Introduction
How to recognise good quality smoked fish
How to look after smoked fish
How to look after frozen smoked fish

Introduction

This leaflet gives advice on the handling and display of smoked fish in retail shops.

The recommendations apply to smoked products made from cod, haddock, whiting, herring and salmon, except for such products as red herrings, which are very heavily salted and smoked and have a storage life of many weeks or months.

Smoking nowadays is used mainly to give the fish a characteristic, pleasant flavour; the preservative effect is only slight, and many smoked fish products keep in good condition for very little longer than the fresh fish from which they are made. The retailer therefore must make sure that the smoked fish he buys are in first class condition when delivered, and that they are properly looked after while awaiting sale.

How to recognise good quality smoked fish

Boxes of smoked fish should be opened up and examined as soon as they are delivered; fish of inferior quality should not be accepted.

Appearance:

The surface should be bright and glossy; a dull, matt surface means that poor quality raw material has been used, or that the products have not been properly treated.

There should be no traces of dried blood or pieces of gut adhering to the product; their presence indicates lack of care during preparation of the raw fish.

The surface of the fish should not be heavily contaminated with smuts or dirt; these defects show a lack of care during the brining and smoking processes.

There should not be extensive gaping or separation of the flakes, and the flesh should be free from discoloration; reddening along the backbone of finnans, or dark discoloration of the belly walls, indicate fish that were stale before they were smoked.

White crystals of salt on the surface of the fish suggest that they have been too heavily brined, and the fish are therefore likely to be too salty to the palate,

The colour of smoked fish is an unreliable guide to quality, since it depends so much upon the degree of smoking and upon whether a dye has been used and in what quantity. Generally, undyed kippers are walnut or yellow-brown, undyed finnans a pale yellow. Dyed kippers are usually reddish-brown, while dyed finnans are a bright yellow or orange. Cod and haddock fillets, nearly always dyed, are golden yellow. Whatever the colouring, it should be uniform and free from blemish.

Texture:

Fish when properly smoked feel firm and springy to the touch, and the whole fish or fillets are fairly rigid; fish that are soft, flabby and sticky on the surface have either not been fully cured or were in poor condition when processed.

The cut surface of kippers should be fairly oily if the product has been made from prime, fat herrings; lean herrings when kippered yield a less attractive product with a low oil content.

If the skin too easily separates from the flesh of a kipper, so that flesh and oil ooze out, it is likely that it has been overheated during smoking.

Smell:

While the smoky smell can mask to a certain extent any sign of deterioration in smoked fish, nevertheless very stale products will have an objectionable smell and should be rejected.

Taste:

The surest way to determine the quality of smoked fish is to eat some; samples of the products should be cooked and tasted at regular intervals to ensure that they are being offered for sale in first class condition. The cooked product should be free from strong ammoniacal odours, and, in the case of kippers, free from objectionable rancid and bitter flavours.

If there is any doubt at all about the quality of smoked fish, they should not be sold.

How to look after smoked fish

Fresh stocks should be ordered at least twice, and preferably three times, weekly in amounts that can be quickly disposed of; overordering can result in stale smoked fish being sold.

Most of the stock should be stored in a chill room immediately after delivery, only small quantities being laid out on display; large numbers of smoked fish on a slab or in a cabinet can warm up rapidly and deteriorate.

Sales should be made from the displayed fish, replacements to the display being made from the bulk stock.

If the fish are warm on delivery, spread them out in the chill room so that they will cool down more rapidly.

The chill room temperature should be checked at regular intervals; measurements should be made close to the fish. If the chill contains only smoked fish, its temperature can be reduced to between - 2°C and 0°C since the freezing point of smoked fish is about - 2-5°C. If the chill has to accommodate both smoked and wet fish, it should be operated at 0°C to 1 °C in order to avoid freezing the wet fish.

The following table gives some guide as to the length of time after processing that smoked fish products can be stored in first class condition; the time that they will remain edible is also given. When deciding how long smoked fish may be kept in the shop, allowance must be made for the time they may have been in the manufacturer's or wholesaler's stores and vehicles.

Species	Smoked product	Storage life
		room temperature 16 C°		chill temperature 0° C
		in first class condition	remains edible	in first class condition	remains edible
Cod	single fillets cold smoked	2-3 days	4-6 days	4-6 days	8-10 days
Haddock	single fillets cold smoked	2-3 days	4-6 days	4-6 days	8-10 days
	block fillets cold smoked (golden cutlets)	1-2 days	24-3 days	4 days	6 days
	finnans cold smoked	2-3 days	4-6 days	4-6 days	10-14 days
	pales cold smoked	1-2 days	2 1/2-3 days	4 days	6-7 lays
	smokies hot smoked	1-2 days	2 1/2-3 days	3-4 days	5-6 days
Herring	Kippers and kipper fillets; cold smoked unwrapped	2-3 days	5-6 days	4-6 days	10-14 days
	wrapped	1-2 days	3 days	3 days	3-4 days
	bloaters cold smoked	1-2 days	2-3 days	3-4 days	5-6 days
	buckling hot smoked	1-2 days	2-3 days	3-4 days	5-6 days
Salmon	fillets cold smoked	2-3 days	4-5 days	4 days	10 days
Trout	whole gutted hot smoked	3 days	7 days	6 days	10 days

Smoked fish can be adequately protected during display by laying them on metal trays embedded in ice; they should not be placed in direct contact with the ice.

A separate display cabinet only for smoked fish is an ideal arrangement since it can be operated at temperatures a little lower than for wet fish, namely between -2°C and 0°C.

Wrapped kippers, as can be seen from the table, keep no longer than unwrapped ones, and are particularly prone to the rapid formation of moulds, especially in warm weather. Sample packages should be examined daily for traces of mould and contaminated fish discarded.

How to look after frozen smoked fish

Some frozen fish products may be deliberately allowed to thaw out while being delivered to the retailer; this is a perfectly satisfactory arrangement provided that the thawed smoked products are treated by the retailer in exactly the same way as chilled ones.

Smoked fish delivered frozen for sale in that condition should be carried in insulated vehicles and be at a temperature below - 18°C on arrival.

The frozen products should be transferred immediately on delivery to a low temperature cabinet operating at - 18°C or below and kept there until sold.

Damaged packets should be rejected, since they will deteriorate rapidly in the cabinet.

Frozen smoked products should be treated with the same care as any other frozen fish; recommended practice for retailers of frozen fish products is described in more detail in Torry Advisory Note No. 12 'Fish Display in Retail Shops'.