cooking frozen Tuna steaks

[Throbbing Angel]

hello

I'm on a diet of sorts at the moment and am eating lots more fish than I used to. We have no fishmonger in easy reach and prefer to buy frozen to ensure that there is always something in for dinner.

I like tuna steaks, but the ones I buy from the supermarket come out of the oven like dry, cork coasters or something. They are coated in a protective layer of ice, nothing else added.

The cooking instructions say 190 degrees for 20-25 mins for a fan oven, which is what I have done in the past. Loosely wrapped in foil with a little oil on the foil.

20 mins- not properly cooked
25 mins- still pink in middle
30-25 mins - leather

Any pointers? Other than buying fresh I mean, I know I can cook fresh Tuna just fine - I don't understand why these are going all manky.

 

[tarannau]

Fry them? You don't get much control with them oven things really.

 

[Throbbing Angel]

from frozen?

they only give oven instructions on the bag - the oven itself is fine and I cook lots in it just fine

 

[Ms T]

It should be pink in the middle.

 

[tarannau]

Ah. Try defrosting them, then cooking, would seem to be the more obvious answer here. I'm not altogether a firm follower of cooking instructions at the best of times, but I can't say that cooking fish steaks from frozen strikes me as the best way to ensure moist, tasty tuna.

Sure your oven's fine, but they may just be rubbish tuna steaks or hopelessly optimistic instructions. You sound like you've been experimenting heavily with the oven already - may be time to cut your losses and try something else.

 

[Part 2]

Where do you buy em? I noticed the ones in Tesco and Iceland say cook from frozen the other day.

We always get the stuff from Aldi, it's cheaper (£2.99 a bag of 4/5 steaks) and the pieces tend to be small and thick rather than bigger and thinner.

Defrost and fry in a really hot pan or griddle for a couple of minutes on either side. As tarannau says, the oven is no place for it.

 

[Throbbing Angel]

Yeah, I was thinking of defrosting them and using a pan next time.

I got them from Asda, same price as Aldi, or 2 bags for a fiver, with 5 (generally) steaks in. You seem to get 3, flat steaks and 2 larger thicker chunks.

The three pieces I had earlier were just tough, dry, white (almost) and spoilt by oven cooking from frozen I think. I think getting it pink in the middle (as opposed to cooked at the thin end and pink throughout the think end) would be much easier in a pan.

Cheers Urbs

 

[Epona]

I just fry them from frozen on a griddle pan brushed with a little oil, it works fine. Not as good as fresh ones, but like you I'm nowhere near a fishmonger and they are handy to have in the freezer.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

hello

I'm on a diet of sorts at the moment and am eating lots more fish than I used to. We have no fishmonger in easy reach and prefer to buy frozen to ensure that there is always something in for dinner.

I like tuna steaks, but the ones I buy from the supermarket come out of the oven like dry, cork coasters or something. They are coated in a protective layer of ice, nothing else added.

The cooking instructions say 190 degrees for 20-25 mins for a fan oven, which is what I have done in the past. Loosely wrapped in foil with a little oil on the foil.

20 mins- not properly cooked
25 mins- still pink in middle
30-25 mins - leather

Any pointers? Other than buying fresh I mean, I know I can cook fresh Tuna just fine - I don't understand why these are going all manky.

Thaw them first.

 

[Cid]

Personally would avoid tuna as it's still overfished (and those methods seem designed to ruin it), but as others say defrost and fry, pink in the middle... Plenty (no cid, don't) of (PLEASE) other (you can still turn back, for God's sake!) fish (NONONONONO) in the sea.

 

[Throbbing Angel]

 

[Boycey]

what cid said. after reading up a bit i've (reluctantly) given up tuna:

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/oceans/tuna/

agree with tarannau about cooking steaks from frozen, it just doesn't work properly- overdone and dry or warmed up sashimi. try defrosting first.

my favourite fish dish at the mo is smoked mackerel with potatoes- boiled then tossed with olive oil, balsamic, spinach and spring onions- served with loads of horseradish.