How to tell if fish is fresh
There are many substantial health benefits to eating fish on a regular basis:
Photo Credit: Charlie Brewer at http://www.flickr.com/photos/charliebrewer/60778805/
- Eating fish at least once a week lowers your risk of heart disease and stroke
- Fish are an excellent source of protein, calcium, minerals (phosphorus, iron, potassium, etc.) and vitamins (thiamine, niacin, etc.)
- Fatty and oily fish contain significant amounts of omega-3 fatty acids
However, as a frugal consumer, eating fish on a regular basis can seem like a lofty and impossible goal. Fish can be expensive! A nice fillet of salmon can run you $5-6 per serving, while halibut and sea bass can get even pricier. One great way to reduce the cost of eating fish is to cut your own fish fillets. But in order to take advantage of cutting your own fillets, you have to know how to buy fish – specifically, how to tell if a fish is fresh. It seems like a common sense thing right? But when you find a shrink-wrapped salmon or a tuna on ice, it can be difficult to tell if you’re getting good value for your dollars. Here’s what to look for:
Look at it!
- Is the fish shiny and glistening? Or are the scales dull and the flesh grey? Fresh fish should have a vibrant, shiny appearance.
- Does it have all its scales? Fish like salmon should have its scales intact, not flaking off or missing.
- Are the eyes bright? Even dead, fish eyes should be bright and clear, not cloudy or glazed.
Smell it!
- Fresh fish does not actually smell “fishy”, thought it may smell of the sea – any strongly rank smells indicates an old product
Touch it!
- Does the flesh spring back if you poke it? If it’s fresh, it should.
- Does the fillet split apart if you bend it? If it does, it may be old. The fillet should be firm to the touch, not brittle.
Take a look at these other sites for good fish purchasing tips – and good luck!
http://www.livestrong.com/
http://www.jamieoliver.com/
http://www.mentalfloss.com/
10 Responses to “How to tell if fish is fresh”
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
- Finance Fox Weekend Recap - 12 Awesome Reads You Might Have Missed This Week! - [...] that’s neither here nor there, however for those of you fish lovers, CF wrote a quickie on how to ...
great post.. we Looooove eating fish in the SDR household. sushi is actually my favorite, but a little pricey for our current budget.
we tend to buy frozen fish, which isn’t quite as tasty, but a bit cheaper.
We love sushi too! If we have it though, it’s usually part of a date or other social event, so it counts against our entertainment budget instead of our food budget.
Have you tried making your own sushi? It’s actually pretty easy and affordable.
Thanks for these tips Brian. I’ve been eating a lot more fish the last few months, but I never really knew how to tell if it was fresh. Like Jefferson I had been buying a lot of frozen fish because it was cheaper. I guess I could safely assume all of that stuff was fresh when it was originally frozen.
Nothing wrong with frozen – most of our fish is bought frozen as well. But when salmon is in season, we like to get it fresh.
What’s “in season” for salmon?
Here in BC, it’s roughly April to October, with the best months sort of in between.
I was a nonfishitarian for the longest time. When I was young my dad told me I was eating Ariel over a plate of fish sticks. I’ve started to venture outside my comfort zone and eaten a little, but I’m not going to lie…I can’t bring myself to cook it myself yet!
It’s good to venture outside your comfort zone once in a while
I grew up eating lots of fish though so I try to cook with it when I can.
Nice tips, I will try to remember them when buying fish. Although I like very much fish, I only eat it when in vacations in Greece, Cyprus or any other country with sea around it. There the fish has different taste.
Is it a “good” different taste? I’ve noticed that freshly caught crab tastes different from ones that have been sitting in a tank.