Cod Troubles

[tripodterror]

Having fished on youghal beach Saturday night and not having much luck a kind man offered me some nice cod he had just caught, i killed them myself and put them into my cooler box and kept them refrigerated until Monday morning when i went to prepare them...

There was a strong smell of amonia from the flesh of the fish even though the fish were still stiff from rigor mortis and showed no other signs of decomposition.

It's a noodle scratcher because the fish were killed by myself and refrigerated by myself so they weren't exposed to anything that would bring on decomposition that quickly

Has anyone any answers for this coz I'm stumped

[ShaneH]

Did you bleed and gut them ?

[donal domeney]

Did you bleed and gut them ?

Had the same reply.
I'll always gut and rinse within minutes of catching them.

[tripodterror]

No i didn't gut them i left them as they were and filleted them on Monday morning

[chuckaroo]

case solved

and when you do clean them out them try not to split the gut and let the contents contaminate the meat.. it can ruin it

[donal domeney]

No i didn't gut them i left them as they were and filleted them on Monday morning

has the smell gone out of the house yet

[tripodterror]

The smell has just about left the building alright!
It's a rookie mistake on my part now that i think of it

[ste c]

Always gut a cod if being kept straight away or soon as id say that absolute stank!!

[Deise boy]

Thanks for that. good advise


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[Tanglerat]

And scrape away that grey-white stomach lining too that's left behind after gutting.

[tripodterror]

On the ball lads nice one

[lad123]

i always gut fish as soon as possible

[pajo]

Yeah I'd agree with the lads - gut and clean out cod as soon as possible. Not wanting to put anyone off their food but I read somewhere that the worms normally found in cod stomachs will migrate into the flesh soon after the fish dies. Any cod I've taken for the pot this year I've gutted them straight away after killing them. I haven't come across any worms in the flesh at all so there might be something in it...

Pajo

[ShaneH]

Yeah I'd agree with the lads - gut and clean out cod as soon as possible. Not wanting to put anyone off their food but I read somewhere that the worms normally found in cod stomachs will migrate into the flesh soon after the fish dies. Any cod I've taken for the pot this year I've gutted them straight away after killing them. I haven't come across any worms in the flesh at all so there might be something in it...

Pajo

Look through the flesh of the fish you get out of a chippy and I guarantee you will find one or two

[hugo]

... and i was told by a doctor long ago that if those worms arent all killed in the cooking, they can get into your own gut and cause dangerous peritonitis. But I suspect most chipper "cod" these days is something else - usually pollock.