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originally posted by: seagull
...and y'all really don't wanna know what goes into fishsticks. Oh, no, you do not.
originally posted by: seagull
a reply to: seeker1963
OK, don't say I didn't warn you...
Now, realize that this information is something like 15 years old. I've been away from it for a while now...it's most definitely a young persons game...or a person with good knees.
Anyway.
Your typical Pacific cod weighs in at between 4 to 10 pounds...when it's run through the filet machine--the ones we used were made by Baader Food Processing--you get between 15 to 20 percent recovery, sometimes more, sometimes less, the rest is turned into fish oil, fish meal, and bone meal.
Now, that raw unprocessed filet is sent to trimmers, usually human, though there was some work being done at the time to develop machinery to do that. But the filets aren't even close to uniform in size, texture, and various other issues cropped up constantly--or so I was told.
So, the filet is in the hands of the human trimmer, who is usually cold, tired, and just wants the day to end. Been there, done that...
First thing to go is the belly flap, usually heavily stained by the gall bladder which is invariably damaged by the rough usage they get in the unloading process--they're vacuumed off the bigger boats, and hand pitched off the smaller ones. There's technique to it called a J-cut, that removes most, if not all, the pin bones, and any backbone that's left.
Second thing done is a rough check for, and trim, of bones and skin. If that's too bad, it'll be sent back through the skinner at the end of the machine. That's one of the things we always had to check constantly, as the skinners would get out of whack very easily if the fish came in partially frozen. Alaska. Winter.
Then whatever is left of the tail section trimmed, then it's sent to the candling tables.
But, the trimmings are sent to a grinder that has a sieve that separates out the bones and skin. Supposedly... Most of the time, the sieve works fine, and catches most of it. The mince that results from that process, which includes those aforementioned belly flaps, is smoothed into rings to be placed in plate freezers, then frozen. That's the entirety of the process at that end. Trust me when I say, it can look nasty. I love me some fishsticks, or did. It's been nearly thirty years since I've had one... .
After they're frozen, they're cased up, and sent to Gortens and other end processors. Where I worked, Gortens was our second largest contract--our finished filets and the mince went directly to them. While our whole fish went to Japan, monstrous market, and Norway, almost as massive.
The mince is then unfrozen, run through two or three cleaning/bleaching cycles, then pressed and cut into those yummy fishsticks we all loved as kids. If buy fishsticks you must, buy the ones made from filets. It'll say on the box.
The process is almost identical for fake lobster and crab...though much more thorough and painstaking. Pollock is used for that...though, again, that might have changed in the past decade or so.
So there you are...fish sticks are made from the leavings of a rather nasty fish.
originally posted by: oldcarpy
a reply to: paraphi
Agreed. You only need to look on TripAdvisor where you always get a few tossers giving bad reviews. We have been to some apartments in Greece which are lovely, been several times now which is unusual for us to go back to the same place. A recent review complained about the pool being concrete with no tiles. Which is just untrue, it is a lovely pool. This sort of thing affects people's livelihoods.
We once stayed at Keith Floyd's old place in Devon - the Maltsters Arms - and one review complained about a run of gloss paint behind a radiator!
Some people, eh?
originally posted by: seagull
That's why most, if not all by now, fish are what's called IQF frozen. Stands for Instant Quick Freeze. Filets such as the cod we're speaking of, are placed on trays between layers of plastic, and rolled into a blast freezer that runs at -50 degrees F, or thereabouts, takes about 10-20 minutes to freeze, but the trick is not to freeze 'em too long or the product get dried out and the quality rapidly declines.
There are other things that have to be factored in, as well, for the sake of quality... It's sometimes a bit tricky trying to balance speed and quality. Especially when you're the quality control guy (me), getting yelled at by the production guys because I won't let 'em start early, or hold frozen product in warm air. It can get loud!
originally posted by: seagull
a reply to: rickymouse
Don't you love those prices??
Would you like to know how much the fishermen who risk life and limb to catch those hideously expensive fish get paid??
This year it was around 2500 dollars per metric tonne, this was during the winter, what they used to call the A season. During the B season (sept. - Nov), it'll be a bit less. Roughly 1.25 dollars a pound. Quite the mark up, eh?
originally posted by: interupt42
Ok wtf i love me some fish but might not eat any more fish after this thread.
I ussualy get mahi and even talapia, I know talapia is considered a crap fish but i like its texture and bland fish taste.
What about ahi tuna?
So what can you do to be safe from these worms when eating fish? Or whats the safest fish to eat?
I need to find john titor so i can go back in time just before i read this thread.
originally posted by: seagull
Not sure if you're familiar with what are called idiot fish? Picture red snapper, only better.
They're, in Alaska anyway, usually by-catch during black cod harvest on long-liners, another good fish, oily as all get out, but good eatin'.
I'm sure idiot fish have another name, but I'm not familiar with it... But it's an accurate name, they are a weird looking fish.
I'm sure idiot fish have another name, but I'm not familiar with it... But it's an accurate name, they are a weird looking fish.
en.wikipedia.org...
The shortspine thornyhead (Sebastolobus alascanus) is a species of fish in the Sebastidae family. It is sometimes referred to as the "idiot fish" or "idiot cod" due to its large oversize head/eyes. It is found in Canada, Russia, and the United States.