The tradition of red fish dishes on our table appeared long before the invention of refrigerators. People have long appreciated the benefits and aesthetics of such fish in different forms and learned to preserve them. Everyone knows that the shelf life of each type is different and depends largely on the method of preparing the product.
How long does red fish last in the refrigerator and without it? Can salted salmon be frozen? And how to store salmon slices in vacuum packaging? Our article will answer these questions.
How to choose the right red fish
Before storing fish, you need to choose it correctly, so below we offer popular advice from fish production technologists:
- red fish is available for sale in different forms: steaks, pieces of fillet, lightly or heavily salted, in a vacuum, fresh or frozen carcasses - it is important to determine what will be more convenient to store in the refrigerator;
- there should be no dents left on a fresh, chilled carcass if pressed with a finger;
- salmon or pink salmon should have an even, pink color, without strange dark spots;
- in fresh salmon, when cutting a steak, the bones should not peel off from the flesh;
- if the product packaging is vacuum, then there should be no cloudy liquid inside;
- You should always look at the factory release and expiration date on any fish product - fish spoils quickly, and, unlike some other products, it is easy to get poisoned by it after the expiration date;
- when buying fresh fish, the gills should only be red or pink; if they are green-gray, cloudy white or with black spots, the fish is spoiled;
- One of the main signs of the freshness of red fish is a pleasant, fresh aroma, no “swamp”, since such types of fish are not found in mud and dirty water.
It is best to buy red fish in stores or markets from sellers with quality certificates for their products. It is important to understand that when fish is sold without refrigeration equipment, there is a high risk of poisoning from a spoiled product.
Red fish bought by weight in pieces without skin cannot be stored for long. It is best to eat it a day in advance, keeping it in the refrigerator.
If you follow these selection rules, the purchased fish will become a decoration of the table, and not a disappointment.
General storage conditions for red fish
You can keep purchased fish at home for a long time, but you need to do some processing - salting, using hot spices, freezing. If purchased fish products have a temperature of +2 or +40C, then they can stay fresh for up to 4 hours at room temperature.
Fresh fish can be stored in the refrigerator for a day without much damage. A well-packaged salmon carcass can be stored in the freezer for up to 1 year.
Vacuum-sealed red salted fish can be stored in the refrigerator on the middle shelf for 45 days. If the fish is placed in household containers and vessels made of plastic, ceramics, glass, then it can be stored from 1 week to 1 month in brine. The richer the brine, the longer the shelf life of red fish.
A dried and gutted carcass of fresh salmon, salmon, wrapped in waxed paper or cloth soaked in vinegar, can be stored for up to 2 days without compromising quality. Without a refrigerator, fresh fish begins to spoil after just 2.5 hours at a temperature of 200C.
If you plan to store the fish for several days, then it is better to gut it, remove the head, gills, scales, dry it and rub it with spices - this way you can be sure that it will not spoil.
Results
Red fish is a delicious product, during storage of which basic conditions must be observed, otherwise it will lose its benefits and may harm the consumer’s body. Shelf life for trout, salmon and salmon are relatively the same. Salted fish can be frozen, but this must be done in compliance with the basic rules for storing the product.
The most dangerous thing is non-compliance with the rules ensuring the storage of the product. Fish is a rather dangerous product that quickly becomes unusable. 2 hours after storage at room temperature, the processes of rotting and bacterial growth begin. Its consumption is dangerous due to food poisoning. That is why it is extremely important to know and follow the basic recommendations.
Video: shelf-stable lightly salted salmon
Red fish is the name given to delicious species of sturgeon - salmon, trout, chum salmon, and so on. The meat of these sea creatures is rich in vitamins, minerals and fatty acids, which are so beneficial for human health. However, in order for red fish to bring you only benefits, you need to know how to properly and for how long you can store it at home.
Storing salted red fish in the refrigerator
How long red fish will last in a household refrigerator is influenced by several factors: the initial degree of freshness, the method of processing.
