Shelf life of fish in the refrigerator. How to store caught fish How to store fresh fish in the refrigerator

One of the important food products is fish. It is sold live, frozen, salted, smoked, and canned and semi-finished products are made from it. How long can you store this or that fish at home? It is clear that the storage location will be the refrigerator.

Storing fresh fish

The most delicious is fresh, recently caught fish. If you bought crucian carp, carp or silver carp, then try to cook them as quickly as possible. The same applies to catches made with your own hands. But if there is a hitch with the cooking, then you should take care of storage. Fresh fish should be stored without entrails at a temperature of 0...+3 °C, in the refrigerator.

1. First, it is gutted and cleaned.
2. Then they wash it inside and out, wipe it with a napkin or towel to remove excess moisture.
3. Place in the refrigerator in a bowl covered with cling film or in another container with a lid.
4. You can sprinkle with salt if you are going to store for 2 days. Lemon juice is used instead of salt. This causes the fish meat to be slightly marinated and become more tender.

The maximum shelf life is 2 days, but it is better not to wait until the last minute and not take risks. If you want to store fish for more than 2 days, freeze it by wrapping it in a plastic bag. You can also freeze unpeeled fish. This saves housewives who do not have the strength to process the entire catch at once.

Fresh fish can be kept in the freezer for several months. It must be defrosted gradually, without haste, without using hot water or additional heating. Re-freezing is prohibited, since the taste of the product deteriorates and spoilage is possible.

Do not store unpeeled fish and fillets together in the refrigerator. Bacteria from the untreated product will transfer to the fillet, thereby accelerating its deterioration. It is also not recommended to place fish near dairy products, as they quickly absorb the smell.

Smoked fish

If the fish has been cold smoked for a long time, it can be stored in the refrigerator for 10 days, wrapped in paper. Hot smoked fish can be stored in the refrigerator for only 3 days. This difference in timing is due to the fact that during cold smoking the carcasses are more saturated with salt and undergo heat treatment for a longer time.

Both types of smoked fish can be frozen. They will keep quietly in the freezer for 3 months. If you do not want to freeze, then wrap it in a cloth soaked in salt water. In this form, it will lie at a temperature of +3 °C for about a month.

Smoked fish balyk can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than a week, and if you cut it into pieces, you will have to eat it within 3 days. Be sure to ensure that mold does not appear on the meat and pay attention to the smell.

Salted and dried fish

Many people like to eat dried fish: roach, rudd, perch, sabrefish, bream and others. Let's find out how long it can be stored and under what conditions. It is stored for a long time, since salt acts as a preservative. If the fish has been dried well, then with proper storage it can last for a year. It should be wrapped in thick wrapping paper and kept in a dry, cool and dark place.

Previously, fish were often wrapped in newspaper, without thinking about the fact that printing ink contained lead. If you categorically reject newspaper, you can use craft paper, parchment, or a tin or glass jar with a lid. Dried and dried fish are stored in cardboard boxes, wicker baskets, and linen bags.

For those who live in hot climates, we recommend placing any fish in the freezer. This is the only way it can be stored for a long time.

Now let's talk about salted fish. Many housewives buy fresh or frozen product, making home salting, but you can also find a variety of varieties of salted fish on store shelves. If you store fish in brine (brine, as experts say), the shelf life increases. The amount of salt used during preparation is also of great importance.

Strongly salted fish can be kept in the refrigerator for a month without freezing, medium salted and marinated fish - up to 15 days, lightly salted fish - no more than 6 days.

Pieces of salted herring, salmon, and salmon can be stored in the refrigerator for almost 3 months if they are covered with vegetable oil.

Ready-made fish dishes

If the fish has been heat-treated, it can be stored outside the refrigerator for some time. This is what usually happens when fried, baked or stewed fish is put on the table. However, after being in warm conditions for 2-3 hours, it should be placed in the refrigerator. There, at a temperature of +2°...+3°C, it can stay for 2 days.

Special sushi cases are used to store sushi and other fish dishes with rice. At home, uncut sushi can be stored for 24 hours. If you order a dish to take home and don’t finish it, throw away the leftovers. In general, you can only eat fish dishes that have not undergone heat treatment if you are confident in their quality.

One of the important food products is fish. It is sold live, frozen, salted, smoked, and canned and semi-finished products are made from it. How long can you store this or that fish at home? It is clear that the storage location will be the refrigerator.

