Is frozen fish still good after 10 years?

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Posted: 1/15/2012 9:32:41 AM EDT

Last fall my parents found some of the frozen halibut in Alaska 10 years ago this Labor day weekend in the bottom of their chest freezer. They gave it to me, and I put it in my kitchen freezer. It was fresh as you can get it when we filleted it, and took it to Copper River Fish processing on the spit in Homer, where it was cut to size ,vacuum packed, flash frozen and flow back to Texas.

Ii is not as white as it once was, but it has remained frozen solid like a brick the whole time. It doesn't appear to be freezer burnt at all, but it is seeled so I can't tell by touch.

My question is, can it still be safely eaten?

Posted: 1/15/2012 9:36:15 AM EDT

[#1]

Do it. Post pics.

Posted: 1/15/2012 9:37:32 AM EDT

[#2]

No.

Posted: 1/15/2012 9:37:54 AM EDT

[#3]

Posted: 1/15/2012 9:38:12 AM EDT

[#4]

I bet it will taste very fishy

Posted: 1/15/2012 9:41:51 AM EDT

[#5]

you can eat it. might not have the right texture or taste, but won't kill you.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Factsheets/Focus_On_Freezing/index.asp#12

they all say the times for freezing are for quality of the food, not danger to your health.
FDA has a link too somewhere.

Posted: 1/15/2012 9:42:24 AM EDT

[#6]

It's at least a 2lb pkg. I could trim off the outside layer and see if it's whiter. This was from a 305 lb halibut I caught in the gulf of Alaska my 1st time halibut fishing.

Posted: 1/15/2012 9:42:58 AM EDT

[#7]

1. Cook it.
2. Drive self to emergency room.
3. Walk inside and have a seat.
4. Chow down like a motherfucker.
5. Post video.
6. Profit.

Posted: 1/15/2012 9:48:12 AM EDT

[#8]

I thought meat that is frozen at 0F lasts indefinitely.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Posted: 1/15/2012 9:49:34 AM EDT

[#9]

That's how Shakespeare died... bad fish.

Posted: 1/15/2012 9:49:36 AM EDT

[#10]

Edible?

Yes.

Same nutritional value?

Prolly not.

Taste will vary as will texture.

Posted: 1/15/2012 9:50:23 AM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:

That's how Shakespeare died... bad fish.

That's not a good sign. My last name is Hathaway!

Posted: 1/15/2012 9:54:00 AM EDT

[#12]

it should be fine, I've had old ass 6 years i think hamburger before.

Posted: 1/15/2012 9:54:41 AM EDT

[#13]

you know dibs on everything

Posted: 1/15/2012 9:55:59 AM EDT

[#14]

Probably fine, just a little chewier.

Posted: 1/15/2012 10:01:24 AM EDT

[#15]

Yes, but it wont taste very good.

Posted: 1/15/2012 10:04:08 AM EDT

[#16]

I had fish that was a couple months old that was bad. So go ahead

Posted: 1/15/2012 10:04:27 AM EDT

[#17]

Poop thread!

Posted: 1/15/2012 10:06:29 AM EDT

[#18]

Fish's flavor doesn't survive as well as lean red meat. I've eaten 10 year old moose and venison and it tasted good.

I would thaw it out and smell it. It's not an oily fish (like salmon) so it may have survived OK.

There is an interesting quote in Alexander Solzhenitsyn's book Gulag Archipelago where apparently fish or salamander frozen in the last ice age was eaten. I found this link. Interesting read:

These mammoths lived in Siberia together with many other species, which tend to get less publicity because their presence in “Ice Age” Siberia is even more controversial, as the mammoth is (wrongly) considered an “Arctic”, cold-climate animal. It is well known that mammoth-meat has been eaten on many occasions, and has been commended for its excellent flavour! What is less well known is that frozen salamanders and fish from northern Siberia have also been eaten. These salamanders must have lived during the last Ice Age, when the North Pole was in Canada. The eating of these antediluvian meats was mentioned by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in Gulag Archipelago, his monumental book on the Soviet gulags of Northern Siberia. He recalls an article he read in the scientific journal Nature, detailing an expedition led by Baron Von Toll. This expedition was manned by half-starved prisoners from the gulags, who were forced to join Von Toll’s gruelling Siberian expedition. There they discovered the remains of salamander and fish in subterranean frozen streams:

Whether fish or salamander, these were preserved in so fresh a state, the scientific correspondent reported, that those present immediately broke open the ice encasing the specimens and devoured them with relish on the spot.

The magazine no doubt astonished its small audience with the news of how successfully the flesh of fish could be kept fresh in a frozen state…

…We could picture the entire scene right down to the smallest details: how, flouting the higher claims of ichthyology and elbowing each other to be first, they tore off chunks of the prehistoric flesh and hauled them over to the bonfire to thaw them out and then bolt them down.

We understood because we ourselves were the same kind of people as those present at that event. We, too, were from that powerful tribe of zeks, unique on the face of the earth, the only people who could devour prehistoric salamander with relish.”

Posted: 1/15/2012 10:07:02 AM EDT

[#19]

Freezer burn?

Posted: 1/15/2012 10:14:52 AM EDT

[#20]

why in the hell would you even think about eating something like that??????

throw the shit out, and if you want fish, go down to Kroger or Critchfield meat and buy some that is fresh...

jeez

Posted: 1/15/2012 10:18:00 AM EDT

[#21]

I would. Then again, I still have ground beef in my freezer from 2 years ago (rewcently ate some, no issues). I've also eaten venison that I'd had for 6-7 years.

Posted: 1/15/2012 10:19:09 AM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:

you can eat it. might not have the right texture or taste, but won't kill you.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Factsheets/Focus_On_Freezing/index.asp#12

they all say the times for freezing are for quality of the food, not danger to your health.

