Thawed fish...how long will it last in fridge

[eateroc]

I thawed a fillet of tilapia at room temp yesterday (wednesday) and threw it in the fridge. Will it be ok to bake and eat tomorrow (friday) thanks

[ipsedixit]

It might taste very good, and the texture might be a bit pasty (and not flaky), but it's probably not spoiled and should be safe for consumption if cooked thoroughly through.

[Will Owen]

Was it vacuum-packed in heavy plastic? You should have absolutely no problem, especially with something like tilapia. I've had thawed salmon in the fridge for days, and noted no particular loss of quality in either texture or flavor. If it were in one of those oldfashioned paper-wrapped packages, it might dry out a bit - or even a lot - but cryovac packaging is truly a modern improvement.

[oryza]

ok; it's gross, but I've had fish in the fridge for over a week... I forgot it, remembered, grilled it, ate it, and suffered no ill effect. It was actually delicious. Then again, it was a whole fish that had been salted heavily prior to freezing...

[LJS]

Oh, do please go directly to your fridge, take that poor fish out and throw it away. You are doing both your senses and possibly your tummy a terrible disservice by thawing fish at room temperature and then re-chilling it. The fish will be mushy and smelly at best and possibly downright OFF!

In future, you might consider simply cooking your tilapia from the frozen state: either microwave or a simple oven bake. If you must thaw to do roll-ups or something, thaw in the fridge or in a tightly closed plastic bag under cold running water.

Or, better yet, buy as fresh as you can and cook as soon as you can. Poor old tilapia needs a lot of flavour boost to begin with: don't make its life any harder.

[todao]

I'll vote for that ...

[poached]

LJS if the fish Had been thawed in the fridge do you think it would it be ok?

I usuallly buy fish fresh the day or day before I plan to cook it but a while back I had some frozen Salmon steaks from Alaska in freezer that I forgot that I thawed and when I remembered it had been 2 days. I debated and debated and decided I would just go with my nose and it had little to no smell so I went for it.

Is there a rule of thumb out that I blatently ignored?

[brendastarlet]

I would eat it no later than one day after thawing. Better yet, same day.