Storing fresh fish

The most delicious is fresh, recently caught fish. If you bought crucian carp, carp or silver carp, then try to cook them as quickly as possible. The same applies to catches made with your own hands. But if there is a hitch with the cooking, then you should take care of storage. Fresh fish should be stored without entrails at a temperature of 0...+3 °C, in the refrigerator.

1. First, it is gutted and cleaned.
2. Then they wash it inside and out, wipe it with a napkin or towel to remove excess moisture.
3. Place in the refrigerator in a bowl covered with cling film or in another container with a lid.
4. You can sprinkle with salt if you are going to store for 2 days. Lemon juice is used instead of salt. This causes the fish meat to be slightly marinated and become more tender.

The maximum shelf life is 2 days, but it is better not to wait until the last minute and not take risks. If you want to store fish for more than 2 days, freeze it by wrapping it in a plastic bag. You can also freeze unpeeled fish. This saves housewives who do not have the strength to process the entire catch at once.
Fresh fish can be kept in the freezer for several months. It must be defrosted gradually, without haste, without using hot water or additional heating. Re-freezing is prohibited, since the taste of the product deteriorates and spoilage is possible.

Do not store unpeeled fish and fillets together in the refrigerator. Bacteria from the untreated product will transfer to the fillet, thereby accelerating its deterioration. It is also not recommended to place fish near dairy products, as they quickly absorb the smell.

Smoked fish

If the fish has been cold smoked for a long time, it can be stored in the refrigerator for 10 days, wrapped in paper. Hot smoked fish can be stored in the refrigerator for only 3 days. This difference in timing is due to the fact that during cold smoking the carcasses are more saturated with salt and undergo heat treatment for a longer time.

Both types of smoked fish can be frozen. They will keep quietly in the freezer for 3 months. If you do not want to freeze, then wrap it in a cloth soaked in salt water. In this form, it will lie at a temperature of +3 °C for about a month.

Smoked fish balyk can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than a week, and if you cut it into pieces, you will have to eat it within 3 days. Be sure to ensure that mold does not appear on the meat and pay attention to the smell.

Salted and dried fish

Many people like to eat dried fish: roach, rudd, perch, sabrefish, bream and others. Let's find out how long it can be stored and under what conditions. It is stored for a long time, since salt acts as a preservative. If the fish has been dried well, then with proper storage it can last for a year. It should be wrapped in thick wrapping paper and kept in a dry, cool and dark place.

Previously, fish were often wrapped in newspaper, without thinking about the fact that printing ink contained lead. If you categorically reject newspaper, you can use craft paper, parchment, or a tin or glass jar with a lid. Dried and dried fish are stored in cardboard boxes, wicker baskets, and linen bags.

Now let's talk about salted fish. Many housewives buy fresh or frozen product, making home salting, but you can also find a variety of varieties of salted fish on store shelves. If you store fish in brine (brine, as experts say), the shelf life increases. The amount of salt used during preparation is also of great importance.

Strongly salted fish can be kept in the refrigerator for a month without freezing, medium salted and marinated fish - up to 15 days, lightly salted fish - no more than 6 days.

Pieces of salted herring, salmon, and salmon can be stored in the refrigerator for almost 3 months if they are covered with vegetable oil.

Ready-made fish dishes

If the fish has been heat-treated, it can be stored outside the refrigerator for some time. This is what usually happens when fried, baked or stewed fish is put on the table. However, after being in warm conditions for 2-3 hours, it should be placed in the refrigerator. There, at a temperature of +2°...+3°C, it can stay for 2 days.

Special sushi cases are used to store sushi and other fish dishes with rice. At home, uncut sushi can be stored for 24 hours. If you order a dish to take home and don’t finish it, throw away the leftovers. In general, you can only eat fish dishes that have not undergone heat treatment if you are confident in their quality.

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Many of us love fish, but difficulties with cutting and short shelf life often discourage us from buying it.

website I found out what professionals advise to keep fish fresh and enjoy fish delicacies at least every evening. And also what stale fish looks like, which unscrupulous sellers are trying to sell.

1. Do not store in a bag

You should not store fresh fish in a plastic bag for a long time; this will cause it to suffocate and go rotten faster. Wax paper is best for storage, but not newspaper.

