Buying fish/frozen fish, shellfish online

[weinoo]

3 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 They were encased in skin then.

 

See above - too much barbecue?

[KennethT]

15 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

See above - too much barbecue?

This just shows the value of sarcasm on the internet... at least without something to make it exceedingly obvious - like a hehe or an emoji the kids like using nowadays... hehe...

[Anna N]

39 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

In lieu of cold running water (my tap water isn't particularly cold and here in drought-land, shouldn't be left running), I often put a bag-o-fish in an immersion circulator bath for a quick thaw. 

Yep. I bet I use my immersion circulator to thaw as often as I use it to cook. 

[palo]

I just use laundry tub - large volume so cool temp is maintained for longer - as soon as the protein has thawed to the "flexible" stage it's into the fridge.

 

p

[rotuts]

@Smithy 

 

thank you for your detailed review.

 

Ive had mushy Fz fish, and feel that in the thawing

 

water returns into the surface cells and that's the mush

 

but I have no idea why or how it can be prevented.

 

I do fillet Salmon the same way :

 

1 ) hot pan , skin side down.  temp of pan to get good color on the skin

     w/o burning , as quick as possible w/o burning

 

2 ) flip , and put the pan in the oven to finish

 

of not , the temp of the oven does not need to be super hot.  the temp of the oven

 

determines how long the Salmon stays in the oven to get your desired doneness.

 

takes less time in a very hot oven , but tricky to get the salmon just right

 

a lower temp give you more time to do other cooking , and is more forgiving.

[Smithy]

6 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

These fillets are glazed with salt water as the spot prawns were that @KennethT mentioned above. I took a cue from him and thawed the fish in salty water in the refrigerator. Was that useful or helpful? I don't know. The package instructions simply say to remove from the packaging and thaw under refrigeration. As it happened, I'd snapped the photos above when family called from out of town. We went out to dinner. The salmon were still icy in places the next morning, so the refrigerator thaw in salt water is indeed a slow and gentle method. 

 

When I pulled the fillets out to start cooking the fish flesh was VERY soft, almost mealy. Was that because of the long, slow thaw and hold in salty water? Should I have simply left them in a covered dish without the water? I've noticed that texture with some salmon in the past. I don't remember whether it's been a particular variety of salmon. I'll ask Wild Alaskan and see what they have to say.

<snip>

6 hours ago, Smithy said:

 

Was this salmon better than we could have gotten at the store?  I don't know, but it was at least as good: beautifully frozen, very fresh tasting. I'll ask Wild Alaskan about the texture and the proper thawing method, and report back.

 

Following up on my post: I already got a response from Amelia at Wild Alaskan. Here's what she had to say, first about where the fillets are cut from and then about thawing and the texture I experienced.

 

Quote

All of our portions are cut from the side of the fish. While we have portions that are cut from closer to the head and closer to the tail, we do not have fish head portions or cuts from that region. We do try to balance each box with the same size cuts from the sides of the fish, but we do not have the option at this time to create an order of only center cuts.

 

Regarding thawing -- To ensure your seafood retains its premium flavor and texture, we recommend first removing the packaging to allow airflow and prevent the growth of bacteria. Then, place your portion(s) on a shallow dish in the fridge for approximately 10-12 hours before you're planning to cook. Some of our members simply puncture the packaging (without removing it entirely) to again allow airflow, which prevents the growth of bacteria. With this method, it’s also important to thaw under refrigeration.

 

The texture you describe certainly sounds off, and may have been caused by the long thaw time submerged in salt water. I'd definitely recommend thawing another portion outside of the package in a shallow dish in the fridge for bout 10-12 hours -- if you still experience this issue, please let me know! Happy to assist further with this.

 

She also included links to their blog, with thawing instructions, as well as a video.

 

I appreciate that level of customer concern. Next time I'll follow the instructions in the links she sent me - basically the same instructions that we've already commented on in this topic. 

[gfweb]

First shipment from Wild Fork arrived frozen solid with plenty of dry Ice. Could've spent hours on the porch at 90F.

 

Swordfish, Branzino, Cod, Scallops and beef shank. A few codpieces (heh, been waiting years to slip that in) were oddly shaped.

 

So far so good.

 

 

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by gfweb (log)

[palo]

Were they all vacuum sealed? The Sea scallops and the other large bag don't appear to be, I'm used to seeing vacuum sealed packages looking like the "life has been sucked out of them"

 

p

[heidih]

49 minutes ago, palo said:

Were they all vacuum sealed? The Sea scallops and the other large bag don't appear to be, I'm used to seeing vacuum sealed packages looking like the "life has been sucked out of them"

 

p

I did think they looked "loose". Maybe just sealed.

[KennethT]

1 hour ago, palo said:

Were they all vacuum sealed? The Sea scallops and the other large bag don't appear to be, I'm used to seeing vacuum sealed packages looking like the "life has been sucked out of them"

 

p

It looks likethe scallops were IQF - like shrimp usually are.  Then they're just placed in a sealed bag - no vacuum.

