Abalone is a beautiful saltwater mollusc, but it can be a little tricky to come by if you donāt live in a coastal area, so you may want to freeze any that you can get your hands on. But is this possible?
Can You Freeze Abalone?
Yes, you can freeze abalone for up to 2 months. We recommend freezing them wrapped in an initial layer of baking paper, followed by a layer of cling film. They can then be bagged up and popped into the freezer.
Do Does Abalone freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Abalone? Yes
How to Freeze Abalone
The best way to get started when freezing abalone is to ensure that the meat of the sea creature is entirely removed from its shell. You or a fishmonger can do this, but either way, itās necessary.
Remove the abalone meat from the shell, and ensure itās clean of sand and other debris. You can then get to freezing it:
- Slice: Slice the flesh into the pieces that you would like to freeze it in. Consider how you usually use abalone and cut it into that size.
- Wrap: When thatās done, wrap each piece of abalone in a layer of baking paper, ensuring that it roughly wraps around the fish itself. Then, wrap the package with a layer of cling film, being sure to make the cling film seal properly and form a complete layer.
- Bag Up: So you don’t end up with lots of pieces of abalone throughout your freezer, pop them into a freezer bag to keep them all in one place.
- Label and Freeze: Label the bag with the correct date before transferring the abalone packages to the freezer, where it should keep well for around two months.
3 Tips for Freezing Abalone
Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing abalone to have the best results:
Be Aware of Freezer Smells
Keeping the smell of your freezer at a constant level is almost impossible, considering how much food you take in and out. Abalone has a delicate flavour. We recommend ensuring that the abalone is in a tightly sealed package and then bagged up to keep the smells out as much as possible.
Use a Double Layer
The double-layer method is crucial for preserving the structural integrity of the abalone. Frost is likely to form on the baking paper layer of the wrapping rather than on the abalone themselves. This means that freezer burn will be delayed, as frost is where it starts.
Keep the Temperature Steady
Ensuring that the temperature of your freezer is consistent is the best way to ensure that your freezer is as safe as possible for the food youāre freezing. Place the abalone at the back of the freezer, where the temperature is more consistent than by the door.Ā
How Long Can You Freeze Abalone?
You can freeze abalone for around 2 months before freezer burn starts to set in. At this point, the texture of your abalone will start to be damaged through repeated exposure to ice crystals, leading to the texture being ruined.
Unfortunately, abalone does not keep for very long in the fridge. In fact, it should be used on the day it is purchased.
How Do You Defrost Abalone?
The best way to defrost the abalone is to transfer all the abalones youāre hoping to use to the fridge. When itās in there, it will slowly come to temperature overnight and be safe to eat by the time itās thawed.
When thawed, you can treat it as though itās fresh.
Can You Refreeze Abalone?
Yes, you can refreeze abalone. The thing that damages the abalone in the freezer is ice penetrating the meat of the fish itself. If you avoid freezer burn, then that entire problem is easily avoided.
Does Abalone Freeze Well?
Yes, abalone does freeze well.
During the initial two months that it stays in the freezer, there is no noticeable loss in the quality of the seafood. That said, though, that two-month window isnāt very long, considering that some products can be frozen for a year or more.
Related FAQs
If youāve still got questions about freezing abalone or abalone in general, then these may help:
Although it would be possible to freeze abalone in the shell, it would take up an unnecessary amount of room. There’s no point in freezing the abalone in the shell.
Yes, you could freeze canned abalone, but it will only last for a few weeks, unfortunately. Freezer burn is highly likely to impact canned abalone. Instead, try to eat it up as quickly as possible.
