How to quickly defrost fish at home: tips

You can see many varieties of fish on store shelves. Most often this product is sold frozen. Some types of fish, such as salmon and mackerel, are delivered from afar, and their “life” is extended by freezing. The taste and benefits of a fish dish will depend on the housewife’s ability to defrost the fish correctly. The best way is gradual defrosting, when the product is not exposed to sudden temperature changes. If time does not allow, you can use a microwave, double boiler or oven.

In water

This option is considered the best and most common. When figuring out how to properly defrost fish, you need to remember many important nuances, including the type of product. For example, different options are suitable for hake, pink salmon, red fish, and sturgeon. Methods for defrosting fish in water depend on the temperature of the liquid.

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In hot

Warm water allows you to quickly get rid of ice and get a product ready for cooking. However, hot liquid negatively affects the structure of the carcass, so it cannot be used constantly. Before you quickly defrost fish, you should weigh all the pros and cons of the method. It is better to resort to it in emergency cases when there is no time to wait. In other situations, it is recommended to use healthier methods of defrosting fish.

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In the cold

Defrosting fish in cold water follows the following recommendations:

To prevent the product from losing its taste, the temperature of the liquid should be from +15 to +20 degrees;
Salted water should be used. For 1 liter, half a teaspoon of salt is enough;
The ratio of fish and liquid should be 1:4 or 1:5. In these proportions, a small-sized product will defrost in 2 hours, and a large-sized product will defrost in 6 hours.

Before sending into the water, the fish should be placed in a plastic bag.

Help: It is important that the water is not very salty. Otherwise, the carcass will begin to lose a lot of liquid during defrosting.

To speed up the process, it is necessary to change the liquid in the container every 20 minutes. It is not recommended to use the described method if it is minced fish or fillet.

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One of the best ways to defrost fish is to use running water. If everything is done correctly, the prepared product can be obtained in 1.5-2 hours. You should proceed like this:

The product is placed in a plastic bag or wrapped in cling film. This will prevent excess liquid absorption by the carcass;
The finished package is placed in the prepared container. The dishes should be deep. The fish is completely covered with water;
Place the container under the tap and turn on the water. Leave a little pressure and wait for the product to defrost. The speed depends on the size of the carcass and the temperature of the liquid.

The described method is perfect for sea and river fish. He's quite careful. However, the carcass will inevitably lose some liquid.

Effective ways

With the help of water.

Ordinary water can easily melt ice from fish. If you don’t mind the liquid, then the fish carcass can be placed directly under the water stream. This will take about one and a half hours. A more economical solution involves placing the fish in a vessel with cold water. The fluid needs to be changed from time to time.

The carcass should not be filled with warm liquid, otherwise the product will be spoiled and the piece will lose its shape.

Thaw in the microwave or double boiler.

Almost all housewives have a microwave oven. Such kitchen appliances are very useful for defrosting. The only disadvantage is that you cannot put a large fish carcass inside the device for subsequent frying.

Before thawing in the microwave, the product should be washed with cold water and dried with paper. For defrosting there is a special function with reduced power levels. To ensure that the carcass melts evenly, you need to turn it over every five minutes by opening the oven door.

Defrosting using a double boiler is an extremely gentle method. This method of defrosting is often used for fish that needs to be cooked. For convenience, after thawing in a double boiler, you can immediately make a delicious steamed fish dish. In this case, you don’t have to rack your brains about how to cook frozen fish.

To thaw a carcass in a multicooker or double boiler, you need to set the heat to the lowest possible level. It will take about twenty minutes to defrost the product.

Defrosting with table salt.

If you do not have a microwave oven, then it will be useful for you to learn how to quickly defrost fish without a microwave. If there is an ice layer on the surface of the product, it can be sprinkled with crushed salt. After the ice has melted, you can start cutting the carcass. The disadvantage of this technique is that only the outer layer is subject to thawing. For complete defrosting you need to wait a little more time.

Warm air also helps housewives who are thinking about how to quickly defrost mackerel. For this purpose, you need to place a large container (pan) with water on the gas stove. Once the water starts to boil, you need to turn the flame to low. Place a colander and a smaller pan on the vessel where the fish should lie. Turn the pieces over from time to time to ensure even defrosting.

To make sure it has thawed, you can pierce a piece with a knife or fork. If the fillet is soft, then defrosting can be considered complete.

Defrosting the product in the oven.

You need to use the oven for this purpose with extreme care and precision. There is a huge risk that the surface of the fish will dry out, but the inside will remain raw. Therefore, defrosting in the oven should be done at a temperature of no more than 30 degrees Celsius. However, not all ovens have these parameters.

