Why bleed your salmon?

[Scraglor]

Thanks. I had wondered if it was to do with bacteria in the blood that multiplies rapidly after death and can become a problem if digested. However, I'll happily accept the taste argument.

Thanks to those who responded.

There shouldn't be bacteria in the blood. It'll just be the urea or whatever that has a bad taste.

I've really started to question the quality of the fish in the fish shops, they've probably been out of the water a couple of days or so but most of them haven't been cleaned at all until after they're weighed.

Ive often thought about that myself

[skronkman]

I haven't really tried salmon to eat, it's too good of a bait to waste on a plate!! I've heard it smokes well though. I always gill, gut and bleed snapper and gummy as soon as practical on the boat. Gummy to get rid of the stink, snapper to keep the flesh nice and white and improve the taste. The snapper blood coagulates almost instantly once they're dead so it has to be done immediately or it's like jelly. My preferred way is to dong them on the head and then slice the gills and make sure you hit the main artery (you will know) then stuff them headfirst into a bucket of sea water for 10 minutes before gutting them properly and into an ice slurry.

I have seen video of professional tuna fisherman that actually make a surgical like incisions in the fish and insert a hose directly into the blood vessel to pump out the blood with sea water. I imagine this improves flavour, shelf life, price but do not really know for sure.

[4liters]

Flushing a tuna out with seawater would help cool it down quicker too. If a fish that size has been fighting for any length of time it will be quite hot which will speed up the deterioration of the meat if not cooled down.

[skuxliss]

Bleed the fish to not ruin the taste of the flesh and texture. If blood gets in the flesh it toughens the meat up and gives a dry chewy texture like. People smoke the fish when not being bled this gets rid of the bitter taste from the blood and flavors the meat otherwise when bled it's steamed fried etc

[frozenpod]

Japanese probably take more time and care with how the fish is killed, bleed, cored, chilled and prepared than any other culture.

Yet they typically don't bleed some species ie snapper and other reef fish that quite a few aussi fishos would spear black and blue must be bleed.

Whilst they don't typical bleed reef fish they typically brain spike and core.

Just a tip brain spike is much better than a knock on the head.

Re bleeding salmon great bait but not for the plate for me.

[blacklab99]

Ive been eating salmon since I was a nipper, mainly smoked as you can really vary the method for that taste.
I always say to people, you'll only not bleed once ! the taste difference is that much.
It's great bait too, but I always make sure there's a couple for smoking before I start collecting for bait.
100 % on the " they don't handle freezing " nothing like fresh, same day smoke up !
The brain spiking is a good point, I always spike, quick and humane.
And it looks like we have another person to be converted ! ( frozen pod )
I've converted so many disbelievers over the years. Mind, it has to be smoked, properly ! I've tasted some poor attempts.
The beauty is, if its done properly, its brilliant for days afterwards.
Frozen, looks like when my boat finally gets back on the water, I will have smoke up a special order for you to try, you just cant say never till you've tasted it done right !
C

[Bar002811]

You should bleed salmon because it gets the blood out and cleans its flesh cheers bar002811 :thumbsup:

[GONE FISHING]

A while ago I got onto a good school and came home with a fair amount. I bled them but didn't fillet them until I got home.

Key is not just to bleed them immediately (compulsory if you plan to eat them) but also fillet AND skin them.

I never used to eat salmon (tried once, didn't prepare properly and tasted terrible) and only used them for bait.

Got a good recipe once and filleted and skinned them. In my opinion it tasted better than snapper.

And yes, must be done same day for maximum flavour

[frozenpod]

Frozen, looks like when my boat finally gets back on the water, I will have smoke up a special order for you to try, you just cant say never till you've tasted it done right !
C

More than happy to give it a try.

[BigBad64]

Has anyone got a link to a decent video showing the best way to bleed an Australian salmon on the beach?

The only one I can find on Youtube is two guys in a boat who sound like they shouldn't be allowed near sharp implements.