Opinions please with regards to those who freeze live mussels, and what of their flavour retention when used. . OR : those that dont recommend freezing live raw mussels in their shell and reasons why. . Before the purists jump up and down, yes I know fresh is best. .
purplegoanna,
Apr 19, 4:22am
never thought of it really, me myself would cook, deshell then freeze but each to their own i suppose...
maxwell.inc,
Apr 19, 4:23am
they are fine. . they can cook up a little rubbery thou if your not careful. . which I am sure u will be. Or alternatively I do as PG does cook. shell. . mince and freeze. (for fritters)
fisher,
Apr 19, 4:39am
Thanks guys... . but in order. . (1) Fresh is best (2) Cooked and then freeze (the question) Does anyone freeze whole RAW mussels in shell. . ? ? ?
bin-boy-lin,
Apr 19, 4:55am
Well Fisher, my main concern would be any other crustaeans (sp)on the shells (barnacles etc) What I do is cook them to just cooked, then shell and freeze using the liquid that they were cooked in. This works well for me and I find no drying out or freezer burning. That liquid can be used when thawed for soups etc. Lots of flavour in that liquid.
grannypam,
Apr 19, 4:59am
I have frozen as isbut my preference would be to shell them and freeze the raw meat insmall pots. .
the main reason being that we mostly have them done in fritters and theres no way I would ever cook them before making fritters. .
twice cooked mussels. . yuk ! ! rubber city.
maxwell.inc,
Apr 19, 5:14am
YES answered that in the first line!
"they are fine. . they can cook up a little rubbery thou if your not careful. . which I am sure u will be. "
traceedwards,
Apr 19, 5:15am
Yep
for bait
I shell them raw & freeze for eating.
buzzy110,
Apr 19, 5:18am
I think, that as mussels are cheap and there is a plentiful supply all year round, with only some months producing thin, tasteless mussels, that freezing them is pretty pointless. However, that said, the best thing you can do is go and buy 6 and freeze them. Go back one month later and see what you find once defrosted.
I use one month because, IMO I don't think fresh seafood should be frozen for much longer than 6 weeks anyway.
My sister freezes live, raw oysters and says that they taste 'almost' identical to the fresh article, so you'll never know, unless you try.
beaker59,
Apr 19, 6:35am
In Aussie they don't have live mussels only frozen in shell so when my brother comes over for a visit the first thing we do is stop at the supermarket on the way home from the airport and buy heaps of mussels for a big cookup. Frozen works but fresh is best EH!
Frozen oysters I used to do but haven't for years we would collect the big pacifics from the mangroves on the Kaipara wash them and freezethen when we want some oysters just thaw them on the bench and they open as they thaw very labour saving and easier on my hands. These are usually cooked mnd you in batter so hard to tell the difference.
goldgurl,
Apr 19, 7:08am
I take them out of their shells and freeze them, no problems at all.
Just did some last night for my dad to take back to the islands for my mum.
fisher,
Apr 19, 8:05am
maxwell wasn't meant for you :}}was for any Future answers. . "some" folks here seem to proffer what "they would do"but not answer the actualquestion. .
maxwell.inc,
Feb 15, 12:56am
x1
haha all good...
I know of a Coy down this way that does them raw on the half shell vac packed frozen and exported. . those sell for TOP dollar in other country's. So I guess if they didn't defrost and cook up well after then they wouldn't be making a killing with them.
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