Refreezing fish question?

Hi- Whole Foods has wild caught sockeye salmon fillets on sale today only for $7.99 a pound, which is a steal, but I assume it is previously frozen, even though their facebook page does not mention that. Can you refreeze salmon? Thanks, Nancy

Refreezing fish can really mess up texture and damage taste to a lesser extent. Each freezing breaks some cell walls although flash freezing minimizes the damage. Juices leak out while thawing.

Salmon fillets can be poached while partially frozen with minimal degradation. By partially frozen I mean thawed to some flexibility but not to the point where juices run off. Any juices released go into the poaching liquid.

My response is:
If you plan on eating it within a few weeks, freeze it. If you plan on freezing it for more than two weeks, either vaccuum seal it properly or just skip it. Frozen fish is generally ass once it is frozen for too long and those cell walls break. It will not seem like 7.99 is a steal when it's a chore to choke down dry, fishy tasting salmon.

There is a LOT of previously frozen sockeye on the market. It is easy to spot compared to fresh because the flesh slumps and does not stand out as unfrozen. Whole Foods will tell you whether previously frozen and indeed it should be marked in the fish display. I don't refreeze fish that i purchase previously frozen usually because that just deteriorates the fish even more.
If its previously frozen then they have some frozen and I ask for the frozen product and then put it in the freezer.-Dick

budrichard wrote:If its previously frozen then they have some frozen and I ask for the frozen product and then put it in the freezer.-Dick

This is so stupidly simple, yet it never even occurred to me. Good tip.

What Dick said. And an even bigger plus is that when you have the fish person get it from their freezer, you're dealing with a *professionally* frozen piece of fish.

This is the only way I buy frozen fish: frozen. Saves lots of grief—who knows how long ago the fish was defrosted?? And I always defrost in brine.

Geo

jblth wrote:

budrichard wrote:If its previously frozen then they have some frozen and I ask for the frozen product and then put it in the freezer.-Dick

This is so stupidly simple, yet it never even occurred to me. Good tip.

This goes for shrimp as well, nearly all of which is previously frozen.

Usually you can talk the guy into getting you some of the still-frozen shrimp, too! If you talk really nice, that is.

Geo