3

Let's say you buy packaged fish from the supermarket, which was kept cool, but not frozen, by their commercial refrigerators.

Example: packaged tuna steak

The wisest thing to do would be to prepare and consume this at the earliest convenience, as it would be most fresh, but what if you wanted to keep it stored at home for later?

Is it okay to store packaged supermarket-fish in your freezer, especially after it was merely cooled by a normal store refrigeration system, and it had time in the car to gain some temperature?

Does it ruin the texture/flavour of the meat? Is it hygienic/sanitary/unhealthy to do this?

I'm looking to buy a bunch of fish (and shellfish) for the weekend, as I'll have no time/means of going to the supermarket the day of the meal.

Edit: I am aware of, and often practise, the method of buying frozen fish and storing it at home in the freezer, but in this example, I'm referring to fish that was not frozen in the supermarket.

Ghoti and Chips
  • 143
  • 2
  • 7
  • 1
    If you're going to freeze it, just buy it frozen. In the US, unless it was squirming or you bought it off the dock, fish and shrimp were probably frozen immediately it was caught. – Joe Sep 19 '17 at 23:09
  • @Joe Sounds like an answer. :) – Cindy Sep 19 '17 at 23:23
  • @Cindy : Only if it's considered as an [XY Problem](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/66377/what-is-the-xy-problem) ... but I've been told other times that I shouldn't be doing that. – Joe Sep 19 '17 at 23:26
  • @Cindy Well, I did (prior to Joe's comment) mention that I'm specifically not referring to frozen-bought fish. I'm wondering about what effect this process of refrigerated (not frozen) supermarket fish being frozen at home has on all sorts of things, incl. flavour, texture, freshness, health issues, etc. – Ghoti and Chips Sep 19 '17 at 23:28
  • I think you should remove your explanation sentence... it just confuses people and invites them to say "Why don't you just buy it frozen?" – Catija Sep 19 '17 at 23:53
  • 1
    just because it's not frozen at the store doesn't mean it's never been frozen. in the US, unless you live on a coast, virtually all seafood is flash frozen in-boat before it makes it to land, ex: shrimp is 100% frozen... – dandavis Sep 20 '17 at 00:24
  • @Catija I see. Feel free to edit it as you see fit. Ironically, the point of that sentence was to specifically address that I was only interested in supermarket fish products that aren't purchased frozen. – Ghoti and Chips Sep 20 '17 at 07:04
  • @dandavis Aye, but the kind of fish product I'm referring to, bought at the supermarket, has been defrosted with the probable intention of being consumed the day of purchase (or as soon as is convenient) – I'm wondering if it's okay to freeze it again after it's been defrosted between capture and sale. With certain foods, it is unadvisable to re-freeze things, for various reasons (ruins the food's texture/flavour/"freshness", increases the risk of bacterial growth and makes it unhealthy, etc.). It's just a question as it says on the title. – Ghoti and Chips Sep 20 '17 at 07:07
  • Fair enough. in my experience, (re)freezing diminishes the texture, especially on leaner fish, but not so much the flavor if sealed+wrapped. You get a month free, then a flavor half-life is about a month... As long as the fish is ok in the store and frozen right away, i don't think there's a lot of health risk. try it, see if you can live with the results, it won't kill you. maybe do a "pepsi" challenge for kicks. – dandavis Sep 20 '17 at 10:43

1 Answers1

2

This is a relatively common practice in my household, no harm has come from it to date, but do it at your own risk.

One may say "Why buy fresh fish and freeze it, just buy it frozen instead, it is probably a lot fresher", but at least where I live (Portugal) there are a few reasons to buy fresh fish and freeze at home. Just to list a few:

  • It is still generally relatively fresh even compared to pre-frozen packages, and you can get a lot more different varieties and species than you could from the pre-frozen selections alone.

  • You get to see the whole fish "live" and unspoiled and easily assess it's quality, size, freshness, and characteristics etc.

  • Unfrozen fish can also be cleaned up a prepared at the supermarket by the staff to your desire, which is unavailable for frozen items, and saves some trouble and mess at home, while being prepared by professional, or at least trained staff.

Flavor and texture should be well preserved, suitable even for more delicate preparations like grilling, as long as you don' take too long before freezing it, or store it for very long periods in the freezer.

Just make sure it is actually fresh fish, here local supermarkets specifically label store thawed fish for immediate consumption, and often verbally advise the customers at the moment of acquisition to not re-freeze.

Duarte Farrajota Ramos
  • 2,158
  • 13
  • 19