Many modern ovens have a special defrosting program. The approximate duration of thawing of fish varies from fifteen to twenty minutes.

Using a hairdryer and cold air.

This is a very funny, but quick way. If you don’t have any special devices or devices at hand for defrosting fish, then you can use a hair dryer for this purpose. In order for the carcass to begin to thaw, you need to set the cold air supply mode on the device. The most important thing here is to avoid high speed, otherwise the surface of the product will become very weathered.

The product is placed in a polyethylene bag, in which a small hole is created to supply air to the fish. The hair dryer can be moved periodically so that the carcass is blown evenly. Thawing with this device will take no more than an hour.

On air

Many technologists and professional chefs advise defrosting medium and large carcasses in a similar way. It is necessary to place the products at some distance from each other so that they do not come into close contact. Cover with cling film.

Help: Defrosting fish in air can take up to 9 hours. It all depends on its size.

It is worth checking the products periodically. If some of them have already been defrosted, they are removed from the total.

It is worth understanding that when thawing in this way, the carcass will lose about 10% in weight. This is due to the fact that juice will begin to flow out of it. But air is one of the most gentle defrosting methods. It allows you to preserve vitamins and nutrients in the product.

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It is not recommended to use it during the hot season. Prolonged absence of cold will lead to the rapid development of bacteria on the surface of food. Even after stewing or frying, poisoning can occur.

Fillet

defrost the fillet at the very bottom of the refrigerator, where the temperature is highest. But this process may take 3-4 hours. You can, of course, fry, for example, unfrozen fillets (and even professional chefs sometimes do this). But at the same time it can shoot very strongly (the water defrosts and falls on the boiling oil).

And the appearance of the prepared product suffers: it wrinkles and dries out as a result, and you can’t roll it in flour or breadcrumbs. So you can do this using physical laws, that is, increase the ambient temperature. Then the defrosting process itself will speed up. Place a covered bowl of fish near a heated stove, for example.

In the microwave

A regular microwave will help speed up the process of defrosting fish. The product is placed on a microwave-safe plate and placed inside the equipment. Find a special “Defrost” button on the panel and turn on the selected mode.

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Periodically remove the fish from the microwave and turn it over to ensure even thawing. This method is considered quite fast. However, microwave ovens are limited in size. Therefore, they are not always able to place large fish inside. You also need to understand that the taste of food after such a procedure may deteriorate.

Secrets of proper freezing

Freezing food can extend storage time up to a year. If you have a sufficiently large freezer, this allows you to solve the issue of seasonal food preparation without resorting to preservation.

Frozen food retains all the beneficial properties of a fresh product. In addition, you can store semi-finished products, soup dressings and pieces of meat in the freezer. The correct bookmark allows you not only to preserve, but also to easily and quickly defrost everything that is stored in the freezer.

Be sure to follow the rules for separate storage of semi-finished products. Fruits and vegetables should be stored separately from meat, poultry and fish. This will prevent the formation of foreign odors.

Before storing meat products in the freezer, you should prepare:

Remove the vacuum packaging;
Cut into small portions;
Divide them into separate freezer bags;
Large pieces of meat and whole poultry should be washed well and dried thoroughly;
You need to freeze at maximum power, many modern freezers have a “shock freezing” function, be sure to use it;
Sign food packages.

Freeze and defrost meat and poultry according to the rules and then there will always be delicious dishes on your table.

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Thawing at room temperature

This method is similar to the air defrosting option. The product is taken out of the refrigerator and left in the kitchen to thaw naturally. The most time-consuming option. The fish should also be wrapped in cling film. It is more convenient to put it on a plate or place it in an empty container.

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In a refrigerator

Defrosting fish can take place in the refrigerator. It is enough to place it on the bottom shelf at a temperature of +5 degrees. Defrosting occurs slowly and can take about 9 hours. This is the key disadvantage of the method.

Help: Defrosting in the refrigerator allows you to preserve all the beneficial substances of the product. Food does not lose taste after such cooling.

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The following recommendations should be followed:

If the fish is in a vacuum package, before placing it on the bottom shelf, you need to pierce the pack in several places;
If there is no packaging on the product, it is wrapped in cling film;
This type of defrosting is used when you can leave the fish overnight.

The refrigerator is suitable for thawing sturgeon, as well as pollock, hake and perch.

Is defrosting always required?