A gutted and dried carcass can be stored for 2 days. Fresh, raw and ungutted fish can be stored for no more than 5 hours. Therefore, zealous owners, immediately after purchasing or catching fish, gut it and, after drying it with paper towels, wrap it in film or wax paper. In this form, the fish will last in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
How to keep salmon pieces fresh in the refrigerator:
- Salt or purchase already salted salmon, then rinse with water.
- Dry from moisture with napkins and coat on all sides with refined sunflower oil.
- Place the prepared pieces into a glass, ceramic or enamel container. Plastic absorbs odors, so it is better not to take it.
- Cover tightly and store in the bottom of the refrigerator.
There is a rule: the smaller the fillet pieces, the less salt is required for salting. Too much salt will forever ruin the unique taste of the fish and be harmful to your health.
Is it possible to store salted red fish in the freezer?
Frozen storage is the only way to preserve excess red fish for a long time. Here are 5 recommendations from experts that will help you properly store salted red fish in the freezer:
- Cut the salted fish into small pieces and dry thoroughly with a napkin.
- Wrap in cling film, foil and place in a durable bag.
- Release the air from the bag and tie it.
- Place in the freezer.
- When defrosting, you should first keep the fish in the refrigerator and finish the process at room temperature - this way the fish will not lose its taste and color.
You cannot freeze stale fish for a long time that has already been in the refrigerator for several days. Even with shock freezing, microbes will remain and spoil the product.
-180C is the best temperature at which red fish will be stored in the freezer for a long time. Some refrigerators have a blast freezing option - this method is perfect for fish.
Advantages of storing red fish in the freezer:
- excess product will not be wasted;
- can be stored for up to 1 year at -180C and 6 months at -120C;
- the fish does not lose its taste and beneficial qualities.
Flaws:
- If the freezing was at a low temperature or the fish was poorly processed, then it can spoil even in the freezer.
You need to defrost salted fish in two stages: first keep it in the refrigerator for a day and only then serve it. Defrosting at room temperature will disrupt the structure of the fish fillet, and it will not be as juicy as initially.
Harm to salmon
It is generally accepted that healthy fish are those that have grown in their natural conditions. If salmon was grown artificially, it will not always be useful to people.
Since red fish is in great demand, this business is very attractive to many. It is often grown on a farm. Salmon raised in cages differs from wild salmon in taste and beneficial properties. Its fat is formed due to artificial food, and the fish may not move much in the cage. Due to artificial feed, salmon's composition changes greatly. In addition to vitamins, these fish are given antibiotics and artificial pigments to give color. A person who eats this type of fish can gain extra pounds. Canthaxanthin is added to fish food, which was previously added to cosmetics for a quick tan. Now these drugs are prohibited in the USA and Europe, as they cause vision problems. The substance could enter the retina from human skin. Therefore, perhaps it can harm a person if he consumes such salmon. Typically, canthaxanthin is used in fish farms because it costs less than natural pigment. This is important to know for your health, just like the shelf life of salmon.
There is no need to start worrying just yet, since this type of fish is rarely a regular dish in our diet. But it is better to eat salmon as needed. Significant research has been conducted by the Wild Salmon Center and the Pacific Environment and Natural Resources Defense Center and other important organizations. They caution consumers against purchasing farmed salmon for food. Their concerns are based on research that shows you can get cancer if you eat cage salmon more than once a month. This fish contains ten times more harmful substances than wild fish.
People who are allergic to seafood and fish should also be careful. Patients with urolithiasis and cholelithiasis, with thyroid disorders, active pulmonary tuberculosis, inflammatory and ulcerative processes in the gastrointestinal tract, as well as with acute chronic liver diseases should not eat this fish. A large amount of saturated fatty acids can have a bad effect on the described diseases.
Conditions and periods of salmon storage
Vacuum-packed salmon lasts 35-40 days. Once the packaging is opened, the product can be kept in the refrigerator for a day - during this time it must be consumed. You can also freeze salmon, in which case it will be stored for up to 1 month.
