You can skip the thawing process altogether and cook frozen fish straight from the freezer. You'll have to add a few minutes to the cook time in your recipe to account for the lack of thawing, but you can poach, steam, bake, broil or grill fish straight from the freezer!
If you have to thaw seafood quickly, either seal it in a plastic bag and immerse it in cold water, or — if the food will be cooked immediately thereafter — microwave it on the “defrost” setting and stop the defrost cycle while the fish is still icy but pliable.
If you plan on cooking the fish immediately after thawing, you can use the defrost setting on the microwave but only to the point that the fish is icy but pliable. 4. Never thaw any frozen meat or seafood on the counter at room temperature.
If you have to thaw seafood quickly, either seal it in a plastic bag and immerse it in cold water, or — if the food will be cooked immediately thereafter — microwave it on the “defrost” setting and stop the defrost cycle while the fish is still icy but pliable.
Replace the water every 10 minutes until the fish has thawed, or keep the water running at a very slow rate. (Depending on the size of your fish, this method should take anywhere between 20 minutes to 1 hour.) Remove the fish from the water (and bag) and cook immediately.
After thawing in the refrigerator, items such as ground meat, stew meat, poultry, seafood, should remain safe and good quality for an additional day or two before cooking; red meat cuts (such as beef, pork or lamb roasts, chops and steaks) 3 to 5 days.
But how do you get frozen fish back to that fresh fish flavor? One of the best ways to prepare frozen fish is to rinse it under cold water until it no longer has ice crystals. Then rub it in olive oil and bake between 425-450 degrees for 3-5 minutes, remove and add additional marinate and spices.
For most species, it is best if eaten within approximately one year. The vacuum bag will preserve the fish longer, but flavor and texture will be premium if consumed within that timeframe. Once a fillet is thawed or removed from the vacuum bag, it should be consumed within a couple of days.
The rule is pretty simple: Raw fish and shellfish stays good in the fridge for up to 2 days after you purchase it. Sometimes it can last up to three days if it's been stored properly, but that usually applies to a whole fish rather than fillets.
When you cook frozen fish, give it a rinse in cold water first. You don't want this excess moisture hanging around while you're cooking, and the most efficient way to get rid of it is to rinse it off in cold water and thoroughly pat the fish dry with a paper towel.
With one exception, there is nothing that can happen to fresh raw fish, left at room temperature for some hours - even a day or two - that can cause any illness provided you will cook the fish… Until about 60 years ago, fish shops had no refrigeration at all.
Defrosting will take seven to eight minutes per pound, depending on the wattage of the microwave and the size and thickness of the food item. As food is defrosting in the microwave, the edges of the food may begin to warm or slightly cook while the inside of the food remains frozen.
To tell if fish has gone bad, touch your raw fish to see if it's slimy, which happens when fish starts to spoil. You can also smell your fish. If it has an increasingly fishy smell or starts to smell like rotten meat, it has gone bad. You can look at your fish, too.
Signs of Spoilage
- Whitish or grayish-brown dry, flakes or patches, called freezer burn, at the edges of the fish or over the surface, indications that they fish has dried out.
- Lighter weight than the fish had when you put it into the freezer, a sign that moisture in the fish has evaporated.
Spoiled fish, the result of poor food handling practices, can also cause dramatic gastrointestinal symptoms – nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.
According to the USDA, frozen foods will keep indefinitely if stored in an airtight package at a constant temperature at or below zero degrees Fahrenheit. Freezing fish does not decrease its nutritional value. Freezer burn may dry the fish out in spots, but it is still safe to eat.
The best way is to smell and look at the cod: signs of bad cod are a sour smell, dull color and slimy texture; discard any cod with an off smell or appearance.
Selecting and purchasing fish and seafood
To avoid "fishy" fish, smell and feel it. It should have a fresh and mild odor. For frozen seafood, look for frost or ice crystals. This is a sign that the fish has been stored for a long time or thawed and refrozen.We've found an easy way to eliminate the smell: Soak the fish or the shellfish meat in milk for 20 minutes and then drain and pat dry. The casein in milk binds to the TMA, and when drained away, it takes the culprit that causes fishy odor with it. The result is seafood that's sweet smelling and clean-flavored.
A USDA sponsored research project published in mid 2011 showed that you can thaw a 1" thick steak in a 102°F water in 11 minutes and the meat moves rapidly through the "danger zone" within which microbes like to grow if you remove it promptly after it has thawed.
Thawing in hot water is unsafe for exactly the same reason that thawing on the counter is unsafe. The reason for using cold water is to keep the entire item either below or at the very edge of the danger zone, where it can be held safely for several hours without much risk of bacterial contamination.
But there's an even faster method: hot water baths. Previously you may have heard that using hot water to thaw frozen meat is a bad idea because the water would cook the surface of the meat or lead to bacterial growth.
It's true, you don't! You can skip the thawing process altogether and cook frozen fish straight from the freezer. You'll have to add a few minutes to the cook time in your recipe to account for the lack of thawing, but you can poach, steam, bake, broil or grill fish straight from the freezer!
This fish is frozen solid but comes back to life, in minutes, after being placed in a pot of warm water. It is true that some fish can spend the winter frozen in ice and come out swimming once the ice melts. Some fish contain a kind of antifreeze substance that allows them to survive very cold conditions.
"Do not thaw frozen seafood at room temperature.
If thawing in the refrigerator, allow one to two hours per pound of seafood". Another quote from the link below; " If food is allowed to remain at room temperature for two hours or longer, bacteria can multiply and cause food poisoning.Most fish in the freezer section are frozen right after they're caught, and you don't get much fresher than that. Leaving it on the counter all day at room temperature leaves the fillets prone to food-borne bacteria—which might cause you to sleep with the fishes. Sure, you can thaw fish gradually in the refrigerator.
In 2011, the Department of Agriculture Conducted a study, and they found that warm water and hot water thawing methods for meat was safe. Thawing in cold water, 40 degrees or below, is safe and much faster — water transfers heat far more efficiently than air — but it can still take hours.
If you have to thaw seafood quickly, either seal it in a plastic bag and immerse it in cold water, or — if the food will be cooked immediately thereafter — microwave it on the “defrost” setting and stop the defrost cycle while the fish is still icy but pliable.