If the product is not defrosted correctly, it will lose its taste and nutritional components. This increases the likelihood of food poisoning.

In this regard, it is not allowed to thaw fish using the following methods:

immerse in hot or warm liquid;
leave the product in the fresh air without a lid and for a long period of time;
River fish should not be covered with salt or defrosted in a saline solution.

If after defrosting a lot of liquid is released, it means that the wrong method for thawing the fish was selected. Some fish products do not require complete defrosting. For example, it is more convenient to cut the sirloin if it is slightly frozen. Do not completely thaw the product before cooking. For these purposes, it is enough to increase the period of cooking the fish in the pan. Minced fish and semi-finished products must not be defrosted in water or in a water bath.

For these types of product, thawing in the refrigerator compartment on the bottom shelf is suitable. If such products are subjected to rapid defrosting, they will lose their appearance and taste, since the remaining liquid will not allow proper shaping. Thawing in the refrigerator compartment is considered the most optimal method for defrosting any type of fish and fish products. The duration of the procedure will vary depending on the type of product and its size.

In the oven

Modern stoves are equipped with a special defrosting function. Therefore, it is enough to use the desired mode before preparing the dish. On electric models, this option is indicated by a drop on the control panel.

As soon as the function is activated, the fan turns on. The heating parts do not start working, so the product does not lose its properties. Defrosting occurs under the influence of air currents. The fan removes cold air from the carcass, replacing it with warm air.

Help: The temperature during such defrosting remains at room temperature, it does not increase. At the same time, thawing occurs faster, and the food does not lose its properties and taste.

You can turn on the heat to speed up the process of getting rid of ice. However, the temperature should be set to a maximum of 30 degrees.

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Some oven models are not equipped with a special function for defrosting fish. In this case, it is recommended to resort to convection mode with a temperature of 0 degrees.

It is allowed to use a regular stove without the specified functions. The recommendations in this case are as follows:

The oven is heated to a temperature of 30 degrees, no more;
The fish is removed from the packaging and placed on a plate of suitable size;
The container with the product is placed on a wire rack and sent to the oven.

It is worth remembering that glassware is not suitable for these purposes. The grille must also be set to the lowest possible position. There is no need to cover the fish with anything.

Vegetables, fruits and berries: vitamins at a click

Before defrosting vegetables in the microwave, they should be placed on a medium or deep plate. A flat one will not work here - when defrosting, fruits may release juice that will spill onto the tray.

The duration of heating depends on the volume of food, the degree of moisture content (whether the fibers are meaty or there is a lot of water), the degree of freezing, etc. Due to a number of factors, defrosting time varies individually:

Action	What is it for?
Place the food in a saucer, pour up to 100 ml of water on the bottom and turn on the microwave for 10-15 seconds at 100-300 W	If you don't add water, the juice inside the product will heat up too quickly and the fruit/vegetable will burst.
Repeat short-term heating until the ice crust begins to thaw from the food.	As soon as the ice begins to melt away from a light touch, defrosting should be stopped.
Turn food over or transfer to another plate	In most cases, the crust falls off on its own. If this does not happen, defrost for another 10-15 seconds.

Educational program: 7 useful life hacks and tips for the microwave or how to become a kitchen Jedi

In a water bath

It was noted that many of the listed methods lead to the fact that the fish loses useful substances, decreases in weight and changes its structure. All this affects its appearance and taste after stewing and frying. To avoid this, it is recommended to use a water bath.

A steamer or slow cooker is great for this. In such equipment there is no contact between the carcass and water.

Help: It is recommended to use the specified cooling method if the subsequent preparation of the product will be in a double boiler or multicooker.

Defrosting takes about 20 minutes. But you should understand that the taste of the product may become less intense.

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The product is placed on a special steamer grill and the minimum temperature is set. Periodically turn the carcass over. As soon as the product has completely thawed, turn on the desired cooking mode. For example, cooking, stewing, etc.

