Working With Seafood

Your business' guide to selecting, storing and preparing fresh seafood

Fresh is always best; but when it comes to fresh wholesale seafood, it can be tricky to know what is actually fresh, how to store it to keep it fresh, and how to prepare it so that you save time, energy and money. Seafood distributors vary in quality, and you can't always rely on them to offer the very best seafood products for you and your customers.

As the owner or manager of a food business, it's up to you to ensure your customers receive the best. Fortunately, while knowing the basics of working with seafood makes a huge difference in your business, they aren't difficult to grasp. When seeking seafood information, consider the following:

1. Do you need help working with fresh fish suppliers?

2. Once you buy seafood, do you know how to store it properly?

3. Do you know how to best prepare the items seafood companies offer you?

 

Learn how to buy the best fresh seafood

Seafood is an extremely perishable food, so it's vital to know how to buy it fresh. Look for fish with clear, slightly bulging eyes. The flesh should be firm and shiny and the gills pink or red, without slime. When you press the flesh of the fish, it should spring back.
Try: iSeafood offers good tips on finding fresh fish and other seafood online. ChefTalk.com provides excellent information on making sure you only prepare fresh seafood for your customers.

Store seafood products to maintain freshness

Once you've purchased fresh seafood, you've got to keep it that way. Refrigerated seafood should be kept at a temperature of 32 degrees F. and must be used within two days. Frozen fish should be stored at 20 degrees below F, and you can keep it at that temperature for six months if it's commercially frozen.
Try: The U.S. Department of Commerce offers a good guide to storing fish and other seafood. Culinate also provides great information on buying and storing fresh seafood.

Prepare your own seafood for maximum flexibility

Preparing fish needn't be complicated. And if you understand the basics of preparation, you'll have more options open to you when you're buying fresh fish. For example, if you learn how to debone, you'll be able to buy whole fish and cut it any way you like.
Try: Gorton's Fresh Seafood offers some great guides to preparing fish and seafood, including an article on how to clean and debone. GoogoBits.com also provides information on scaling, deboning and cooking seafood.

 

• One of the very best tips for buying the freshest seafood is to avoid a fishy odor. That may seem counter-intuitive, but fishy smells do not develop until fish or seafood has been sitting around for a while.

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