10 Facts You May Not Know about Buying Seafood

Ann Kroeker is hosting a wonderfully practical carnival called Make-Do Mondays, where readers can link up their ideas on how they and their families are living out the slogan, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."

In honor of Make-Do Mondays, I thought I'd share a little wisdom I've been learning about buying fish.

You know. Seafood. To eat.

In my quest to find out if certain types of fish were currently in season, thus better buys, I went to my library and checked out The Complete Seafood Cookbook by Bettina Jenkins and Jane Brody's Good Seafood Book by Jane E. Brody with Richard Flaste.

Here are the 10 FISH AND SEAFOOD TIPS I learned:

1. "Like fruits and vegetables, fish caught in the wild have seasons, and they are least costly when the supply is greatest." (Jane Brody)

2. "However, what's in season varies from area to area, year to year, so you'd be wise to stay alert to local good buys on seasonal seafood." (Brody)

3. "Be flexible when purchasing fish . . . Always buy whatever is the best quality, instead of deciding on a type before you shop. Many different species can be adapted to the same basic recipes." (Bettina Jenkins)

4. "Unfortunately, many cooks stick to their tried-and-true species, paying high prices due to shortages while ignoring more inexpensive fish of comparable quality." (Jenkins)

5. "Some fish develop an ammonia smell when stored in plastic bags -- even in the refrigerator; simply run fish under cold water to remove." (Jenkins)

6. When purchasing fish steaks and fillets, avoid those that are sitting in a pool of liquid, which indicates poor freezing techniques. (Jenkins)

7. Fish should generally be consumed within two days of purchase. (Jenkins)

8. If you're not planning on eating the fish the day you buy it, transfer it out of the packaging and onto a plate (make sure to rinse first and dry if there's an ammonia smell). (Jenkins)

9. Buying frozen fish is often cheaper than buying fish that has not been frozen. (Brody)

10. Sometimes the "freshest" fish you'll find has been frozen on the boats within hours of being caught. So your freshest buy may actually be the pre-frozen variety. (Brody)

Who knew?

NOTE: Check out Works-for-me-Wednesday for some great tips and ideas.