Bleeding a catfish
dwclark:
Where would you cut a catfish to "bleed" it before you filet it? Is it recommended to do this? I have heard that this makes the meat taste better.
arborist:
By far the best way to do this is to filet the fish then come back after you get all the filets and simply take a water hose with a pistol grip nozzle and spray the filets while holding them in the palm of your hand. It will wash out the blood so a filet from a blue cat is pure white. When I filet them with an electric knife I just have the hose hanging nearby to wash the cutting board off between every few fish then after I spray them clean I toss them into a large stainless bowl. When I take them inside I wash them once more before putting them into 1 gallon zip lock bags. If you want to go one step farther you can fill the stainless bowl with cold water and pour about a 1/4 cup of Real Lemon juice into it for a few minutes before packing them up.
dwclark:
i've also head that i should soak them in either milk, or some clear carbonated beverage for about 24hrs before cooking them?
mikesnow:
From what I've read, you cut just in front of the tail.
I normally just filet the fish, put in a bowl of ice water, let it sit for about 30 mins, rinse and do it again. The cold water makes some of the fat/oil congeal and seperate from the filets.
Steve-O:
You can cut one gill. A pair of dikes works best for the gills. You want them to slowly bleed.
or slit the tail, to the bone just at the meaty part on both sides.
I bleed catfish over 5 lbs. but just wash the smaller ones. If you bleed them, they will make a mess, so toss them in the cooler.
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