Thread: Dry ageing fish.

I always used to be of the fresh is best opinion but after reading about this dry aging of fillets and increasing the umami flavor qualitys of the fillets I decided to give it a crack with a kahawai.

Key points are dry aging so not just sitting in a bowl or plate to fester in its own juices (thats where the fishy smell and taste comes from)

And it may be sitting in the fridge for 10days or so so cleanlyness while filleting and skinning is of the utmost importance, dont transfer any slime and bacteria from the outside of the fish to the flesh. (Good practice anyway)

You could do it sitting on a rack above a plate but I just used paper towels and changed them each day.



Today is day 3 sitting in the fridge, no fishy smell at all....slightly dehydrated looking.
Sliced up fine and held together.
Tased good, nice texture but cant say I noticed anymore umami flavor yet.


Will test again tommorrow or in a few days.

Yes, yes, yes!

Keen to try it for the first time, I did it with snapper fillets last week. I don't really like snapper for sashimi, but that was all I had at the time. Probably not in keeping with usual practice, I hung skinned fillets in the fridge for 4 days. Was planning on longer, but at 3 days, they were perfect for sashimi. Much firmer and slightly more taste than normal, but no fishy smell at all. 4 days was too long as they started to dry out too much at the edges . I don't think it added anything to the fillets I cooked, but a definite yes for raw fish.

Can't wait to try with trevally, kingfish and tuna. I will try with whole gutted, gilled and scaled fish.

Long before all this came about, I had realised that moisture was the enemy of keeping fish fresh in the fridge and preventing freezer burn.

Yea the bowl full of fillets in the fridge is the worst.....the bottom half all end up drowned in fishy liquid.

I always pat mine down with paper towels to dry them off before I vacuum pack and freeze them. They seem to keep better and cook better that way.

My system for keeping fish in the best possible condition is this.....




The rack is made from the base of a fruit/vegetable crate that I scored from the local fruit and vege shop. 5 minutes work with a jigsaw gave me 4 racks that fit in large 'click clack' containers. Care when filleting fish as Vietnamcam has stated is one of the keys to ensuring the fillets are in the best possible condition. After emptying the containers they go through the dishwasher for cleaning.
While others have a 'beer' fridge I have a beer & fish fridge with the temp turned right down to the point where the fillets are almost starting to freeze. Working part time on a charter boat meant that I
1. normally have a container in the fridge........and
2. I have a lot of friends/rellies that ring me after a weekend of fine weather to 'Catch Up' in their words......

( Oh, and the beer stays really cold)

On some of the ships we work, the crew, dry age fish they catch in the harbour over the engine vent. Nothing like a 15 Km/hr warm breeze to dry out those teeny tiny snapper.

Day 5 in fridge.



The thin edge of some bits were getting a bit dryed out but I just trimmed that off and sliced up.



Definitely got some umami to it now!

Wife says she quite liked it so thats a win as she is not a fish fan.

Originally Posted by hamsav

Somebody was talkin about this on telly not long ago.....think it might have been one of Gay Clarkfords mates. I used to wash the slime off the fish and scale before filleting coz we like the skin on when cooking , specially JD's, gurnard and tarakihi.

I use the waterblaster on Kingfish and Bluenose because of their slime, before we brine them for smoking while the fish is still whole
works a treat for removing scales but do it somewhere like in the middle of your lawn as they go everywhere

Id be tempted to brine before aging and i think maybe kahawai is going to be a challenge as it seems to degrade the fastest of the fish I eat

I fridge aged a massive slab of bluefin tuna that i would just carve a thin slice off twice a day for like 3+ weeks and it was buttery and awesome, no noticable umami or fishy flavour developed
just to die for flavor of the fatty shiny bluefin
my fridge is set quite cold and occasionally frezes stuff so that may be part of it

asia goes hard on this stuff but its all outside and dried

to think I just use them for berley or let them go if they are still breathing

I've done it a few times with small kingis and kahawai. Usually age for a week to 10 days. Best to keep the whole fish as it reduces loss due to over drying.

Gut, Gill and scale then hang in the fridge until ready to eat. Works mean.

Also will give any fish I plan to eat whole at least a day or 2 on a rack to dry skin out, makes it way crisper.

Originally Posted by Bill999

Attachment 169820

to think I just use them for berley or let them go if they are still breathing

Did Sigourney Weaver kill that one ?

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

Did Sigourney Weaver kill that one ?

sure looks that way with its alien ass gut/gill job