Selecting a quality product

By and large, it is easier to purchase fresh rather than frozen fish. However, not everyone can afford this option. As a rule, sea fish is delivered to store shelves after emergency freezing. River fish can be found alive. It is difficult to choose a quality frozen product because you are purchasing a block of ice. The carcass is hard to see through the packaging; it is difficult to understand whether it has been defrosted before or not. If yes, in the end, after all the manipulations, you will end up with a pulpy mess. It is strictly not recommended to purchase frozen products on the market, in particular from unverified suppliers. Since the flesh of the fish is very delicate, it requires careful handling. It is forbidden to freeze and defrost the composition several times. Fish is frozen in an emergency way, this is how the final product will retain its properties and structure

Ordinary fishermen do not have such equipment, as a result of which they leave the products to be frozen in a household refrigerator (another method of freezing, inappropriate temperature conditions). Before buying a large frozen carcass, it is important to decide how you will cook it. If the family is large, all the goods will go into business

Other options suggest that you will have to defrost the product twice, or even three times. If possible, purchase fish cut into pieces or small carcasses. This move will eliminate the constant “freezing-thawing” procedure, as a result of which you will get all the useful enzymes from the fish. The recommendation is extremely relevant for breeds with the most tender meat. Unscrupulous sellers often put up for sale carcasses that have been thawed many times. Such actions reduce the shelf life and quality of the finished product. Carefully evaluate the packaging; there should be no stuck pieces of fish or frozen water on the inside of the film. Learn the signs that will help you choose a good product. High-quality fish have red or pink gills (it all depends on the breed). The carcass must be smooth, without breaks, cracks, dents or other types of damage. The color of the fish is silver, not gold. As for the ice in the fish package, a thin layer of frozen glaze is allowed. Make sure there are no lumps that appear when water freezes. The fish is not characterized by an ammonia smell, greasy inclusions and other new growths.

This is interesting: River fish cutlets at home - recipes for making minced meat

Salt

It is known that salt can speed up the thawing process of any product. It was noted that it needs to be added to the water to make defrosting faster. Preparing the right mixture will ensure that the food does not lose its juiciness.

How long it takes to defrost fish in this way depends on the size of the carcass:

Small fish or small fillets thaw in a few hours;
A medium to large sized product will take 4 to 6 hours to thaw.

When preparing the solution, certain proportions are adhered to. For 1 kg of carcass, 2 tablespoons of salt and the same number of liters of water are required. The ingredients are mixed in a deep container, always with a lid.

When the salty solution is prepared, the fish is placed in it, after removing its packaging. Cover the top with a lid. You can leave the container at room temperature or put it in the refrigerator. Before cooking food, first rinse it with cold water.

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This type of defrosting is suitable for fatty fish, such as pink salmon and red fish.

How to defrost fish quickly and correctly at home: 5 methods

If there is little time left to prepare the dish, and the fish has not been thawed, you can fix this with improvised means.

Any methods of quick defrosting can lead to a partial loss of taste, so you should not use them for expensive varieties:

Temperature change. This method is not the fastest, but it allows you to preserve the taste and beneficial properties as much as possible. The whole fish pieces or carcass are placed from the freezer into a cup and placed on the lower level of the refrigerator. The process of gradual thawing will preserve its structure, but can last up to 6 hours.
Salt. This method is only suitable for sea fish. The frozen carcass should be generously sprinkled with fine salt. After thawing, wash off excess salt. The peculiarity of this method is that only the surface is defrosted, while the main layer remains frozen.
Hair dryer. The original method allows you to quickly defrost small fish, but it is important that the hairdryer has a cold blow function. The carcass is placed in a plastic bag, and a hole is made on the other side for a hair dryer. Thanks to the pressure of cold air, the thawing process begins, which lasts up to forty minutes. From time to time you need to turn off the hair dryer to avoid overheating.
Saline solution. Prepare the liquid: take 1 tablespoon of salt for one liter of water. Place the fish in a bowl and completely fill it with saline solution. Leave the lid slightly open to allow air to enter. Suitable for marine species. Salt will draw out liquid from river species.
Steamer or multicooker. The method is similar to a steam bath; the fish is placed on the upper level of the steamer and the lowest setting is turned on. This method is considered the most gentle, since the pulp does not come into contact with hot water, which means it retains its beneficial properties.

Read more ► How to defrost chicken or chicken fillet: quick ways, what not to do

Hairdryer

If the carcass is large and does not fit into a container, oven, or microwave, you must resort to unusual methods to thaw the fish. One of these is a hair dryer. You will have to spend about 40 minutes on one carcass. First, the product is placed in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. This will preserve the taste of the fish.

The carcass is wrapped in cling film, but not tightly. Place it on a large glass dish or in a bathtub. It all depends on the size of the product. Sometimes it is more convenient to carry out all manipulations in the bath. The hairdryer is turned on in the “cold air” mode. When blowing on the carcass, you must hold the device at a distance of about 25 cm. The air flow is directed along the fish. You can resort to combined methods, combining a hair dryer with other defrosting options.

