Freezing and Thawing
Prior to freezing, fine-clean the game or fish. Rinse and remove any grass, dirt, fur, feathers, or shot. Clean any bloody areas. Cut away most of the fat from any big game. Let game soak in salted ice water for 30 to 60 minutes. Rinse until water is clear. Do any final cutting of game into cooking pieces. For instance, pheasant legs are tough and require longer cooking time than the tender breast meat does. It may be preferable to freeze several pheasant legs together for a meal and freeze the pheasant breast meat separately.
Freezing and Labeling Game
Proper freezing and labeling of wild game and fish are essential. Cuts of meat or fish can be frozen in water, wrapped in freezer paper and placed in resealable freezer bags, or vacuum sealed. Double-wrap game so that moisture does not evaporate in the freezer. Label the packages with a waterproof marker. Include the kind of game, cut of meat, quantity, and date. Also, noting the age of the game can be helpful in deciding on cooking method; for example, choosing to slow-braise an old cock pheasant or roast a young plump hen.
Fish is tender and has very little connective tissue. Marinate fish or shellfish for only 30 minutes. Overmarinating causes the flesh to become mushy. Cook fish for 10 minutes per inch of thickness. Shellfish and fish like shark and swordfish cook even quicker (about 6 minutes over high heat). Another exception is ahi tuna, which many cooks prefer to sear on the outside and serve rare in the middle.
Thawing Game
Place packages of frozen game in the refrigerator and let thaw for 24 hours prior to cooking. The slow thaw in the refrigerator keeps bacteria at bay. Smaller game can be thawed in a bowl of cold water in the kitchen sink. Change the water several times during the thaw.