3. Be sure to gut it

Fish spoils most likely not from the head, but in general, from the insides. Before storing a whole fish in the refrigerator, it must be gutted and the gills removed. In order not to bother with your purchase, you can ask to cut it up in the store.

4. Remove excess moisture

Freshly gutted fish should be rinsed with water to remove dirt. Then wipe on all sides to remove all excess moisture. The less moisture remains, the longer the fish will last when frozen.

4. Choose the right place in the refrigerator

It is best to store fish in the coldest place possible. Signs on the refrigerator will tell you where it is. In most refrigerators this is the top shelf.

5. Place on ice

It is recommended to store fish at a temperature between 0 °C and 3 °C. But usually the temperature in the refrigerator is approximately 5 °C. In such cases, ice will help. You need to cover the fish with ice on top and bottom. But it is important to ensure that the ice does not melt - the fish will quickly deteriorate in water.

6. Use natural preservatives

Salt and lemon are also excellent natural preservatives. By salting the fish or sprinkling it with lemon juice, you can keep it fresh longer, make the meat juicy, and the taste refined.

7. Use oil

8. Refrigerate before freezing

Before putting the fish in the freezer, it is best to first cool it in the refrigerator in an airtight bag. The secret to good freezing is uniformity. Small pieces freeze more evenly than larger pieces.

9. Choose fresh or frozen

Still, you shouldn’t buy fresh fish and freeze it yourself. If you do this incorrectly, you can disrupt the cellular structure and dry it out. It's better to buy frozen right away. Industrial freezers are better than home freezers in this regard.

10. What stale fish looks like

All of the above tips will be of little help if you initially come across stale fish. Take a closer look at it before purchasing. Signs of poor quality fish:

• Strong fishy or ammonia smell - paradoxically, fresh fish hardly smells like fish.
• The eyes were noticeably sunken, clouded, and gray in color.
• The gills are dirty gray, brown, yellowish or pale in color. Possibly covered in mucus.
• The scales are dull, crumble and are easily separated from the carcass.
• The abdomen is swollen.
• The meat is easily separated from the skeleton
• With slight pressure, dents remain on the carcass, which do not smooth out for a long time.
• The carcass itself is very sticky, the fish mucus collects in clumps.
• Fillet with ragged edges, opaque, stained or bruised.
• The tail of frozen fish is curled up or appears dried out.

Frozen fish is tattered, crumpled or out of shape.

> wilderness survival > fish storage

During a long hike, survival conditions, or just fishing, the question of storing fish often arises. How to properly store fresh fish? Is it possible to catch fish for future use several days in advance? It is known that fish is a perishable product, but there is still a way to keep fish fresh and suitable for further consumption.

Storing fresh, caught fish

If you have a sufficient amount of salt, then freshly caught fish should be cleaned of the entrails, the gills removed and sprinkled with salt. There is no need to skimp on salt, since the fish has scales and over-salting will not affect it. Next, the carcasses need to be placed in nettles or fresh sedge and hidden in the shade. In this form the fish
will last up to several days. Then, to get rid of excess salt, the fish must be washed in running water before cooking.

Caught fish can be preserved by burying it in wet and cool coastal sand. First you need to close the gills and mouth. The storage location should be in the shade. Depending on the temperature, the fish can be stored this way for up to two days, but then it will need to be cooked immediately. For further transportation, such fish will no longer be suitable. The fish will stay fresh longer if it is buried in cool sand near the outlet of spring water.

For short-term storage, you can cover the fish with wet seaweed; such a fish will “survive” one night without any problems.

Another similar method, if it is impossible to store the fish alive, should be thoroughly gutted, the head cut off, the gills removed, straightened, placing small branches of spacers in the belly and hung in the shade, preferably in a well-ventilated place. After a couple of hours of such ventilation, fresh sedge or nettle is placed in the belly. The carcasses themselves are completely covered with grass and put away in the shade.

In autumn, when night frosts appear, the fish must be cleaned of its entrails and hung close to the ground overnight. In the morning, before the fish has thawed, you can cover it with grass so that the carcasses do not touch each other. In this form, without a strong increase in temperature and away from the sun, the fish can be stored for up to 7 days.