Frying pollock with defrosting

Frozen fish is allowed to thaw before heat treatment or cooked without thawing. Proper defrosting of pollock:

Pollock has a loose tissue structure. Therefore, it is advisable to defrost it in the air. This means that you should not place the carcass in water. The recommendation especially applies to gutted fish - headless carcasses that have a special cut, or pollock fillets.
Fish is a perishable product. Do not let it thaw at room temperature. The best option for it is to be moved from the freezer to the refrigerator. The most suitable temperature for melting fish ice is 8 degrees. Defrosting at a higher temperature risks causing bacteria to multiply too much.
If the fish was packed in an airtight package, you should wait until it melts, open the package and pour out the resulting liquid.
It is better to place fish without packaging in a container with holes placed in another solid container. Then the flowing water will not affect the taste of the dish.
Thawing small pieces takes about 8 hours, but a carcass may take longer - sometimes up to a day. The defrosting time also depends on the temperature at which the process occurs.
Use the carcass according to the recipe when it has become pliable.
After the fish is defrosted, it needs to be rolled in something so that when frying it forms a crust and the juice does not leak out. Good options for this are flour, breading, and batter.
After washing and drying, you can sprinkle the defrosted fish with salt, fish spices and sprinkle with lemon juice. The marinating time is about a quarter of an hour, after which the pollock needs to be fried in a small amount of vegetable oil. At the end of frying, cover the pan with a lid for a few minutes. With this method of processing, the fish will retain its shape, will not fall apart, and will not lose moisture.

How not to defrost

The process of defrosting fish must proceed correctly. The preservation of the properties and taste of the product depends on this. Therefore, you need to try to avoid various process errors.

When carcasses are thawed, a change occurs in the colloidal structures of their muscles. This leads to loss of juice. And the more it goes away, the more the taste will change after cooking.

Note: It is not recommended to defrost fillets in salted water. This may reduce the nutritional value of the product and change its color. You should resort to this type of defrosting only in extreme cases.

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It is recommended to adhere to the following tips:

Do not use hot water so that frozen fish becomes simply raw. At temperatures above 35 degrees, fish protein begins to lose its properties. To replace the lost juice, the carcass absorbs hot liquid. As a result, the product becomes loose. This option is allowed only in extreme cases;
It is not necessary to defrost the product completely until it is soft. The fish should remain elastic, dense, and chilled. Then it will be easier to prepare;
As soon as the defrosting process is completed, they immediately begin preparing the chilled product. Otherwise, the fish product will lose its properties and vitamins.

Defrosting rules

Each method of cooking a fish carcass requires complete or partial defrosting of the product to make it convenient to clean and cut the product. In this case, all actions must be correct so as not to spoil the final dish.

Fish fillet

Experienced chefs do not recommend thawing fish fillets with water, as this leads to the loss of the beneficial properties of the product and a change in its appearance. To prevent this, the fillet should be defrosted according to the rules, placing the product in the lower part of the refrigerator compartment, where the air temperature is the highest. The entire defrosting process can take from 3 to 4 hours.

Frozen fish fillets can be immediately placed in a frying pan and fried on all sides. But the liquid that will appear will begin to shoot when it comes into contact with boiling oil. At the same time, such a heat treatment process will affect the appearance of the semi-finished product, which will dry out and wrinkle.

You can speed up the defrosting process by increasing the ambient temperature. To do this, cover the dish with frozen fish with a towel and place it near a heat source, for example, near a gas stove. If it’s summer outside, it’s enough to take the container out onto the balcony, covering the product with a piece of gauze to prevent insects.

For frying

For frying, fish fillets should be divided into portions or ready-made steaks should be used, since dividing a whole frozen carcass will be problematic. The fish should be unwrapped and held briefly under running cool water to quickly remove the top crust of ice. Next, the slightly thawed carcass needs to be gutted, washed and scaled. At the end, the ingredient should be dried with a towel to remove any remaining moisture.

A frozen semi-finished product or a whole carcass must be placed in a well-heated frying pan. To do this, the product must be rolled in breadcrumbs, flour, and placed on hot oil before heat treatment. This is necessary so that a dense crust forms on the surface of the semi-finished product in a short period of time.

When it is browned, the product must be turned over to the other side, lightly salted, covered with a lid and continued cooking. The lid in this case is a prerequisite, since the fish must be cooked not only on the outside, but also on the inside. This can be achieved by creating a maximum temperature around the semi-finished product.

With this method, you should not count on a crispy crust, since the ice, turning into water, will soften it. By increasing the time it takes to cook frozen fish, the nutrients will be reduced and the flesh will fall apart.

