[augie]

I was pondering. I see a picture. Buddies, after a big day on the river, cooking up a fresh salmon on the bank, cooked on top of a nice roaring fire. The river dancing close by, friends laughing, telling stale jokes, and having some cold ones, chilled by being sunk in a near-by eddy. The sun is going down behind the horizon, the sky is splashed with an assortment of flashy pink and red, accented with some purple hues...similar to a sexy steelhead fly.

Sounds great, doesn't it? Well, how about that fresh fish?

I was up north, one summer, near Kitimat, at a hot springs, with some buddies. A tourist yacht came in to the dock. The deckhand hopped on the dock, tied up the boat, then whipped out a couple of hefty springs.

As we were there, gazing at these prizes, the fellow said that the fish were just caught just a few minutes before, rigor hadn't even set in yet, so very fresh. So he was anxious to cook this fish right away, fresh from the chuck. Then a veteran of a fisherman walked up to the tourist and told them that they should wait for a bit. This man continued to say that when the fish are too fresh, the parasites haven't had the time to run into the belly post-mortem. So the parasites are still dispersed all over the flesh and cavity. If you actually wait for a bit, the parasites all group up in the belly. That way, when you gut it, the parasites go with it. I guess these parasites, if they're present, are visible to the naked eye, but very hard to see still. (I have seen them once...like a small grain of rice, but thinner, and it was moving.)

But I also heard that parasites are more present in trout from stagnant lakes, with little or no flow in it, and that it doesn't affect salmon really.

Has anyone ever heard of this?

I know sushi-grade salmon, for sahimi, is flash-frozen, to kill all parasites, apparently.

Another thing is smoking the fish. The heat is not very hot, it's only drying the fish. Apparently, another cause for parasite worries. But hey, don't all humans have some sort of parasite too?

I don't know. My thing is that if we all worry about every little thing, we wouldn't have a real quality in our lives. That's my :2cents:

 

[noxcape]

augie where you a doctor ever lol between this past snd the one about that guy with the infection in his hand im wondering this or do you ahve fetish for this kind of stuff but you know this post does give you soemthing to think sbout more so the smoking thing

 

[Thrasher]

Here is a site that should summarize all your parasitic questions and concerns. eace:

http://seafood.ucdavis.edu/pubs/parasite.htm

 

[augie]

Haha! :happy: noxscape, that's true. My bro-in-law teases me because everytime I say something or write something, it is perceived way different than what I actually meant. I was surprised I didn't get a flood of repsonses on the post , about when the coho jack spewed love all over my leg. It was a discussion about coho jacks, if they were mature or not. I said that they must be mature if they sprayed spawn all over my boot.

But yeah, it's definately something to think about, eh?

 

[augie]

Thanks, Tharasher, for the link man! :beerchug: happy thanksgiving!

 

[small_axe]

I know sushi-grade salmon, for sashimi, is flash-frozen, to kill all parasites....

If you eat it in a Sushi Bar like I did last night Yes but I also eat fresh raw Salmon and have for many many years decades in fact and it's never harmed me in any way.

Another thing is smoking the fish. The heat is not very hot, it's only drying the fish. Apparently, another cause for parasite worries

More alarmist nonsense.

FYI-Fish smokes best after it's been frozen, the cell walls having been a bit beaten-up from the freezing/thawing cycle seem to respond better to the process, fresh fish is not what knowledgeable smokers use.

 

[augie]

Very true small_axe. Smoking fish should be done after it has been frozen first. I knew some that would smoke it fresh, which is the risky part. Thanks for your feedback small_axe. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[noxcape]

you know i used to smoke mine fresh i guess now i will freeze iit first

 

[fish or cut bait]

Only when you cold smoke for lox is it necessary to freeze your fish as hot smoke will heat the fish to a high enough temp to kill the Parasites.

FOCB