Freezing salt water
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Saltwater Fishing
Forum Name: Hints,Tips and How To's
Forum Description: Rigs, tackle, baits, angling techniques, tips and hints & your DIY projects here
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=138056
Printed Date: 04 Dec 2024 at 1:11pm
Topic: Freezing salt water
Posted By: kiwi_hunter678
Subject: Freezing salt water
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2023 at 9:35pm
| Can I literally just freeze ocean water instead of buying salt ice? |
Replies:
Posted By: MB
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2023 at 9:42pm
| You could, but why would you? Sea water is a soup of fish, mammal and reptile **** and god knows what else. I make my own salt ice with table salt and tap water at the same concentration as sea water. 35g per litre. |
Posted By: BananaBoat
Date Posted: 04 Dec 2023 at 5:57pm
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Waste of time & end result is useless after a few hrs if that I made my own using 2 & 4L containers as frozen blocks. As soon as it came out of the freezer, it thawed quickly. By the time I headed out, about 15mins from home, setup my kayak, already 1/2 L of water from the ice had thawed Best to make it out of salt & tap water like MB suggested, its the same stuff that you buy commercially |
Posted By: Kandrew
Date Posted: 04 Dec 2023 at 8:08pm
| I freeze milk bottles filled with home made salt water, works fine if a fish fin punches one I just drop it in the recycling bin and fill up another one. |
Posted By: yknot
Date Posted: 04 Dec 2023 at 8:56pm
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Yep frozen bottles are great, after reading this just made some more. I also find put one in chilly bin the night before going out, then in morning the bin has cooled down, find the ice and new frozen bottles last longer.. ------------- Those that say it can't be done are being overtaken by those doing it. |
Posted By: Fish Addict
Date Posted: 04 Dec 2023 at 9:21pm
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If you have a spare 15 mins this is a good read. https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/slurry-or-ice-only_topic100598.html" rel="nofollow - Slurry or Ice Only - The Fishing Website : Discussion Forums - Page 1
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Posted By: Mc Tool
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2023 at 9:20am
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I usually just buy a couple of bags of normal ice and tip in 1/2 a bucket of sea water once out on the high seas .
------------- I wish I was young again .... Id be heaps smarter than this time |
Posted By: krow
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2023 at 8:42pm
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Mc Tool wrote:Posted By: krow
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2023 at 8:45pm
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Posted By: Kandrew
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2023 at 8:54pm
| Some people freeze ice cream containers full of water, run them under hot water until they drop out of the container and keep them in the freezer until needed. A bit of salt water in the chilly bin and 3 or 4 of these big ice blocks cool things down. |
Posted By: krow
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2023 at 9:32pm
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Posted By: MB
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2023 at 9:46pm
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I bought some 2L silicone soap-making moulds for making large salt ice cubes. In terms of fish storage, I think the best strategy I've come across is placing fish in a salt ice slurry, then once cooled down, packed in solid salt ice. Probably overkill for most of us and I'm not going to carry two chilly bins on my boat for this purpose, just putting it out there.
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Posted By: lawabidingpoacher
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2023 at 9:57pm
| I prefer to just get a couple of $5 bags from servo , job done ! Last for 3 / 4 days in the Coleman esky |
Posted By: MB
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2023 at 10:30pm
That is a solution!
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Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 06 Dec 2023 at 6:13am
This is how we do it. A slurry will chill the fish very quickly. Once home we drain the water out and just keep the fish on ice until it's filleted. We use fresh water ice, once a bucket of sea water that's been dumped in with it then any advantage of salt flake ice is gone. A lot of people seem to believe that sea water somehow more sterile. It isn't. Flake ice does pack down very well and has a much better heat transfer then most other methods - apart from a slurry, but I wouldn't use a slurry if I was using salt ice. ------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street |
Posted By: MB
Date Posted: 06 Dec 2023 at 7:27am
Nice 
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Posted By: Mc Tool
Date Posted: 06 Dec 2023 at 8:38am
I thought the whole idea of salt ice is that fresh water sped up or initiated decay ..... coz they reckon you shouldnt wash fish in fresh water...........but I dont have running salt water, like last night wifie arrives home with 2 vacuum packed flounders ( packed yesterday , opened the packet , give it the suspicious sniff  all very good , smelt of just about nothing , clear eyes but it was a bit slimey so a rinse under the tap pat dry with handy towel and into the pan ) . I dont recall seeing salt ice for sale anywhere round here. I dunno wether my blue cod are stiff with rigor or just very cold but I have to straighten them out before filleting ..... and whoever said that a night in the fridge ( well drained ) is dead right . Fresh is best but dont over do it as the last time we tried to fry up in the boat the fecking cooker fell over
 ------------- I wish I was young again .... Id be heaps smarter than this time |
Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 06 Dec 2023 at 9:01am
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I 100% prefer most fish after a day rather than eating it the same day. There are some exceptions though. I prefer shell fish fresh but it still keeps well. Kahawai, kingfish, trevally and tuna I'm quite happy to eat straight away. Gurnard and snapper definitely improve with a day or three in the fridge - for me anyway. As for fresh water destroying the fish? Well flake ice has bugger all salt in it and the fresh water ice I use I turn into a slurry using sea water. Admittedly I often mix some salt with my fresh water when rinsing fillets but usually I don't wash them until ready to cook - unless these been some contamination to the fillets. Washing fillets in only salt water seems to have taken off after Matt Watson started talking about that. I certainly wouldn't challenge his fishing knowledge, he's a true legend with a million times more experience than me that's for sure. I simply think it is overstated - especially as much sea water is far from pristine. Of course most of it is when it's taken from well offshore. ------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street |
Posted By: Tzer
Date Posted: 06 Dec 2023 at 12:15pm
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Fresh water ice cubes or salt ice doesnt really matter as if your making a slurry you will be adding salt water anyway. Rather than take salt water home to wash your fish with just go buy a bag of non iodised salt (I get it in 25kg bags) and add a cup or 2 to some fresh water is best option, we also use a market garden vege bin to put our fillets into to drain before putting into a container.
