How To Defrost Salmon Without Ruining Its Taste Or Texture

A salmon dish deserves to be placed on the table with pride, care, and a really really good glaze. Whether seafood is a regular feature in your weekly dinners or a treat worth savoring, a tender and well-prepared cut of salmon is quite hard to beat. As enticing as fresh fish sounds, unless you have the means to cook your fish straight out of the sea, frozen fish is sometimes a better and more reasonable option. Learning how to keep frozen salmon as fresh-tasting and mouthwatering as possible is important to keep the meal up to standard.

There are serious benefits of freezing your salmon, from saving space in your refrigerator to maintaining specific temperature controls, which leads to better quality fish. Typically, salmon is harvested in the fall season, which means that storing your salmon in the freezer allows you a chance to enjoy it beyond the season. When it is time to get the fish ready to eat, there are slow and fast options to get everyone's favorite pink fish ready to be cooked.

One method to defrost salmon is to transfer it from the freezer to the refrigerator. Prepare a rack or plate lined with absorbent paper towels or tea towels. Remove the fish's packaging and place the salmon on the rack or plate. Then, place it on the lowest tray in your refrigerator (which is usually the coolest, and also a safe way to avoid any of the fishy liquid dripping and contaminating other foods). The thawing process should take between 10-12 hours, depending on the fish's thickness and size. Note that the maximum amount of defrosting time could reach 36 hours. This is also considered the safest defrosting method, since it promotes a slow thawing process that avoids bacteria harvesting. Note, though, that your refrigerator and everything in it may start to take on a fishy scent.

If you're pressed for time (or can't hold out long enough to chef up your flavorful broiled salmon burger for lunch), then the fast method might be better. Remove it from its original packaging and place it in a resealable bag such as a ziploc. Next, fill a large bowl with cool water, enough to completely submerge the bagged fish. If the fish appears to float, add a small plate or bowl to weigh down the fish and keep it submerged. Every 20-30 minutes, refresh the water. Repeat until the fish has completely thawed (between 1-4 hours).

This method takes less time than thawing overnight in the refrigerator, but poses a higher risk of spoiling the texture of the fish. If the water gets into the sealed bag, this may affect the overall quality. To avoid this, you could prop the bag up so that the sealed edges of the bag are above water, preventing any water from bursting in.

It takes work to avoid serving up a pile of salmon mushiness when presenting a plate at the dinner table, whether from frozen or refrigeration. To get it right the first time, one rule to follow is to avoid leaving your fish to thaw at room temperature. Skipping this rule is a major no-no because bacteria can multiply rapidly in warmer temperatures, which is why the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends never thawing fish or food in general on your kitchen countertop. Leaving food out of the refrigerator when temperatures are between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit can pose a serious food safety risk.

Hot water is also an enemy to a well-textured cut of salmon. Attempting to thaw your salmon by running it under warm or hot water will leave you with salmon that is both soggy and pitifully tasteless. Since slow thawing provides the optimal conditions to safely defrost your fish, super-fast temperature changes offer less than desirable outcomes. The heated water conditions also create opportunities for harmful bacteria to flourish. The speediness will also semi-poach your fish, leaving you with salmon that will be hard to revive. For the same reason, it's best to avoid the microwave (despite the promise of speed) since this texture-destroying method could defrost your fish unevenly and even cook the thinner pieces if left heated for too long.