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Old 04-05-2015, 06:15 AM   #21
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I usually have bags of frozen salmon and cod in the freezer. I love the convenience of the vacuum packed individual portions, but I never like the texture of the fish after cooking. When I follow the thawing directions, the cooked fish usually seems kind of mushy.

I recently tried a different method - cooking the frozen fillet without thawing first. I forget where I read about doing this, and it seemed like a bad idea but I gave it a try and like the results. Take the fish out of it's plastic packaging, rinse under running tap water just to melt any icy coating that may be on the fish, pat dry, then directly into the pan. (Plus oil and season according to the recipe of course.)

One recipe I like making is first I sautee a variety of vegetables in a pan, when they're nearly done, I add the frozen fish to the pan, put the lid on, turn the flame down to low and it's usually done in about 5 minutes. I don't know why this works but I like the results much better than when I follow the package's thawing instructions.
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Old 04-05-2015, 06:41 AM   #22
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I get a lot of frozen fillets and frozen shrimp at Costco. Like a few others I toss it in a sink full of cold water to thaw. I even use warm water if I am in a rush. I have even done this with frozen steaks in zip lock bags. Tastes fine to me. I suspect the thawing instructions are intended to keep people from tossing the packages on the kitchen counter at room temps for many hours.
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Old 04-05-2015, 09:04 AM   #23
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I wonder if removing from the package is to avoid the vacuum from damaging the meat as it thaws? Freeze/thaw does tend to break down cell structure, so maybe at that point, the vacuum does more damage?

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Old 04-05-2015, 09:37 AM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ERD50 View Post
I wonder if removing from the package is to avoid the vacuum from damaging the meat as it thaws? Freeze/thaw does tend to break down cell structure, so maybe at that point, the vacuum does more damage?

-ERD50
That's exactly what I think. If pressure is being put on the flesh during thawing that might explain extra liquid in the package as some people report. It also might compromise the texture. This is the main reason I am taking this step.

Some people claim that the defrosted fish sitting in those "juices" makes it smellier. They were talking about tuna specifically in that case.

Some folks take the fish out of the package and put in on something where any liquid will drain off the fish while defrosting in the fridge instead of remaining in contact with the flesh.

These are precautions worth trying to see if they do improve the quality of the defrosted fish. I haven't taken the extra step of putting the fish on something that can drain away the liquid, but if I'm not happy with my defrosted tuna, I will try that too.
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