FDA has a link too somewhere.

I'm thinking this. But admittedly its just a guess.

I'm thinking its probably going to be a white tasteless protein paste once cooked

Posted: 1/15/2012 10:20:38 AM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:

I would. Then again, I still have ground beef in my freezer from 2 years ago (rewcently ate some, no issues). I've also eaten venison that I'd had for 6-7 years.

You sure about that bud.

Posted: 1/15/2012 10:20:46 AM EDT

[#24]

So long as it was frozen solid the entire time, you should be fine.

Posted: 1/15/2012 10:23:17 AM EDT

[#25]

Vacuum sealed and packed? Will be safe to eat, flavor may be a bit off. Vacuum sealing makes a huge difference when you freeze.

Posted: 1/15/2012 10:28:50 AM EDT

[#26]

You'll probably live, but your taste buds will die a horrible death.

Posted: 1/15/2012 10:29:30 AM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:
why in the hell would you even think about eating something like that??????

throw the shit out, and if you want fish, go down to Kroger or Critchfield meat and buy some that is fresh...

jeez

Because if it is safe, theres no reason to waste it.

Posted: 1/15/2012 10:50:00 AM EDT

[#28]

305 pound halibut generally tastes pretty shitty even when fresh will probably even be a whole lot worse 10 years later. Cook it up for the dog and buy some fresh stuff for yourself.

Posted: 1/15/2012 10:50:58 AM EDT

[#29]

Quoted:

Quoted:

why in the hell would you even think about eating something like that??????

throw the shit out, and if you want fish, go down to Kroger or Critchfield meat and buy some that is fresh...

jeez

Because if it is safe, theres no reason to waste it.

Oh I think its safe, but I doubt its going to taste very good.

Posted: 1/15/2012 10:51:03 AM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:
Last fall my parents found some of the frozen halibut in Alaska 10 years ago this Labor day weekend in the bottom of their chest freezer. They gave it to me, and I put it in my kitchen freezer. It was fresh as you can get it when we filleted it, and took it to Copper River Fish processing on the spit in Homer, where it was cut to size ,vacuum packed, flash frozen and flow back to Texas.

Ii is not as white as it once was, but it has remained frozen solid like a brick the whole time. It doesn't appear to be freezer burnt at all, but it is seeled so I can't tell by touch.

My question is, can it still be safely eaten?

Yes. Why not?

Posted: 1/15/2012 11:11:04 AM EDT

[#31]

safely? how proficient are you with a fork?

Posted: 1/15/2012 1:06:30 PM EDT

[#32]

You must do this, if only just for the halibut.

Posted: 1/15/2012 3:22:17 PM EDT

[#33]

Quoted:

You must do this, if only just for the halibut.

For those who wonder why. I guess to remember when I caught the biggest fish of my life, but I'm guessing it will not be tasty though.

Posted: 1/15/2012 3:23:05 PM EDT

[#34]

oh god... i just threw up in my mouth a little bit

Posted: 1/16/2012 6:16:12 AM EDT

[#35]

Quoted:You sure about that bud.

Posted: 1/16/2012 6:18:36 AM EDT

[#36]

Posted: 1/16/2012 6:29:34 AM EDT

[#37]

pretty sure i read some where that the .mil unfroze and served 30yr old turkeys for thanksgiving before. No one seemed to die from that stuff lol.

Posted: 1/16/2012 6:33:58 AM EDT

[#38]

Quoted:

My question is, can it still be safely eaten?

Flash frozen and then deep chest freezer storage being the key here, I would think it still might be good to go.

I'd try it.

Now if it was in the automatic defrosting refrigerator freezer, I would say no chance it'll be edible.

Posted: 1/16/2012 6:34:56 AM EDT

[#39]

Quoted:

Oh I think its safe, but I doubt its going to taste very good.

As long as it's stayed perfectly frozen, why would it taste any different?
Serious question.

Posted: 1/16/2012 6:37:25 AM EDT

[#40]

If you live you could get a freezer endorsement.

Posted: 1/16/2012 6:37:37 AM EDT

[#41]

I'd probably err on the side of caution and either throw it out or feed it to the dog. I mean ten years in the freezer seems a bit much to me.

It may be just fine, but do you really want to take that chance?

Posted: 1/16/2012 7:08:42 AM EDT

[#42]

I wouldn't eat it. It's not worth it. The frozen food will not last forever.

Posted: 1/16/2012 7:18:35 AM EDT

[#43]

remember to say grace

Posted: 1/16/2012 7:32:20 PM EDT

[#44]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Oh I think its safe, but I doubt its going to taste very good.

As long as it's stayed perfectly frozen, why would it taste any different?

Serious question.

Unsaturated fats will oxidize over time even at freezer temperatures. The less fat in the meat and the more saturated fats it contains the longer it takes for meat to get an 'off' flavor. Vacuum sealing helps by limiting oxygen exposure.

That's why very lean meats in vacuum sealed bags fare best.

Posted: 1/16/2012 7:42:37 PM EDT

[#45]

Quoted:
safely? how proficient are you with a fork?

Posted: 1/17/2012 1:09:34 PM EDT

[#46]

Updates?

Posted: 1/17/2012 1:21:14 PM EDT

[#47]

Quoted:
Updates?

He ate the Fish.

Posted: 1/17/2012 2:22:00 PM EDT

[#48]

Quoted:

Vacuum sealed and packed? Will be safe to eat, flavor may be a bit off. Vacuum sealing makes a huge difference when you freeze.

My dad always froze his fish in a container of water to block the air getting to it. The fish was always totally encased in a block of ice. He did that for decades and never got sick from it.