Fast freezing sards.

[dugongboy]

With all the sards around I thought I would post this.

With the price at R5 - R10/doz. the Natal guys need to take advantage and stock up, but I often hear guys complaining that the fresh Natal sards don't keep well when frozen at home.

The only reason for this is because they take too long to freeze, the good commercial sards are blast/quick frozen and therefore still bleed when you cut them.

If you are lucky to have a bait freezer/chest freezer then all you do is fit a 12V computer fan (100-120mm) inside and let it run continuously and believe me your bait will freeze in less than half the time!! And when you get to use it, it will be much fresher!!

Another tip is to spread the bait out - those stackable A4 letter trays from the office desk are ideal as you can fit up to 10 sards on each tray.

 

[Mike D]

Brilliant idea!

At the price of sards in KZN you welcome to post them down this way!

 

[Def-e-nition]

how do you Keep em fresh without sticking together ?
do you freeze em first , THEN pack em into Bags ?
i usually get fresh off the Boat .Sometimes they bring me too much , so i end up counting to about 20 , which is already too bulky for Me , -but i have a problem with them sticking together like Glue .
wOuld you rather suggest freezing them seperate first ?
I do Notice that when they are frozen togehter - it tends to keep them less prone to Freezer burn .
Any advicehere guys ?
The Fan thing seems to be a good idea .Blast Freezer at home .interesting .

 

[dugongboy]

The best way is to wrap each one in cling wrap or small packet but its too much of a mission so I just freeze apart on trays and then package in 2's 4's 6's etc. So its the same a buying a box of the individually wrapped IQF sards and you just defrost what you need as you fish.
Try the fan for freezing anything, it works very well - a mate of mine has had one running in a big chest freezer for 18 months non stop, but even if it packs up they are cheap or even free from a scrapped PC.

 

[saber]

Ive been thinking of something similar,but how do you rig it up?i have one of those front door freezers,like a fridge. Wont moisture short the thing out?

 

[Splasher]

I was thinking of using that kitchen plastic packet vaccum sealing machine. I tried wrapping makkies in cling wrap only to find that they come loose.

 

[CLS]

You must freeze them first before vacuum packing them otherwise they go flat. Another tip is to glaze the bait, when frozen get a spray bottle fill with ice and water and spray a few times until they are fully coated.

 

[dugongboy]

saber wrote:

Ive been thinking of something similar,but how do you rig it up?i have one of those front door freezers,like a fridge. Wont moisture short the thing out?

We just cable tied it to one of  the baskets, it makes no difference, you just want to get the cold air to circulate all around instead of sticking to the sides where the coil/element is. Commercial fridges chill 50L beer kegs in a third of the time using a small fan.

 

[khan]

spoke to the owner at adcan sometime ago and he went through the process with me but one question??

How do you mount the fan ad where does the cable run and powersource??

small diagram please??

Dont think the vrou's gonna like this one!!!

 

[dugongboy]

dugongboy wrote:

With all the sards around I thought I would post this.

With the price at R5 - R10/doz. the Natal guys need to take advantage and stock up, but I often hear guys complaining that the fresh Natal sards don't keep well when frozen at home.

The only reason for this is because they take too long to freeze, the good commercial sards are blast/quick frozen and therefore still bleed when you cut them.

If you are lucky to have a bait freezer/chest freezer then all you do is fit a 12V computer fan (100-120mm) inside and let it run continuously and believe me your bait will freeze in less than half the time!! And when you get to use it, it will be much fresher!!

Another tip is to spread the bait out - those stackable A4 letter trays from the office desk are ideal as you can fit up to 10 sards on each tray.

Ja khan, I'm with you on the vrou issues when it comes to bait in the fridge/freezer!!

I used to have my own chest freezer for bait but not anymore, you need a 12V power supply outside the freezer and run the fan wires either by drilling a small hole up near the seal(avoiding the refrigerant coil/element), or because the wires ar so thin(very low current draw) just lay them over the seal in the corner. If you drill then just seal the hole with some silicone inside and out.

I just cable tied the fan to one of the baskets - it just needs to be free to circulate the cold air - for obvious reasons the benifits will be more noticable in a big chest freezer than a small top freezer.

 

[Blommie]

I had some wooden racks made at FT many years ago, cost me R20 a piece. They fit snug into my fishing freezer and I have attached plastic mesh to the wooden frame with cable ties. The 8 racks take exactly one crate of sardines. I stack the sardines belly up, in two rows. After less than a day they're all frozen and I pack them, 10 in a packet. If you vacume pack them they will last forever. I'm still using the sardines I packed two years ago.

 

[Shuffles]

This is a fantastic thread, thanks. Bait in the freezer is a touchy subject in our house and ways of best preserving bait is something constantly on my mind. This thread offers viable solutions to both challenges!

 

[CLS]

I use wire baskets that were used for clothes in the cupboard as draws (wife through them out). They fit perfectly in my chest freezer,can stack and have plenty of space for air circulation.

 

[ballie]

take 300mm gridmesh measure the length of freezer and cut to size attach shade clothwith cable ties to the bottom and then one can load 20 sards per tray. the trays then can be forced one apone another  then repack when frozen.

 

[Simen]

Blommie wrote:

I had some wooden racks made at FT many years ago, cost me R20 a piece. They fit snug into my fishing freezer and I have attached plastic mesh to the wooden frame with cable ties. The 8 racks take exactly one crate of sardines. I stack the sardines belly up, in two rows. After less than a day they're all frozen and I pack them, 10 in a packet. If you vacume pack them they will last forever. I'm still using the sardines I packed two years ago.

Great advice here, by freezing them belly up it prevents any body fluid leaving the sard so all natural fluids are frozen within.

Any scrap dealer has old shop shelving lying ( grid type) around ( the plastic coated ones) cut to the size of your fridge, add a spacer between the 2 or 3 layers while freezing the sards. Once done simply remove the grids and store them till next time.

Using a grid allows you to freeze them separate as the sards basically fits in the slots the grid makes.

If you dont have a vacuum pack machine, use a vacuum cleaner to suck out the air from the bag, see( DIY section) not 100% as good but very good.

 

[CHIEFFFFF]

To make the grids...u can get light diffusers from lighting shops...use pvc pipe as supports and u can mount the fans to the side using cable ties....they also refered to as egg crate...very stable allows for lots of air ciculation on the last tray just add a metal tray to catch any blood....u can cut them up to any size and shape and stack them however high ur freezer allows...to store away just clip the cable ties and flatten till next sardine run....works well for maks......to keep the bait fresh its important to get the core temp of the live bait down as quick as possible...a crushed ice bath does the trick.....it stuns the bait and keeps it fresh for ages.

 

[benniejordaan]

And then this is what your bait should look like.

Some vacuum packed in packs of 4 some individually vacuum packed (nice big couta bait). There is more in my other bait freezer. Yip you heard me right, I got not 1 but 2 bait freezers.

 

[Def-e-nition]

dugongboy wrote:

If you are lucky to have a bait freezer/chest freezer then all you do is fit a 12V computer fan (100-120mm) inside and let it run continuously and believe me your bait will freeze in less than half the time!! And when you get to use it, it will be much fresher!!

Another tip is to spread the bait out - those stackable A4 letter trays from the office desk are ideal as you can fit up to 10 sards on each tray. i like

How do you do the 12 v supply thingie ??

an old cell phone charger perhaps ??lol

guys ??

 

 

[Def-e-nition]

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[Def-e-nition]

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