A stupid question about Spam, saveloy and other meat baits...

[Tengisgol]

...if you don’t use a whole tin, can you take it home, freeze it and then use it again?

Or will it hurt the fish, environment or suchlike?

(I always have half a tin of meat leftover after a session)

[Wallys-Cast]

It seems to get better each time it's thawed out. A bit like cheese paste.

Archie Braddock recommends freezing the meat to make his flavourings penetrate the meat better. It certainly works with curry powder too.

Wal.

[BoltonBullfinch]

I'm afraid that I could never waste a saveloy on fishing, getting a saveloy from a southern chippy was my trip down south highlight as a kid. Never was a saveloy seen 'up north' in them far off days, I don't know if they did not travel well or if they were just banned but i was never happier than when I could get a saveloy a day when visiting my grandparents in Egham. I do occasionally see them in a supermarket up here but it just wouldn't be the same, and to this day, when I visit my brother and sister in Hoddesdon, I still feel the need to visit the local chippy.

Thanks
BB

[Olly]

The only thing about freezing and refreezing is the "bugs"! "Salmonella type bugs"!

An angler I knew from the shop used frozen and refrozen mackerel pike baits - he caught a 'bug' ended up in hospital for a couple of weeks and nearly died! Transferred from his bait to his hands and swallowed on his sandwich!

So freeze and refreeze sparingly - preferably only once!

[Kev D]

Refreezing is fine with most foods as long as you remember that each time you defrost it ,the unfrozen shelf life decreases. For instance ,in simplistic terms , a piece of meat that's been defrosted would last three days in a fridge before cooking. After a day it could be refrozen but next time it was defrosted it would only be safe to keep for two days maximum before bacteria reached danger levels.
Freezing food does not kill the bacteria but only stops it multiplying. As it defrosts the bacteria start to breed again. Most food poisoning does not come from properly cooked meat as the cooking kills the bacteria . The problem is the contamination from the uncooked food of work surfaces ,utensils and as Olly 's piking friend discovered,hands.
Fish probably have digestive systems better able to cope with bacteria as their natural food is raw anyway and their environment far from sterile. Having said that and ad someone who used to breed newts and raise the babies in tupperware tubs ,cleanlyness and fresh food was always advocated as salmonella could be a killer for baby newts.

[Pallenpool]

Mmm Bugs - yes a definite issue with freezing & refreezing meat especially when this process is multiplied. I think (and I stand to be corrected) that back in the day a certain Geoff Kemp advocated the addition of salt or sugar as well as spices if desired to the mix bag this acts as a preserving agent to the meat when being frozen.

The other option and one I would advocate is make a large quantity of your desired mix add the meat then freeze it. Take out only the amount required as and when primarily for hookbaits.

If using meat for (instance) Barbel I cannot see any reason why one couldn’t use a tin easily per session - so it would be advisable to take a tin as reserve if your adventure goes swimmingly Phil. If you retain a bag of mix at home I would add any leftovers to it from the fresh tin used and freeze it. Once you have a stockpile you can take from it without fear of not having enough bankside.

[Kev D]

I think its quite amazing that more of us don't go down with something nasty. After-all if we went to dinner party or restaurant and were presented with food with a hint of fish scales,blood, mud ,feathers or fur we would turn our noses up. Yet when out fishing rambling or hunting ,a sandwich or cup of tea adorned with the same additives is consumed with relish!

[Snape]

I have a bait only fridge freezer and freeze and refreeze lots of baits.
I would be surprised if the fish were at risk as they are essentially scavengers and all scavengers have evolved to cope with much higher levels of nasty bacteria than we can. Our downfall was the invention of cooking and as such our ability to cope with bacteria in food declined drastically.
The reason many fish (and dogs!) find cheese so attractive is the presence of butanoic acid (old name butyric acid) which is a protein decay product and a such all scavengers are strongly drawn to it whereas we often find it repulsive (it is also the smell of vomit and sweaty feet).

[Tengisgol]

Thanks all, so basically if I open a tin of spam on the bank and don’t use it all, I am good to chop it up and freeze it and use it as either free offerings or hook bait another time (with the benefit perhaps of adding some flavouring before the first freezing).

However, be very careful with a bit of personal hygiene hands-wise for obvious reasons. Be a bit cautious about re-freezing...(too many times)

[Kev D]

I have a bait only fridge freezer and freeze and refreeze lots of baits.
I would be surprised if the fish were at risk as they are essentially scavengers and all scavengers have evolved to cope with much higher levels of nasty bacteria than we can. Our downfall was the invention of cooking and as such our ability to cope with bacteria in food declined drastically.
The reason many fish (and dogs!) find cheese so attractive is the presence of butanoic acid (old name butyric acid) which is a protein decay product and a such all scavengers are strongly drawn to it whereas we often find it repulsive (it is also the smell of vomit and sweaty feet).

Should we add old socks to the list of unusual baits?