Processing fresh mackerel

[chuckaroo]

Hi all,

Caught a few macks last night and was wondering about storage..I gutted and decapitated them last night and they are in the fridge, a few are destined for the freezer, I will smoke them, should I cut fillets before freezing, should I smoke first and then freeze? Any advice welcome, cheers

[chuckaroo]

would be interested to hear peoples opinions on this.
All i know is that mack should be eaten asap, the same day if possible, to get the best texture and flavour. Otherwise, they definitely need to be cleaned out asap and kept in a cool place straight after being caught; heads and tails can stay on or they can be filleted, but the guts should be removed. They can then stay in the fridge for a day, maybe 2 and still be good.
the worst thing is to leave freshly caught mack in a bucket of sloppy sea water the whole day whilst fishing, as they become soggy and not good to eat - i learnt this a few weeks ago!
mack definitely don't freeze well at all if they are to be eaten, upon defrosting they turn all mushy again and loose half their flavour. They are edible ok after frozen but are only really best for bait.
regards smoking, after cleaning, i heard that they are best left in the air to dry for a few hours before smoking.. im not an expert though..