Fish is a healthy, yet tasty meat, but it is important to know the rules for storing and cooking it to tell if fish is bad. This product contains a large supply of vitamins, micro-, and macroelements, which are so necessary for the human body. Therefore, salmon should be regularly consumed in your diet.
Before preparing a dish, it is important to understand whether the salmon, presented raw, has gone bad. Those leftover fish that were stored outside the refrigerator should be thrown away. How to tell if fish is bad and you can’t cook anything from it?
How To Tell If Fish Is Bad?
You can clearly tell if fish is bad? by examining it using four selected criteria. If the fish fails the test after this thorough examination, discard it without thinking about any possible solutions. To prevent fish poisoning, only a new, good fish helps.
The main signs of spoiled salmon
It is worth paying attention to the main points:
- The smell of fish. It is worth smelling the product. If it has ammonia, fishy, pungent aroma, then it is spoiled. Fresh salmon should have a barely audible aroma;
- White layer. Raw fish has deteriorated if a translucent white film has formed on its surface. If you notice their presence, then it should be thrown away immediately;
- Fish consistency. Before preparing a dish, study this point. If the salmon breaks into pieces while you cut it, then this indicates the spoilage of the product. After all, fresh fish will always hold tight;
- Fish eyes. If you buy salmon with the head, then look at his eyes. Fresh fish should be distinguished by bright, transparent eyes, where there will be dark pupils in the middle. If the fish has gone bad, then the eyes always become cloudy. It is also important to remember that salmon have slightly bulging eyes. Otherwise, the fish is spoiled;
- The shade of meat. If salmon meat has an orange, hot pink hue, then it is fresh. If the fish has a dull, pale color of meat, then it is no longer worth buying. Thin white lines should also be present on the muscle tissue. This is a sign of product freshness;
- Expiration dates. When buying fish, you should always pay attention to the dates that are indicated on the package.
Fish leftovers
If you still have pieces of fish left, you can use them to cook a dish. But before that, it is also worth examining them more closely to understand whether these remnants are fresh or not:
- Smell. If the salmon you have cooked gives off an unpleasant odor, then throw it away, it has gone bad. The dish should always have a pleasant and slight aroma;
- Stickiness. If the texture of salmon leftovers is slippery and sticky, then the fish is spoiled. The texture should be layered and dense in fresh fish. If this is not the case, then it is not recommended to eat such a product;
- Do not leave the fish dish out of the refrigerator for longer than 2 hours. If it stays at room temperature longer, then bacteria will begin to multiply in the fish.
It is recommended to immediately throw away those salmon leftovers that have lain for more than 3 days. They are no longer fresh and not suitable for cooking quality food.
Other test criteria
If you buy a packaged fish, first take a look at the best-before date (BBD). Even if you read that you can consume food beyond that, this does not necessarily apply to fish.
- If you want to delay the best-before date, you should freeze the fish immediately after purchasing it.
- If the fish is cooked rather than raw, keep leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate. After two days at the latest, you should also have eaten the leftover fish.
- Fish will keep in the freezer for around six to nine months. If the printed date is further back, you should no longer process this fish.