Storing live fish

But the easiest and surest way to keep fish fresh is to leave it alive. You can use a kukan (a device for preserving live caught fish. It is a strong cord with a wire loop at the end. The caught fish, carefully removed from the hook, is placed on the kukan. To do this, the loop is threaded through a hole made with a knife in the soft tissue of the fish’s mouth, near the bottom jaws, and
the fish is carefully lowered into the water, the other end is fixed on the shore to a peg). The important point is that this operation must be carried out carefully, and not damage the blood vessels in the fish’s mouth, otherwise the fish will quickly fall asleep and deteriorate. For the same reason, you cannot thread fish under the gills.
In addition, live fish can be stored in plastic bags or other containers placed in cool water.

In shallow areas of the reservoir, you can build cages from stakes driven into the bottom. Then the fish can live for a long time in running water, but do not forget to make a filtration channel so that the water does not stagnate, especially if the fish is river and not lake. A coastal fish tank should be made in the shade. To filter water, it is necessary to dig a small channel from the cage to the river in such a way that it cannot move freely along it. Fish can live in a cage with running water for a very long time, but you must remember to promptly remove dormant and weakened fish from the cages.

Fish, due to its beneficial properties and taste characteristics, is one of the most popular products, from which a variety of first and second courses are prepared, eaten pre-salted and smoked, or processed into minced meat. Many of those who regularly use this product in their diet think that preserving fish is not difficult; all you need to do is simply place it in the refrigerator.

Even storing fish in a refrigeration chamber must be organized correctly so as not to encounter the fact that in a short period of time the product will deteriorate and become unfit for consumption.

Fish dishes are especially tasty and healthy if a completely fresh product is used for their preparation. If you plan to cook the fish not immediately after catching, but the next day or every other day, then you can preserve its nutritional properties and taste characteristics as much as possible by storing it in the refrigerator. Proper storage of fresh fish in the refrigerator, for which it should be properly prepared, is as follows:

• Fresh fish carcasses are cleaned of scales, thoroughly gutted, and washed both outside and inside. Cleaned and washed fish carcasses are dried using a cloth or moisture-absorbing paper.
• Fish carcasses are placed in a cup or plastic container of a suitable size. If the size of the fish does not allow them to be placed whole in a container, then they can be cut into pieces and stored in this state. The container, after placing the fish in it, is closed with film or an airtight lid.

The product, after placing it in a container for further storage, can be additionally poured with marinade, which can be used as citric acid. This marinade will not only make the fish meat more tender and give it additional flavor properties, but will also act as a preservative. As a preservative that protects the product from spoilage when stored fresh, you can use coarse salt, which is used to rub carcasses or pieces of fish on the inside and outside.

The method described above allows you to store fish in the refrigerator without fear of it spoiling for no more than 2 days. If it is necessary to store a fresh product for a longer period of time, then it should be frozen for this purpose using the appropriate compartment of the refrigeration device.

Storing fresh fish in the freezer

It is recommended to freeze only very fresh and high-quality fish in the freezer compartment of a household refrigeration device. In this case, you can count on the fact that it will be stored for the maximum possible period of time under such conditions - 3-6 months. It is best to perform freezing at a temperature corresponding to the “super freezing” mode, so this process will go faster. Fish carcasses that are to be frozen can either be scaled or not removed, but they must be gutted, washed thoroughly inside and out, and then dried with paper towels or napkins.

The advantage of storing frozen fish, the carcass of which has not been cleared of scales, is that such a natural coating protects the fibers of the meat from destruction, so that dishes made from such a product will be juicy and tender.

Before placing in the freezer, the product, carcasses or sliced, is placed in plastic bags, while unpeeled carcasses and fillets cannot be placed together in the same bag. The need to comply with the latter requirement is explained by the fact that harmful microorganisms from the scales can spread to unprotected pulp, which can significantly accelerate the deterioration of such a product.

For storage, it is better to allocate a separate compartment in the freezer, since the characteristic and very persistent smell of the product can permeate other products located in the immediate vicinity.

The period of time during which a product stored in the freezer will retain all its nutritional properties and taste directly depends on its type and degree of fat content. So, red fish, whose pulp contains quite a lot of fat, can be stored frozen for up to 12 months. Pre-salted product is not stored very well in this way, which is explained by the fact that due to the salt present in the pulp and on the surface of the carcass, it is quite difficult to subject it to high-quality freezing.

