Madelon,
If the brine if very cold the salt penetration during short period of time
should be minimal since wih water being frozen within the product not too
much osmosis can take place. There will be surface 'contamination' with
salt, though. Thick and covered with skin parts should be pretty well
protected but belly flaps probably may be affected more. Please refer to the
enclosed link and the excerpt from it.
Andrew Strak
http://www-seafood.ucdavis.edu/Pubs/albacore.htm
"Spray Brine Freezing. Spray brine systems should maintain a temperature of
10°F or below to prevent excessive salt absorption and produce a high
quality product. Although the lowest temperature a brine freezing system can
maintain is -6°F using a 23.3% salt solution (88.3 salimeter degrees) under
ideal circumstances, 0°F is a practical lower limit. Strict temperature
control is essential if spray brine frozen albacore are delivered for
alternative markets, because salt absorption is linked directly to increased
temperature (18°F and above). This means that refrigeration systems must run
24 hours a day. Depending on the capacity of the freezer system, some
vessels may consider a deck brine box to prechill the catch before
introducing fish into the hold. This approach could prevent thawing
previously caught fish with newly captured, warm fish, and provide a more
consistent fish hold temperature."
----- Original Message -----
From: "Madelon Mottet" <madelon@ptialaska.net>
To: <seafood@ucdavis.edu>
Sent: Monday, June 19, 2000 7:26 PM
Subject: Spray brine absorption
> When using a spray brine system to freeze gutted salmon, how does the salt
> absorption affect the meat?
>
> The temperature of the fish will be reduced to 0 F in less than 2 hours.
> The salinity is sufficient to keep the water from freezing.
>
> Madelon Mottet, Ph.D.
> Alaska-Southeast Bio-Research
> Sitka Sea Farm
> Japanese to English biological translating
> 704 Sawmill Creek Blvd., Sitka, Alaska 99835
> Office Tel./Fax 1 (907) 747- 0622
> Processing plant Tel. (907) 747-3862
> www.ptialaska.net/~madelon/
>
>
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