Salmon immersed in brine lasts much longer, directly depending on the amount of salt:
- light salting - 6-7 days;
- medium salting - 2 weeks;
- in strong brine - 1 month.
If the salmon is marinated dry, without water, it can be stored in paper in the refrigerator for 1 week. It is better not to wrap it in thick plastic, otherwise without air it will begin to deteriorate.
Salted salmon can be stored in the freezer for up to six months if it has been cut into pieces. Uncut, a gutted salmon carcass will easily last 1 year in the freezer.
Storing salmon in a vacuum is quite simple - you just need to follow the factory expiration date and ensure that the shell remains intact. Individual transparent drops of condensation on the inside of the package are allowed. But if a cloudy liquid appears inside, it means the product is spoiled.
Features of salmon storage
Frozen salmon is stored at temperatures of -18 and -200C. So this delicious delicacy fish can last in the freezer for up to six months.
As with any frozen fish, salmon also undergoes gradual changes in the freezer: the longer it is stored, the worse the taste when defrosted. However, if you store salted salmon, its taste will not change noticeably.
It is recommended to store fresh salmon species at home only in the refrigerator at a temperature close to 0 degrees. Fresh, gutted salmon can sit on ice for up to 1 day.
If fresh fish needs to be preserved for several days, it is best to freeze it. To do this, the carcasses are gutted, washed with running water inside and out, then dried with napkins and then frozen in film.
Salted or smoked salmon is perfectly preserved in the refrigerator for up to 5-7 days.
Salmon that you salt yourself can be stored in the brine for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
How long can lightly salted trout be stored?
Trout
is a product that belongs to the category of fish with fatty meat.
That is why it is better not to store
it in the refrigerator for more than six months.
Salted fish or marinated fish can be stored
in the refrigerator for no more than 10 days.
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Storing salmon at room temperature
It is best to cook fish immediately after purchase. If you want to save it until some occasion or holiday, you can use the refrigerator. However, it also happens that the refrigerator is broken, or it is simply not at hand. In this case, there are folk recipes on how to preserve fish without refrigeration for several days.
First you need to clean and gut it, separating the head and gills first. Next, you need to stuff the inside of the fish with fresh stinging nettle leaves. Place them on top and bottom. If you keep a carcass prepared in this way in the cellar, it will last for 3-4 days and will not spoil. Some housewives douse the carcass with table vodka - this prevents the proliferation of microbes.
You can also rub the gutted carcass with a thick layer of a mixture of black pepper and salt, take 1:1. Next, it is wrapped in two layers of cloth or gauze and stored hanging in the basement for 3-4 days.
You can also cut the fish into two halves exactly along the ridge line, rub with coarse salt and wrap in gauze, well soaked in table vinegar. Such fish can easily be preserved for 2 days.
How to extend the shelf life of salted red fish
Fish products are best stored in the freezer. But there are several other methods to slightly extend the shelf life of red fish:
- For storage in containers, fish must be cleaned of scales and skin;
- if you wrap the fish in gauze, previously soaked in table vinegar, its shelf life will increase by a third;
- there should not be a lot of air in the container; it is better if the fish is placed right up to the lid;
- steaks, fish fillets must be sprinkled with spices: pepper, bay leaf, nettle, garlic, onion will restrain the rapid growth of microbes.
Delicious red fish will always be on the table of those who know how to properly prepare and preserve it. The impeccable taste of red fish varieties will delight you if all storage conditions have been met exactly. Even after defrosting, such fish will not differ in taste from fresh fish.
Fresh fish
Fresh red fish must be stored in the refrigerator. The optimal temperature is 0 … +3 °C. Under such conditions, the product will remain suitable for consumption for 2 days, no more. And only if you follow certain rules. So, before placing the fish in the refrigerator, it must be cleaned of scales and entrails. Then use a paper towel to remove excess moisture. After this, place the fish in a spacious bowl and cover it with a lid or cling film. Use table or sea salt or freshly squeezed lemon juice as a preservative.