To reduce the loss of quality of the finished dish, it is recommended to cook such types of fish as navaga, horse mackerel, silver hake or mackerel in a frying pan without defrosting. They are less susceptible to deformation and retain nutrients longer.

For smoking

You can quickly defrost fish by placing it in a bowl with clean water, which will need to be replaced several times throughout the process. It is strictly forbidden to defrost a fish carcass in a warm liquid or subject it to mechanical stress.

For cooking

To prevent the fish from being raw inside after cooking, it must be defrosted before cooking. In some cases, you can omit the defrosting process and proceed directly to the cooking itself. For example, if the fish needs to be boiled, it is not necessary to defrost it, since the carcass will only need to be cleaned and washed.

This method of heat treatment requires more time compared to semi-finished products that have undergone a defrosting process.

For fish soup

Before cooking the fish soup, the fish must be thawed. If this is not done, the outside of the product will be overcooked, but the inside will remain raw. This will also affect the tenderness of the semi-finished meat.

It is necessary to defrost fish correctly, without using a microwave oven or warm liquid, since sudden temperature changes affect the quality of the finished product. This must be done in the lower part of the refrigerator compartment, covering the component with a plate or cling film. Defrosting the product at room temperature will significantly speed up the cooking process and preserve its taste.

For pickling

You can defrost fish quickly for salting in the refrigerator compartment. It is not recommended to treat frozen semi-finished products with salt, as this will affect its taste, consistency and aroma. The ideal indicator for thawing fish is considered to be an air temperature of +5 °C. In this case, it is forbidden to defrost the product in warm and especially in hot liquid.

For the steak

To ensure that steaks retain their texture and flavor, the fish must be properly thawed. It can be thawed slowly or quickly using a microwave.

The defrosted ingredient should be rinsed, dried with a paper towel and proceed to the cooking process. It is recommended to season the steaks with salt, pepper and spices. For baking, you can add a sprig of rosemary, wrapping everything in foil and placing it on a baking sheet. The product should be cooked in the oven for the time specified in the recipe.

For grilling

For grilling, frozen fish must be defrosted naturally, without using hot liquid or a microwave oven. It is not recommended to place unthawed fish in a hot frying pan, as this will lead to loss of its appearance.

Rules for defrosting fish for grilling are described in the following table:

Way	Defrosting Features
In water	The carcass should be filled with salted liquid at a temperature of +10 to +15 °C at the rate of 2 liters per 1 kg of fish.
On air	The fish carcass should be placed on a rack or on a table, covered with plastic wrap.
Combined	The fish must be placed in cool, salted liquid and left for 30 minutes. After the time has passed, you should continue the defrosting process in the open air, covering the product with plastic wrap.

For rolls

For rolls, the fish must be defrosted in air by keeping the carcass for some time in a lightly salted liquid. This will have a positive effect on the juiciness and make it softer. The product will be considered defrosted once it can be easily cut with a kitchen knife.

Is it possible to freeze defrosted

Not everyone knows that the product should not be re-frozen. This negatively affects the structure of the fish and its taste. If food is re-frozen, it will lose any remaining nutrients. The structure becomes loose and flabby.

Fish is frozen to prevent bacteria from developing in it. This allows you to store it longer and more conveniently. As soon as the surface of the carcass thaws, microorganisms begin to develop on it. This leads to the process of accelerating product spoilage. Therefore, it is not worth re-freezing fish. To avoid a situation where there is excess product left, it is better to calculate in advance how much it will be needed for cooking, stewing, and frying. Thus, re-freezing is excluded.

You can easily defrost fish at home. But choosing the right tactics is necessary. Why? Because errors in this process will lead to a deterioration in the properties of the product and the dish will be spoiled. Sometimes they resort to combined methods. This will speed up the defrosting. There are rules to make the process easier. The more nuances are taken into account, the better the defrosting will be.

Optimal freezing and defrosting temperature

If you need to freeze fish at home, you must first wash, peel and gut it. It is better to freeze chilled carcasses. At temperatures below 18˚C, the structure of the meat is destroyed and it dries out. That is why freezing fish carcasses is recommended at temperatures from -7 to -18 degrees. An exception to this rule are fatty fish (sturgeon, pink salmon and other types of red fish). Freezing at -30˚С is also allowed here.

The best option for thawing frozen fish carcasses is to place them in the refrigerator. The optimal temperature is considered to be in the range from 3 to 5 degrees above zero. When defrosting in this way, the pulp thaws gradually, without structure or quality characteristics.