Thawing smoked salmon

[kray]

How should I thaw smoked salmon? Do I throw the whole pack from the freezer into the refrigerator, or do I throw the pack in some iced water? Just bought a pack for the first so I have no idea what to do, some suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[Inliytened1]

@kray I usually thaw it in fridge for a day or two...you can put it in water if you want to thaw it faster..  really no different than any other meat....

[Tyler Robinson]

Thawing in water. Don't use warm water. 

 

[kray]

5 hours ago, Inliytened1 said:

@kray I usually thaw it in fridge for a day or two...you can put it in water if you want to thaw it faster..  really no different than any other meat....

What do I do with the pack afterwards?  Can I put it back in the freezer?

[Yarco]

Safest way to dethaw meat is in the fridge, but depending how thick it is, I find it can take a day or two. So it's only useful if you can plan that far ahead.

If you have a normal immune system then thawing in the sink and using it within a couple hours is probably not very risky.

I wouldn't refreeze any meat that's been fully thawed. Not because of bacteria or anything, but because it will ruin the texture. A bunch of cells will rupture again when they're frozen, and you'll lose a lot of moisture.

You can try thawing it under running water for a couple minutes, just enough that you can separate off the pieces you need, and then refreeze the rest before it fully thaws.

Smoked salmon will last 1-2 weeks in the fridge though, so unless you're buying a huge pack you should just be able to eat all of it in that amount of time.