Making the Most of Canned and Frozen Seafood

Creatively use canned and frozen seafood in your kitchen
By Emily Lugg Canned and frozen seafood can be used in a variety of healthy, delicious ways. It can be used as both a main dish and as a special addition to already existing menu options. Purchasing canned seafood and frozen seafood allows you to maintain a longer shelf-life on seafood and produces less waste.

A few creative ideas can help jazz up your kitchen as well as help you stay financially responsible. If your kitchen doesn't go through a high volume of seafood at a time, but still needs access to it at a moment's notice, canned and frozen seafood is your ticket. Consider the following when making the most of canned and frozen seafood:

1. Using canned and frozen seafood in soups and salads will make them complete meals.

2. Using canned and frozen seafood can eliminate cooking time and safety concerns.

3. Using canned and frozen seafood will allow you to plan ahead.

Use canned and frozen seafood in soups and salads to make nutritionally balanced meals

Adding canned seafood or frozen shellfish to soups and salads can add nutritional value and make them in to even heartier dishes. Try adding frozen shrimp to vegetable soups or canned crab to a dinner salad. You can market these additions as complete entrées rather then just as starters to the meal and, of course, you could charge more per dish.
Try:  Dave's Gourmet Albacore gives some information into the process of canning fresh fish. CalorieKing also provides some valuable nutritional information for you and your customers.

Use canned and frozen seafood to cut down on preparation time and ensure safety

Using canned and frozen seafood will allow you to spend less time preparing and ensuring that the seafood is cooked properly. Spending less time on the prep will leave more time for presentation or for turning around more plates per hour. Purchasing frozen seafood wholesale will also help you to spend less time on ordering canned and frozen seafood.
Try:  The Delaware Sea Program at the University of Delaware offers some valuable tips on purchasing, storing and thawing frozen fish products. Two Sisters Alaska Seafood is one of the many frozen seafood distributors that offer wholesale ordering options.

Purchase canned and frozen seafood to extend the shelf-life of seafood products

Fresh fish and other seafood products have a fairly short shelf-life until they are not as fresh, and then eventually unusable. Using seafood from canned seafood companies will help to eliminate waste and allow you to only use a small amount of seafood at a time. Buy frozen seafood and canned seafood to prevent having to use it within a small window of time. That way, whatever you haven't used at the end of the week or month doesn't have to be pitched.
Try:  Query Cat features some commonly asked questions about the long shelf-life of canned seafood. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has some information that may help you in making your next frozen seafood purchase.

• Buy canned and frozen seafood in different pre-packaged quantities. For example, if one dish requires 6 ounces of tuna and another requires 12 ounces, try purchasing both 6 and 12 ounce containers to use exactly what you need at a time.