Tuna
Sear briefly and hot, red inside.
Rare
Medium rare
Medium
Well done
Rest time
Cooking helper: how long to go?
Check the core temperature of your tuna now and then. After two readings the helper works out when it will be done. Then start the rest timer.
1. Pick your doneness
2. Measure the core temperature
Measure every 5 to 10 minutes at the thickest point. Your readings are kept if you close the page.
3. Let it rest
Tip: large cuts rise another 2 to 5 °C while resting, so take them off a little before the target.
All internal temperatures in one chart · Resting meat: how long and why
About Tuna
Tuna behaves in the pan more like beef than like fish. The flesh is firm, dark and low in connective tissue, and it is almost always treated to short, fierce heat with a raw centre.
The reason is texture. Tuna contains little fat compared with salmon or mackerel, and the muscle fibres contract strongly when heated. Above roughly 50 degrees the flesh loses moisture quickly and turns dry and grainy, rather like overcooked chicken breast.
The classic preparation is therefore a block of tuna seared for a few tens of seconds on each side in a screaming hot pan, leaving a thin cooked rim around a red core. The core temperature then stays below 45 degrees.
Anyone eating raw or barely cooked fish should pay attention to sourcing. Fish eaten raw should have been frozen to kill parasites; ask your fishmonger for fish suitable for that. Measure at the heart of the block, because that is exactly where you want to know how far it has gone.
Tips
-
Most voted
Tonijn wordt snel droog: kort en heet aanbakken, van binnen mag hij rood blijven.
Add your own core temperatures
Log in to add your own temperatures, rest time or tips, and to vote.
Log in