The fish came out dry
Fish holds far less connective tissue than meat and has almost no margin past done. On tuna the margin is smaller still, because the point most people want is before the point the guidance describes.
Work out which one it is
Each cause below lists the signs that point at it rather than at the others. Start with the signs, not with the fix.
It went a minute or two beyond the point it was ready.
commonSigns it is this one
- It flaked apart into dry sheets rather than moist ones.
- It was left on past the point the flesh turned opaque.
Why it happens: Fish muscle is built in short blocks with very little collagen between them, so there is nothing to gelatinise and nothing to hold moisture once the proteins have tightened. Where a shoulder of pork improves for hours past done, a fillet has essentially no tolerance — which is why the FSA's cue is a state rather than a duration: opaque, and separating easily with a fork.
What to do
- Take it off at the cue rather than at a time — opaque and separating easily is the finished state, not an early one. — during cook, reliable
Next time
- Judge fish by appearance and not by the clock; the clock does not know the heat of your fire.
A tuna steak was cooked to the state the general fish guidance describes.
commonSigns it is this one
- The steak is opaque all the way through.
- It is tuna rather than a white or oily round fish.
Why it happens: Tuna is the one common barbecue fish routinely served rare, which puts its culinary endpoint and the FSA's food-safety cue further apart than for any other fish. A tuna steak taken all the way to opaque is dry by the standard most people are cooking to — and that is a decision for the reader rather than a fact BBQHQ can settle for them.
What to do
- Nothing returns moisture to it once it is through. — after cook, cannot be recovered
- Decide the endpoint before cooking. BBQHQ states both — the safety cue and the way it is usually eaten — and does not resolve them for you. — next time, reliable
Next time
- Treat tuna as its own case rather than as a fish like the others.
What this covers
This is BBQHQ’s diagnosis for it came out dry, on the foods below.