[gfweb]

20 minutes ago, KennethT said:

It looks likethe scallops were IQF - like shrimp usually are.  Then they're just placed in a sealed bag - no vacuum.

 

Yup.

 

The rest were vacuum sealed

 

[TicTac]

I was taught by a sushi master years back that water is raw fish's enemy. 

 

It deteriorates the flesh resulting in your experienced mushy texture.

 

I would remove from packaging, place on a plate with a paper towel on it (again, moving moisture during thawing away from the fish - another thing he taught me - which you can change once or twice) and then seal it up, either putting a bowl on top, plastic wrap (if I go this route, I ensure to avoid it touching the flesh - my plastic(s) neurosis) in the fridge for a day.

 

Nice selection, looks like you are going to have some fun.

 

 

 

 

[rotuts]

@TicTac 

 

interesting.

 

after you thaw the fish over paper towels :

 

"and then seal it up, either putting a bowl on top, plastic wrap (if I go this route, I ensure to avoid it touching the flesh - my plastic(s) neurosis) in the fridge for a day. "

 

you reseal the fish , patted dry  

 

         in a plastic re-sealable bag ?

 

thanks for your input

 

interesting idea , that makes sense once one thinks about it

 

keeping the thawing fish out of its own puddle.

[TicTac]

@rotuts - I seal it during the thaw process.  I have made the mistake (through experimentation) of thawing unsealed in the fridge, and the fish tends to dry out too much and certainly will absorb any odors in the fridge as well.

 

At the Japanese restaurant he has these fancy boxes from Japan that he lines with paper towel and places the fish in, and then puts the lid on, then back in the fridge it goes.  I try to emulate that as best I can (sans the $400 hand crafted Japanese boxes).

 

 

[heidih]

1 hour ago, TicTac said:

@rotuts - I seal it during the thaw process.  I have made the mistake (through experimentation) of thawing unsealed in the fridge, and the fish tends to dry out too much and certainly will absorb any odors in the fridge as well.

 

At the Japanese restaurant he has these fancy boxes from Japan that he lines with paper towel and places the fish in, and then puts the lid on, then back in the fridge it goes.  I try to emulate that as best I can (sans the $400 hand crafted Japanese boxes).

 

 

I put w/o cover. Dries it a bit. Odor? Should be none 

[palo]

5 hours ago, KennethT said:

It looks likethe scallops were IQF - like shrimp usually are.  Then they're just placed in a sealed bag - no vacuum.

No vacuum is an invitation to freezer burn - if you have access to a vac sealer I would use it on those items if longer term storage is in the cards.

 

p

[weinoo]

It's interesting to see how one of the top fish suppliers to sushi restaurants thaws high-end tuna...

 

 

 

[Duvel]

Interesting indeed. A bit counterintuitive for me, but am happy to learn 🥳

[weinoo]

57 minutes ago, Duvel said:

Interesting indeed. A bit counterintuitive for me, but am happy to learn 🥳

 

Yes - and with the realization that he's defrosting "super frozen" bluefin. Though I'm pretty sure that some of that fish from Alaska is super frozen as well.

[KennethT]

huh, you would think that a block of tuna that size (the "small" one) would need a lot more than 5 minutes when starting from -60C.  I would've assumed that the salted water would initially form a glaze on it once removed from the water bath and that it would need hours in the refrigerator to completely defrost.

 

I'd also assume that the fish from Alaska is super frozen - especially after traveling on top of a block of dry ice.  But after it's been off teh dry ice and in a normal freezer for a while, it's no longer super frozen.

[rotuts]

very interesting.

 

watching that vid , brought up others

 

at the end

 

this one is interesting :

 

N.B. : The Camber Vac !

 

and of interest ;  why didn't the smaller cuts get Vac'd ?

 

just sealed ?

[btbyrd]

7 hours ago, weinoo said:

It's interesting to see how one of the top fish suppliers to sushi restaurants thaws high-end tuna...

 

 

 

 

I’m going to have nightmares after seeing how they cut that fish.

[gfweb]

7 hours ago, weinoo said:

It's interesting to see how one of the top fish suppliers to sushi restaurants thaws high-end tuna...

 

 

 

 

 

This makes no sense. Sea water is hypertonic to the fish flesh so this bath will draw water out of the tuna to some degree.

[TicTac]

1 hour ago, gfweb said:

 

 

This makes no sense. Sea water is hypertonic to the fish flesh so this bath will draw water out of the tuna to some degree.

Agreed.  No sense at all.

 

You can also see the flesh start to deteriorate around the edges towards the end of the video.

 

 

[gfweb]

 

 

Wild Fork swordfish. Nice enough price. Thawed in 20 min in a 70F bath

 

 

 

SV 130F for 30 min followed by a sear ....tasted fine

 

 

 

Edited July 1, 2021 by gfweb (log)