Buying fish/frozen fish, shellfish online

[rotuts]

@gfweb 

 

Nice.

 

not looking for trouble here , but

 

why not re-bag the fish , from Fz , pat dry

 

Vac. then use 130 f as your thaw-out bath

 

on the on hand , it seems a dry , slow cold thaw is ideal.

 

Do you think your SF might have turned put different w the

 

103 F bath from frozen ?

 

of course , rough guessing 

 

the ' cook-time '  30 min @ 130 F from thaw temp

 

gets you on your plate.

 

 

[gfweb]

40 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@gfweb 

 

Nice.

 

not looking for trouble here , but

 

why not re-bag the fish , from Fz , pat dry

 

Vac. then use 130 f as your thaw-out bath

 

on the on hand , it seems a dry , slow cold thaw is ideal.

 

Do you think your SF might have turned put different w the

 

103 F bath from frozen ?

 

of course , rough guessing 

 

the ' cook-time '  30 min @ 130 F from thaw temp

 

gets you on your plate.

 

 

Thought about that. Tempting.

But I usually let thawed fz fish dry 30 min in fridge with a light salting. I know that 30 at 130 will cook that well.  From fz I dont know the time.

[rotuts]

@gfweb 

 

my question was more directed at the 

 

" water issues " thawing might cause on the texture.

 

I was wondering which  method :

 

1) thaw , dry , vac-cook

 

vs

 

2) re-bag and vac from Fz.  

 

had more ' water time '  before it Hit the Plate.

 

probably water time before various proteins ' cook '

 

Im summing cooked fish has less problems w water losing.

[gfweb]

28 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@gfweb 

 

my question was more directed at the 

 

" water issues " thawing might cause on the texture.

 

I was wondering which  method :

 

1) thaw , dry , vac-cook

 

vs

 

2) re-bag and vac from Fz.  

 

had more ' water time '  before it Hit the Plate.

 

probably water time before various proteins ' cook '

 

Im summing cooked fish has less problems w water losing.

 

I think that experimentation is required. Good thoughts.

[heidih]

56 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Thought about that. Tempting.

But I usually let thawed fz fish dry 30 min in fridge with a light salting. I know that 30 at 130 will cook that well.  From fz I dont know the time.

Yes I thaw in fridge and then set on plate in fridge with salt or touch of soy, no cover. Texture to my liking

[gfweb]

And now that I've praised wild fork they no longer deliver to my zip code. Forget i said they were good.

 

F them.

Edited July 2, 2021 by gfweb (log)

[weinoo]

I think the fact is, borne out by numerous web sites and our own home defrosters, that there is more than one way to skin a cat  defrost a frozen fish product.

 

Yama Seafood has a link to the video I posted above on their website. They also have other, different instructions for defrosting bluefin...see pdf on this page...https://www.yamaseafood.com/tuna

 

Great-Alaska-Seafood, another supplier I've been happy with (and you really get to pick and choose, it's not a subscription service) during lockdown, says this:

 

Quote

 

Fish & Scallops: The best way to thaw your fish or scallops is to leave them in the refrigerator overnight, allowing at least 8-10 hours. Sometimes the vacuum packages lose their seals in transit. This is normal. In those cases, use those packs first by taking the fish out of the packaging on a plate with plastic wrap over it and place in the refrigerator overnight.

For quicker thawing, place the vacuum sealed pouch in a bowl of cool water for 30-46 minutes. Do not use warm water, as it can cause the seafood to lose flavor and texture.

 

 

So I guess the bottom line is: whatever works best for you at home, and gives you the best eating, is the way for you to go.

Defrost-torobluefin.pdf

[Shelby]

9 hours ago, gfweb said:

And now that I've praised wild fork they no longer deliver to my zip code. Forget i said they were good.

 

F them.

Well that sucks.  Bizarre that they would do that.

[liuzhou]

I haven't bought frozen fish for many years.  Most of it is water and I don't like paying for stuff that falls out of the sky for free.  If you haven't already, try weighing your frozen fish before thawing and after. Intresting.

I buy all my fish fresh. How do I know it's fresh? Simple. It's still alive 90% of the time.

I very rarely buy or have bought other seafood other than alive. Frozen prawns or shrimp? No thanks.

I do realise people far from coastal areas have less choice and I am lucky, yet there is also an unwillingness among suppliers to challenge that. With modern infrasructure, it is perfectly possible to supply supemarkets etc with fresh fish - but it is costly, for the supplier and ultimately for you. You get what you pay for.

[KennethT]

4 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

I haven't bought frozen fish for many years.  Most of it is water and I don't like paying for stuff that falls out of the sky for free.  If you haven't already, try weighing your frozen fish before thawing and after. Intresting.

I buy all my fish fresh. How do I know it's fresh? Simple. It's still alive 90% of the time.

I very rarely buy or have bought other seafood other than alive. Frozen prawns or shrimp? No thanks.

I do realise people far from coastal areas have less choice and I am lucky, yet there is also an unwillingness among suppliers to challenge that. With modern infrasructure, it is perfectly possible to supply supemarkets etc with fresh fish - but it is costly, for the supplier and ultimately for you. You get what you pay for.

As I'm sure you know, lots of deep water fish are frozen whole on the boat since the boat stays out at sea for days or weeks at a time. When frozen properly, there is no additional water added - the fish's skin keeps the water out.  In my part of the USA, I don't think it's possible to find truly fresh shrimp/prawns.  I think what we see in stores here that looks like fresh is really just already thawed.  Much of the fresh fish we get is a over a day old - at best it was caught the day before, at worst, I don't want to know!

