America's Test Kitchen LogoCook's Country LogoCook's Illustrated Logo

Knowing When Fish is Done

For perfectly cooked fish, you’ll need to use visual clues.

For perfectly cooked fish, you’ll need to use visual clues.

Overcooked fish is tough, dry, and flavorless. Unfortunately, overcooking fish is one of the most common cooking mistakes. The trick to perfectly cooked fish—fish that is cooked all the way through, but not dried out —is knowing when to remove it from the oven (or pan) so that it is just slightly underdone, and then allowing the residual heat to finish the cooking. This is easy to do with salmon because the change in color is so obvious. With white fish, however, the change in color is much more subtle and harder to see. To make sure that the fish is cooked just right, use a paring knife to peek inside.

HALF-COOKED FISH

The flesh is still translucent.

PERFECTLY COOKED FISH

The flesh is opaque and flaky but still juicy.

OVERCOOKED FISH

The flesh is dry and falling apart.

Recommended Reading

This is a members' feature.