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Posted By: Kandrew
Date Posted: 06 Dec 2023 at 3:05pm
| Salt ice lasts longer, the salt lowers the freezing point of the water, allowing the water to freeze to a lower temperature. |
Posted By: Mc Tool
Date Posted: 06 Dec 2023 at 3:59pm
 yeah but its the temp thats important not the state freezing point is as cold as you can get water, so the fresh ice is colder , and any how it may be ( bet it is ) that salt water has a higher specific heat capacity ( ) than fresh water regardless of its freezing point, which would be beneficial . but anyhow I think it mostly bull5hit , that Matt Watson theory sounds about right , I mean not like him to get excited about anything  ------------- I wish I was young again .... Id be heaps smarter than this time |
Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 07 Dec 2023 at 10:46pm
Are you saying that ice can get colder than freezing point or that water can't get colder than freezing point? I once had a discussion with the self proclaimed expert at everything about the temperature of ice. according to him it would get no colder than zero degrees (fresh water ice). I disagreed ------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street |
Posted By: Pcj
Date Posted: 07 Dec 2023 at 11:05pm
Have had salt ice last in a standard chilly bin 4 days,by then its water but still cold. ------------- "Times up" |
Posted By: Fish Addict
Date Posted: 07 Dec 2023 at 11:20pm
Enter Steps I presume? On the other end of the scale, it's akin to saying boiling water cannot attain a temperature of > 100deg C. I'm on your side smudge
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Posted By: Tzer
Date Posted: 08 Dec 2023 at 5:28am
Your getting quite technical in your old age smudge. With ice especially salt ice you can lower the temp in your slurry to the point bywhere your fish can actually freeze solid,
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Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 08 Dec 2023 at 6:01am
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Fish Addict - yes Tzer - yes
------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street |
Posted By: kimber7wsm
Date Posted: 08 Dec 2023 at 6:27am
| I needed something really cold, so added a heap of salt to fresh water. Freezing point was lowered significantly. When I measured the temp of my brew it was -17°C. |
Posted By: Kandrew
Date Posted: 08 Dec 2023 at 7:22am
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This is worth a read, sort of explains it. Plenty of stuff on the internet about salt ice. https://sciencenotes.org/why-salt-makes-ice-colder-how-cold-ice-gets/#:~:text=Salt%20Lowers%20the%20Temperature%20of,a%20thin%20film%20of%20water" rel="nofollow - https://sciencenotes.org/why-salt-makes-ice-colder-how-cold-ice-gets/#:~:text=Salt%20Lowers%20the%20Temperature%20of,a%20thin%20film%20of%20water . |
Posted By: Mc Tool
Date Posted: 08 Dec 2023 at 7:55am
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Ice can indeed get colder than it's freezing point .....way colder . I can't see why it couldn't get to close to absolute zero. But water cannot get colder than it's freezing point ( and that can vary a bit like the boiling point) after that its solid ice . Similarly water cannot be heated above it's boiling point (100⁰c at sea level ....I think we have all been at sea level 😁), but we can mess with that as water boiling point is dependant on ambient pressure. Increase pressure and the boiling point goes up ( which is why we run pressurised cooling systems on our cars etc) boil a pot of water on top of Everest and it won't get near 100⁰c because atmospheric pressure is lower. This manipulating of boiling points of liquids is how we get refrigerators to work. Some refrigerants boil at -40⁰c. Anyhow 😁as far as practical for us fishers the freezing point of ice ,be it salt or fresh , probly makes feck all difference. I have a 60l Coleman chilly bin and two bags of fresh ice ,days fishing ,left the Esky full of slurry on veranda and the last cube melted damn near a week later, thusly I have not bothered to get a lectric chilly bin , preferring to spend that money on various bottled (and canned ) liquids to put in said chilly bin. Here is a hot tip .... don't let you bestie break up ice cubes with the boat knife.......stabbed a **** load of holes in my chilly bin liner🤬🤯 ------------- I wish I was young again .... Id be heaps smarter than this time |
Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 08 Dec 2023 at 11:01am
Exactly. Ohh and my brand spanking 90l Icey Tek got a hole in it when a bat was used to break up a block of ice - one of the downsides of making your own ice i guess
& I reckon Icey-Teks are way over rated  ------------- Best gurnard fisherman in my street |
Posted By: Reel Crusader
Date Posted: 17 Jan 2024 at 7:54am
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Here's a copy of something I posted 10 years ago with a "recipe" on making salt ice at home to hit specific temperatures..... "5.What is the best way to use salt for keeping things cold? Here is a tip for preparing ice that is very useful.
Then use them for your ice box. Because when the ice in these containers thaws at a temperature below 0 C it will keep your ice box cooler.
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