Why does fish cook faster than other meats?

by adminFish & Meat

Within this journey of cooks, sooner or later it is learned that the fish takes little cooking time. Either because of inertia or because the recipe always says that it takes at least 7 minutes. The important thing is to be interested in knowing why this happens. For that we must analyze its meat.

fish cook faster

First of all, I remind you that the fish meats that we consume are its muscles, as in the rest of the animals; it is the edible and appetizing part for the human being. Within the muscles we find the elements of its composition:

  • Muscular fibers: those that have water, the juice of the meat
  • Connective tissue: mainly collagen, determines the resistance

Here are its main characteristics that will lead us to deduce the answer to the question:

  • In general, fish meat is white because of its low content of myoglobin
  • Its connective tissue is smaller than that of other meats
  • Muscle fibers are much shorter than other meats
  • The water content is 80-90%, compared to other meats which is 70-75%
  • Fish meat is very low in fat (one reason is that these are cold-blooded animals)

When reading its characteristics, we verify that:

  • Since there are a meat generally of white color, which means that it have little muscular activity, therefore little collagen and tender meat.
  • Fish are cooked faster than other meats because of their high water content, which leads to faster heat energy through the muscle.
  • Having less connective tissue, its flesh is much more fragile. Cooking weakens the collagen so that the meat is tender, but in the case of fish, since it has little, it cooks faster and is ready faster.
  • Because its muscle fibers are shorter, chewing fish is very tender, which is why it is easy to eat raw (as in sushi or sashimi) compared to other meats that have to be chopped enough to eat raw (beef tartar).
  • Having little fat and little collagen, the fish meat dries easily, that is why you should cook little quantity, just the right thing.

In this world where we all are in a hurry: Go ahead, eat fish! More healthy, tasty and quick to do.