How to thaw frozen fish?

I just got my first shipment of Sitka Salmon Shares halibut. I want to make sure get the full benefit of this hopefully pristine Alaskan fish. The fish comes sealed in a plastic wrap. What do people think is the best way to thaw this?

Thanks,

Either keep in in the fridge or, if you want it thawed a little faster, put it (still in the plastic) in a bowl of water in the sink and let the water run very slowly from the faucet into the bowl.

Do you consider the two methods equal in terms of the quality of the output? I've read about the different methods, but if there is a difference in quality, for this fish I want to choose the best method.

thanks,

I'm not sure if you'd really be able to taste the difference, but slower is better. So I'd do it in the fridge overnight.

Agreed. Definitely slower is better. I'd try ice water in the fridge overnight. Differences in technique might be subtle, but unless you're in a hurry, why not go low & slow (apologies to GWiv).

Thawing is thawing, the only difference is how you reach the final temperature state.
Discounting using a microwave oven!
We use both methods, but for fish, it's in a zip lock bag but for shrimp, it's in plain water.
I have never noticed a quality difference and there shouldn't be any.
Ice expands as it warms but you can't do anything about that and the rate of temperature rise has nothing to do with quality.-Richard

Jonah wrote:I just got my first shipment of Sitka Salmon Shares halibut. I want to make sure get the full benefit of this hopefully pristine Alaskan fish. The fish comes sealed in a plastic wrap. What do people think is the best way to thaw this?

Thanks,

Thanks for asking that-- I got my share too-- very excited. I was planning to use the more rapid method of thawing by immersing the fish in cold water, rather than overnight in the refrigerator. To my thinking, the less time the fish spends at refrigerator temperatures, the better. Given that these are cold-water fish, I suspect their endogenous enzymes and microbes might be active (somewhat) at refrigerator temperatures, causing some degradation of quality. Just a hunch though-- I'm interested to hear your experience. Definite no on the microwave though.

Edited to move chatter about what to cook to the Wild Alaskan Fish CSA thread.

Cheers, Jen

Just had a little discussion with Kim at SSS and she says:

We suggest refrigeration as the method of thawing. if you are in a hurry and need it thawed faster we suggest immersing it in cool water or letting cool water run over it. The thawing by refrigeration is on the label on each piece of fish itself.

So much for my hunch!

Pie: That's good information! I didn't see that on the fish packaging. I took some out of the freezer last night and put in in the fridge. We'll see!