 

When improperly (too slowly) frozen, ice crystals form in the meat's intracellular fluid, breaking cell walls.  Once thawed, the punctured cell walls lose their fluid, which results in the weight loss you describe - I don't think the higher frozen weight is because of water added.  Modern blast freezing or super cold brine freezing solves this problem by minimizing or eliminating crystalization - so cell walls don't get punctured and you don't lose fluid once defrosted.

 

And buying live fish in the USA?  Good luck, other than in Chinatown.  Unfortunately, most Americans have an aversion to buying their meat live, with lobster being the only exception I can think of.  And most unfortunately, many of the Chinatown fish stores with live fish are notorious for using low quality fish.  Definitely not wild, line caught.

 

With all this being said, I still haven't had a chance to try any of the frozen fish I received lately - but that should change this weekend, and I'll report back.  I do know that the spot prawns I had last weekend were fantastic - just as good as the prawns I had in Roses, Spain where the restaurant has personal relationships with the local fishermen and what is served is usually only out of the water for an hour or two.

[liuzhou]

9 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Definitely not wild, line caught.

 

Well, line caught is a heck of a lot better than most industrial fishing methods.

When frozen properly, yes. But it so often isn't and you have no way of knowing until you buy it and get it home.

As I said, I'm very lucky to have access tofresh seafood.  I never forget. 

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, Shelby said:

Well that sucks.  Bizarre that they would do that.

 

Looks like they are back delivering to my zip. Who knows why they wouldn't last night.

 

So un-F them

[weinoo]

2 hours ago, KennethT said:

In my part of the USA, I don't think it's possible to find truly fresh shrimp/prawns. 

 

I'm much rather (and do only) buy wild caught, properly frozen and then properly defrosted shrimp/prawns, then any alive from a farm.

 

I was surprised to see live lobster available at the Union Square market last week. I'd like to see prices come down before buying any though. 

[heidih]

My favorite purveyer is Santa Monica Seafood. They really were started by fishermen from "The Old Country". Came to Southern California to fish on the tuna boats that stayed out for weeks and weeks. Mostly out of San Pedro. (went to school with the kids). They are the suppliers for the only two retail fish counters I trust. Take the guys to tour their facility and do education. Worth checking out. Their sustainability statement is impressive (to me)  https://www.santamonicaseafooddockdirect.com/sustainability/

[rotuts]

@gfweb 

 

they probably lurk on eG.

[palo]

Hi again, I keep getting these emails from Wild Alaskan Company:

 

Congratulations, you've been selected to receive an upgrade! Join today and save a total of $75 off your first 3 boxes of Wild Alaskan seafood.  Our July 4th Sale ends soon! Claim this offer and enjoy Alaskan delicacies that are conveniently delivered to your home.

Promo code:

WELCOME75

 

If you guys keep using this, I'm going to buy stock in the company 😀

 

p

[KennethT]

1 hour ago, palo said:

Hi again, I keep getting these emails from Wild Alaskan Company:

 

Congratulations, you've been selected to receive an upgrade! Join today and save a total of $75 off your first 3 boxes of Wild Alaskan seafood.  Our July 4th Sale ends soon! Claim this offer and enjoy Alaskan delicacies that are conveniently delivered to your home.

Promo code:

WELCOME75

 

If you guys keep using this, I'm going to buy stock in the company 😀

 

p

Now I feel like I should've held out longer when considering joining!

[gfweb]

The Wild Fork scallops were just fine

[KennethT]

28 minutes ago, gfweb said:

The Wild Fork scallops were just fine

I saw them on the dinner thread - they look great!  They must have been nice and dry in order to get that kind of color on them.  How did you defrost them?

[gfweb]

40 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I saw them on the dinner thread - they look great!  They must have been nice and dry in order to get that kind of color on them.  How did you defrost them?

In the fridge for 4 hrs...still frozen..room temp on a sheet pan for 45 min more. Then SV 135 for 20 min...pat dry then sear in butter

[weinoo]

The chirashi I made last night included both coho and sockeye salmon, from Wild Alaskan Company.  

Both were defrosted, in the refrigerator, out of their packaging, on C-folds, etc. etc.  They actually took more than 24 hours to defrost that way.

Using a modified Japanese technique learned about from Mrs. Donabe, I salted the fish after it defrosted and kept it in the fridge overnight, before steam cooking it in the CSO at the lowest possible steam temp for just about 10 minutes. It comes out great - almost like a hot-smoked fish texture. Next time, I'll try smoking it it in the gin-donabe.

 

 

[KennethT]

Somehow, Facebook  has my advertising down pat... this is the newest thing to pop up on my feed:

 

https://mmmediterranean.com/

 

which is in addition to the now 3 different brands of 'grow-your-own-mushrooms-on-the-countertop' that I keep seeing.

[weinoo]

9 hours ago, KennethT said:

Somehow, Facebook  has my advertising down pat... this is the newest thing to pop up on my feed:

 

https://mmmediterranean.com/

 

which is in addition to the now 3 different brands of 'grow-your-own-mushrooms-on-the-countertop' that I keep seeing.

 

let me know when you try them!  Some of the prices look insane, and some look normal or even too cheap??

[KennethT]

54 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

let me know when you try them!  Some of the prices look insane, and some look normal or even too cheap??

ha!  that's what I said...

[KennethT]

Does anyone have any promo codes for Wild Fork?  I was thinking about trying them out - @gfweb seems to like them enough to "un-f them".... hehe