Does rigor affect the quality of smoked fish?
Fillets from fish frozen whole before rigor should yield a smoked product of excellent quality provided thaw rigor effects are avoided. Fillets from whole fish frozen during or after rigor should also yield a good smoked product, provided gaping has been avoided. Frozen fillets are not normally smoked, since they do not make such a good smoked product as fillets from thawed whole fish; pre-rigor fillets are particularly difficult to smoke satisfactorily, because they fail to take a good gloss due to the rough texture of the cut surface. Pre-rigor fillets from very fresh inshore fish should not be smoked, since treatment in the kiln can cause high temperature rigor effects, resulting in very shrunken smoked fillets.
