How to Handle

The transport of your frozen seafood is imperative to its quality and safety. Frozen seafood can spoil if it begins to thaw or be exposed to warm temperatures too long before cooking. You'll want to avoid buying any packaging that is open, torn, or crushed at the edges. It’s also advisable to assess the flesh of the frozen fish and avoid buying if it’s not hard or bendable.

It’s best to keep your frozen seafood frozen until you’re ready to prepare it. Unless the packaging indicates otherwise, the best way to thaw your frozen seafood is overnight in the refrigerator. However, you can also consider thawing your frozen seafood for a short time in cold water, sealed in a plastic bag.

A general rule you can follow for most seafood is to cook it to an internal temperature of 145 degrees. But there are a few other ways for you to determine if your seafood is cooked well enough. For shrimp and crab, you’ll notice that the flesh becomes firm and clear. For clams and mussels, you’ll see the shell open while you’re cooking. And for fish, check that the flesh is clear and separates easily with a fork.

Seafood can be a delicate food to serve. You’ll want to make sure you never leave seafood in temperatures above 40 degrees Fahrenheit for more than two hours. What if you’re serving hot and cold seafood for a party? In this case, ensure that the two remain separated, and you maintain either the hot or cold temperatures. You can keep cold seafood on ice for up to two hours. And keep hot seafood under a heat source until it’s time to serve.

The best way you can identify if your seafood is spoiled is by paying attention to the odors it puts off. Spoiled seafood that is uncooked can smell sour, rancid, overly fishy, or ammonia-like. You’ll notice that these odors become stronger after cooking. Smelling sour or rancid odors in raw or cooked seafood means that you shouldn’t eat it. Similarly, either a brief or lasting smell of ammonia (like sweaty body odor) is an indication that you shouldn’t eat it.