How To Store Caviar? A Guide To Caviar Storage
We are constantly asked by customers who order caviar, how long caviar can be stored in a fridge? And at what temperature? So please below some answers to some frequently asked questions on how best to store your caviar!
Should Unopened Caviar Be Refrigerated?
Yes. The best way to protect the quality of your caviar is to store it in a fridge immediately upon receipt and then keep it unopened and refrigerated until consumption.
Caviar is ideally stored between -2c to +4c (28-32 fahrenheit) As a general rule, the colder and closer to 0c or just below the better. And if you are planning on keeping your caviar a few weeks before enjoying it, then colder is better. So close to freezing, but not frozen, bearing in mind that caviar will not freeze at -2c as it is stored in saline solution.
It’s useful to store your caviar at the back of the fridge at the bottom, as this is the part of a domestic fridge where the temperature is most constant.
How Long Can Caviar Be Kept?
Longer than widely assumed as all commercial caviar are treated with saline solution and usually borax to make the product more stable. What is borax? Borax, also known as sodium borate, is a form of salt that is traditionally used in caviar production. It helps in the preservation process, improves consistency and also enhances the flavour.
Whereas fresh unpasteurised caviar from the wild (which is banned now in any case) may have a few days life, almost all caviar sold come with 3-4 weeks life if not more and 6 weeks is not uncommon.
Read the date on your caviar tin and use it accordingly, bearing in mind that the date indicated is usually a best before as opposed to a use by. You caviar may be safe to eat a few days after the date indicated, just not quite as good.
Caviar does not easily go off, rather the flavour becomes flat. So the sooner you eat it, the fresher it will be and the better it will taste. So order caviar a few days to a week prior to enjoying it for the best taste experience.
How do you store caviar after opening?
Our simple answer is that you don’t! Once open, eat it and enjoy it served cool. Open the tin 5-10 minutes prior to serving so that it is cool rather than cold and a little like a wine, this just allows the flavour to develop.
If you are serving caviar at a dinner party, keep it in the original caviar container in a bowl of crushed ice.
Some suppliers suggest you can store your caviar up to 48 hours in a fridge once open. You can, but we would say to enjoy it at it’s best, eat it in one go. It will taste better.
How long can caviar be unrefrigerated?
Again not for long. It’s not so much that it will go off (this is very rare due to the salt based preserving agent used) but it can become flat. Moreover caviar is best enjoyed served cool, so once out of a fridge, serve it within 10 minutes.
Can You Freeze Caviar?
No. Although the flavour will not be altered, the texture will be altered (for the worse) and the structure of the eggs will be damaged. Rather than feel the individual caviar eggs, it will become a mushy mass.
Caviar Storage Conclusions?
The main takeaways are
- As soon as you receive your caviar, refrigerate it
- A domestic fridge is fine to store caviar – as close to 0c as possible (even a fraction below)
- But don’t freeze caviar.
- A typical caviar shelf life will be around 4 weeks.
- But the sooner caviar is eaten from time of purchase, the fresher it will be and the better it will taste.