We are confident that there are loads of fishes in the ocean we can still eat. But we often wonder how they are processed before they reach stores and supermarkets. Commercial distributors actually use various fish processing technology to competently bring the products to us.
What distributors are primarily concerned about is how to prolong the shelf life of their products. So as to prevent spoilage, they need to control bacterial activity, water content in fish as well as the temperature surrounding the products.
Temperature control is often done by icing. Fishes are placed inside buckets and iced before they can be placed in large freezers on land. To make icing easier, pumpable ice as well as slurry ice are already being used. Smoking and drying are also very common to dehydrate the fishes and avoid spoilage due to water.
Solar drying is still very common along with oven based smoking. But some companies are already using freeze drying methods as well as water binding humectants to make the process easier and faster.
To control bacterial activity, there are chemical as well as physical processes being done. Physically, the bottles and cans where some fishes would be placed would have to be sterilized first to remove bacteria inside it. This is commonly done for sardines.
On the other hand, the fishes would also be cooked or pasteurized for the same reason. Depending on what products are going to be made, marination or fermentation may be done for the fishes. Other companies also add acids because most bacteria in fishes cannot grow in acidic environments.
To prepare fishes directly for selling, machines may be used. Cutting, deboning, skinning and filleting devices are now available as part of the fish processing technology. After fishes are processed in these machines, they are then ready to be sold fresh in supermarkets.
What distributors are primarily concerned about is how to prolong the shelf life of their products. So as to prevent spoilage, they need to control bacterial activity, water content in fish as well as the temperature surrounding the products.
Temperature control is often done by icing. Fishes are placed inside buckets and iced before they can be placed in large freezers on land. To make icing easier, pumpable ice as well as slurry ice are already being used. Smoking and drying are also very common to dehydrate the fishes and avoid spoilage due to water.
Solar drying is still very common along with oven based smoking. But some companies are already using freeze drying methods as well as water binding humectants to make the process easier and faster.
To control bacterial activity, there are chemical as well as physical processes being done. Physically, the bottles and cans where some fishes would be placed would have to be sterilized first to remove bacteria inside it. This is commonly done for sardines.
On the other hand, the fishes would also be cooked or pasteurized for the same reason. Depending on what products are going to be made, marination or fermentation may be done for the fishes. Other companies also add acids because most bacteria in fishes cannot grow in acidic environments.
To prepare fishes directly for selling, machines may be used. Cutting, deboning, skinning and filleting devices are now available as part of the fish processing technology. After fishes are processed in these machines, they are then ready to be sold fresh in supermarkets.
No comments:
Post a Comment