Contact
Cecile Dargentolle
Project Manager
cecile@matis.is
The second part of the research on dry-aging fish focused on increasing the understanding of the parameters that work best (temperature, humidity and time) to achieve the desired characteristics of dry-aged fish. Dry-ageing is a process in which the water content of fish is reduced and the fish deteriorates, until the decomposition of the fish slows down enough to ensure low microbial growth (similar to smoked fish). These studies revealed that it is necessary to work with a lower humidity than 82% and a temperature of 2°c is suitable. The shelf life of fish can be extended by dry-ageing, and a whole fish was kept in the dry-ager for 2 weeks and kept for another 2 weeks without spoiling. Experiments with freezing and storage showed that dry-aged fish is suitable for both. These studies make it possible to make the first statements regarding dry-ageing of fish, as these are the first scientific studies that have been carried out.
_____
The second batch of trials from the project dry-aged fish, aimed at understanding which parameters would be best (temperature, humidity, and time) to reach satisfactory dry-aged characteristics to the fish. Dry-ageing is a process where the water content in the fish reduces and the fish loses some weight, to reach a stage where the degradation will be slow enough to ensure low bacterial growth (similar to smoked fish). Those trials showed that humidity should be lower than 82% and that 2°C is working. Shelf life of fish can be extended thanks to dry-aging as whole fish could stay in the dry-ager for at least 2 weeks and then stored for 2 more weeks without having any bad attribute developing. Freezing tests and storage tests allowed to show that dry-aged fish supports both processes. Those trials allowed to set the first statements regarding dry-aging fish, with the first scientific data collected.