In order for a product that has been stored frozen to be tasty and juicy after cooking, it must be defrosted correctly. Those housewives who defrost such a product in the sink or container with water, immediately taking it out of the freezer, act completely wrong. When defrosting in this way, not only the structure of the pulp is disrupted, but its taste also significantly deteriorates. To prevent this from happening, the product from the freezer is placed in the refrigerator overnight, where it is defrosted gradually, in the most gentle mode for it. Repeated freezing can also worsen the taste and structure of the product, which should also not be done.

How long does smoked fish last?

A product obtained by cold and hot smoking differs not only in its preparation technology and taste characteristics, but also in its shelf life. To ensure that the period of time during which such products not only do not spoil, but also retain their original taste and nutritional properties, is as long as possible, it is necessary to create appropriate conditions. Thus, storing cold smoked fish in the refrigerator, wrapped in wax paper, will extend its shelf life to 10 days. In a similar way, it is recommended to store hot smoked fish, which was subjected to significant thermal effects during the cooking process, for no more than 3 days.

To further extend the shelf life of the smoked product, it can be frozen, so it can remain edible for 3 months. Another way to store a cold smoked product in a common chamber of a refrigeration device, in which its shelf life is at least a month, is as follows:

• prepare a concentrated solution of table salt;
• soak a piece of cloth in the resulting solution and wrap carcasses or chopped pieces in it;
• The product wrapped in such cloth is placed in the refrigerator.

Whatever method is chosen for storing smoked fish, it must be periodically inspected for changes in color and the appearance of traces of mold on the surface.

How to store ready-made fish dishes

No less pressing for housewives is the question of how to preserve fish when it has already been prepared using one of the generally accepted methods.

In such cases, it should be borne in mind that boiled or fried fish, consumed in its pure form or present in dishes as an additive, was subjected to heat treatment during the preparation process, which does not have the best effect on the shelf life of such products. Under normal temperature conditions, for example, when on a holiday table, thermally cooked fish can be stored for no more than 2 hours, after which it should be put in the refrigerator. But even in the cold, when placed in a cup or container covered with cling film, such dishes can be stored for no more than 2 days.

Japanese cuisine has recently become very popular, some of which contain raw fish. To store such dishes before consumption, it is necessary to use special sushi cases in which their shelf life is preserved for up to a day. After removal from such a container, if some part of the food remains uneaten, efforts should not be made to store it further, so as not to risk your own health.

How to store dried and dried fish

Preserving fish if it has been previously salted and dried is not so difficult. If the drying was done correctly and the meat contains a minimum amount of moisture, then such a product can be stored for a year, while observing the following recommendations:

• In the cool season, it is better to use cardboard boxes for storage, placing them in a dry and well-ventilated area.
• If the room in which the product is stored is too hot, you can place it in the freezer of the refrigerator, which, however, will not increase its shelf life.
• It is not recommended to wrap dried carcasses in newspapers, which can cause harmful metals such as lead to appear in the meat. Properly store fish so that it does not contain harmful substances by wrapping it in wax paper or placing it in fabric bags.
• If dried or smoked fish has spoiled and a specific smell begins to emanate from it, then such a product must be thrown away immediately, without trying to restore its taste by cleaning or heat treatment.

How to store salted fish

Salted and salted fish, if it was purchased not in vacuum packaging, but in brine, without packaging at all, or prepared independently, is best stored in the refrigerator, at a temperature from 0 to 3 0. When such conditions are created, various types of salted fish have the following shelf life:

• salmon of moderate salinity - up to 3 days;
• herring kept in brine - up to 3-4 weeks;
• salted mackerel, the meat of which is highly fatty - up to 10 days.

The period during which salted fish will be suitable for consumption also depends on the degree of its salinity. So, if a lightly salted product cannot be stored in the refrigerator for more than 6 days, then for a medium-salinity product the shelf life is about 2 weeks, and for a highly salted product - a month.

Storing minced fish

It would seem that the question of how to preserve fish from which minced meat has already been prepared should not cause any particular difficulties, because such a product can simply be frozen for these purposes. Minced meat can be stored frozen for no more than 3 months, and if it was prepared from initially low-quality raw materials, then even less. Immediately after cooking, minced meat can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 6 hours, and if this product is in a store-bought vacuum package, then it can be stored in the common chamber of the refrigeration device for no more than a day. If minced meat is prepared from raw materials from which a specific smell has already begun to spread, then the shelf life of such a product, even if all the necessary conditions are created for this, lasts for hours.