) the ‘fresh’ flavour of seafood deteriorates rapidly.
Remember that vacuum packing is not a substitute for proper temperature control. All seafood products should be stored in the fridge or freezer even if they have been vacuum packed. The vacuum packing process will prevent loss of flavour and will improve the appearance of products which have been frozen but you should not try to store vacuum packed seafood for any longer than non-vacuum packed seafood.
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