Fish in freezer for close to 10 months?? Is it still good?

lkwdlady ↓

Wed, Jan 15 2014, 8:23 am

I would like to know if it's okay to use frozen ground fish that has been in the freezer for 9-10 months?? It was placed in the freezer fresh and has been packed well. Will it taste fine when cooked? I would really like to know before I spend time cooking/preparing since it is times consuming to work with ground fish. If anyone knows a lot about fish I would really appreciate your input! Thanks!

granolamom ↓

Wed, Jan 15 2014, 8:28 am

I say no.
I used to make my own gefilte fish and I found that after a month or so the fish started to taste 'off'.

Barbara ↓

Wed, Jan 15 2014, 8:40 am

lkwdlady wrote:

Food should keep indefinitely in the freezer, so there are no health concerns with using the fish.

The quality may deteriorate, but that depends upon factors such as type of fish, your freezer temperature (below zero is best) and how the food was packaged.

↑ lkwdlady ↓

Wed, Jan 15 2014, 8:45 am

hmmm --- well thanks everyone. I'm waiting for someone to tell me that they have used ground fish from the freezer after many months.... I don't want to spend so much time with it if it wont be eaten anyway. On the other hand, it was very expensive and it's a shame to throw out.

theoneandonly

Wed, Jan 15 2014, 9:03 am

I've kept fish fillets in the freezer for that long and they were fine. Dunno about ground fish, though.

↑ granolamom ↓

Wed, Jan 15 2014, 4:23 pm

according to the fda

www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/Res.....8206;

lean fish can be safely kept frozen for 6 months.

↑ Barbara

Wed, Jan 15 2014, 4:30 pm

granolamom wrote:

according to the fda

www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/Res.....8206;

lean fish can be safely kept frozen for 6 months.

That's NOT what the FDA says.

Quote:

Because freezing 0° F (-18° C) keeps food safe indefinitely, the following recommended storage times are for quality only.

If you have fish in the freezer for 40 years, you can safely thaw and eat it. It won't taste very good, but you won't become ill.

OP, I know that's not your question. No one can answer your question without knowing the type of fish and the conditions under which it was frozen. But no one reading this thread should be misled as to food safety.

↑ lkwdlady ↓

Wed, Jan 15 2014, 6:36 pm

It is ground white fish. As I wrote earlier it was packed (stored) well and fozen when fresh. It has not been defrosted at any point until today. It smells like fish ... the same strong smell that fresh fish would have so it does not seem to be going bad. I just don't know how the texture and taste will be when cooked (gefilte fish) and don't have time to waste preparing this if it won't come out tasting good. Thank you everyone for your input so far.

rena18

Wed, Jan 15 2014, 6:39 pm

Does it look or smell freezer burned? That might be an indication that it won't taste so good.

Frumdoc

Thu, Jan 16 2014, 1:09 am

I used some last week that had been in the freezer since last Pesach. It smelled like normal ground white fish, and tasted fine both made into fishballs and fish pie. No complaints from any tasters!

sjp613

Thu, Jan 16 2014, 2:04 am

I think the fish is fine to eat, if its defrosted squeeze out the excess water and you may need a bit more matzoh meal/breadcrumbs to bind it, otherwise the fish just dissolves into pieces when you boil it alternatively make a baked fish loaf

↑ granolamom ↓

Thu, Jan 16 2014, 5:19 pm

Barbara wrote:

I stand corrected, I misread.
But I still wouldn't serve or eat fish that's been frozen for 10 months. I think it would taste old. But maybe I'm sensitive to that sort of thing

↑ lkwdlady

Sun, Jan 19 2014, 7:10 pm

I asked around a lot and almost everyone said they thought it would be fine to use.

But it wasn't.

I spent hours preparing and it was not edible. It had the strongest fishy taste in the world! White fish does not usually have a strong fishy taste. It was so strong we all put down our forks after the fist bite.

I did not end up preparing some of our usual shabbos foods since I was so busy with this fish ... what a shame ... waste of money, waste of time.

↑ granolamom

Tue, Jan 21 2014, 7:17 pm

lkwdlady wrote:

Sorry. Btdt.