# Ahi Tuna Steaks - Difference in Quality Among Grocers



## Turkeyman

I love tuna steaks, but purchasing them from a place that keeps high quality tuna is quite expensive. At Whole Foods, I know I will get a good ahi tuna steak and so I go ahead and pay the crazy $20/pound for it. I can make four nice meals out of a pound, so to me, it is worth it. With this tuna, I can do a very simple asian marinade or S/P/EVOO and sear one minute on each side. I love the tuna nice and rare.

Moving on, I was in Safeway yesterday and saw their tuna steaks were only $7/lb. I asked to smell and feel the tuna, and after it checked out I decided to take a piece home to test it out for fun. First off, I am sure this is the tuna they put the red dye into, as red liquid came out of it as it thawed/came to room temperature. The Whole Foods tuna did nothing of the sort. I am going to cook this Safeway tuna today for lunch, but I wonder if I can really risk eating it rare. I am going to do S/P/EVOO, but should I maybe sear it 2-3 minutes a side instead of the normal 1 minute? It is a 1" thick steak, pretty standard.

Also, if anyone has any other experiences with grocery store tuna steaks, I'd definitely like to hear it. Trader Joe's has some frozen tuna steaks in their seafood freezer...but they are an off-white color instead of red. Not sure why, unless it is a different kind of tuna. Know if these are any good?

So yeah, will I die if I cook this Safeway tuna steak to rare?


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## Andy M.

I have used supermarket tuna steaks for sushi and lightly seared and eaten rare with no problems.

In order to do a fair comparison, the tuna has to be cooked the same way you cook the Whole Foods tuna.


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## JohnL

You also may want to ask the fishmonger what day the fish comes in to insure freshness.


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## BreezyCooking

First off, let me respectfully say that I believe you're a bit confused re: fish color.  No fish is "injected" with dye to alter it's color.  Market tuna flesh these days is nearly always "gassed" to keep it that pristine blood-red color for as long as possible, but no dye is injected into it.  Other fish - like farmed salmon - are fed natural dye-products (carotene in particular) in their food to increase the orange color of their flesh, but again, they're not "injected" with anything.  I suspect the red liquid was just natural liquid pooling as the fish thawed.  From what you wrote, I assume your pricey Whole Foods tuna was fresh?  Or previously frozen but purchased already thawed?  As for the odd color of Trader Joe's fish, it most likely wasn't gassed before being frozen.

Second - I've NEVER been a fan of Safeway's seafood department.  Any of it.  Always too sad-looking & way overpriced for the quality. 

Regardless, I hate to give you cardiac arrest re: fish prices, but just a few days ago I purchased the most GORGEOUS *sashimi-grade* tuna at Harris Teeter's here in Warrenton, VA, for* $4.99/pound*.  That's right folks - *$4.99 a pound*.  GORGEOUS thick steaks.  I bought 2 luscious ones for my husband & I (we'd NEVER get FOUR meals out of one pound of fish - lol!!!!!), encrusted them with coarsely-ground black pepper & seared them briefly in an extra-virgin-olive-oil laced cast-iron pan for a couple of minutes.  They were fresh, rare, & meltingly-buttery.  Can't wait to do it again!

Harris Teeter has one of the very best supermarket seafood departments around - definitely on a par with Wegmans & Whole Foods.  In many ways, even better.  That said, I *NEVER* cook/serve tuna rare unless it's *sashimi-grade* (which, in supermarket parlance only, means that it's been frozen for at least 48 hours at zero degrees or lower to eliminate any possible parasites).


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## JohnL

Breeze I am sooo jealous!
$4.99 a lb? The best that I've seen at my local grocery stores has been $6.99 a lb. and that's not even sushi grade......
I've been buying the vacume sealed frozen tuna from Costco which I cook rare. I've never had any problems.


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## BreezyCooking

I know - I almost fainted when I saw it at Harris Teeters this past Friday.  And it was truly gorgeous - not just something low-quality they were trying to get rid of.  I've bought the vacuum-sealed tuna too on occasion, & while I don't incinerate it, I also don't cook it quite as rare as I do sashimi-grade labeled fish.  Although, chances are better than excellent that the vacuum-sealed tuna are frozen well enough to be sashimi-grade.  That's how many high-end Japanese restaurants purchase their tuna.

I grew up on the Long Island waterfront, & after moving to Virginia the one thing I really & truly miss is really great fresh seafood.  I can't even begin to say how happy I am that Harris Teeter opened a store in Warrenton last month.  Both their seafood (& produce) are so fresh & wonderful.  At the same time I bought the tuna, I also scored 4 pounds of soft-shell steamer clams ($5.99/lb.) that were so fresh they were still squirting as the guy bagged them.  And every single one was a winner - no broken or dead ones.  Sand/mud free.  Some melted lemon butter - we were in HEAVEN Friday night! (I saved the tuna for the next day, obviously - lol!!)

The seafood selections at other supermarkets close by (Giant, Safeway, Food Lion, WalMart) is always SO sad.  Except for the usual shrimp, crab legs, catfish, & farmed salmon - everything else usually looks like it crawled up on the shore & died.  I would usually end up with just one choice - the one fresh-looking/smelling one - lol!!  At Harris Teeter, there are so many really fresh selections at great prices that I actually sometimes have trouble deciding!!  Plus, they carry two brands of frozen squid, which I LOVE to have in my freezer for impromptu "Calamari over Linguini" or "Fried Calamari" or an Asian stirfry, etc., etc.  No other markets in my area bother with squid unless it's Xmas Eve.  So sad.  Well, now that Harris Teeter is here, Giant & Safeway are definitely going to be paying for their hindsight.


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## Turkeyman

Thanks for the info about gassing. You're right, I should have thought about my science. They expose tuna to carbon monoxide in order to keep the iron atoms in red-colored myoglobin from oxidizing and turning brown. Same principle as with ground beef or steaks in the store. Some websites mentioned a process of "injecting dye," and I never gave it a second thought.

Everything in this area, unfortunately, is really expensive by default. The Harris Teeter around here does indeed have sashimi-grade tuna steaks, but they are closer to $10.99/lb. Also, I went in one day to purchase their tuna (they were the very first place I went to look when I started my tuna craze, actually), but there were two flies flying around in the seafood display case...I lost my appetite and left, haha. Overall, if the quality is good, I'll pay the price because the remainder of my diet is pretty cheap (beans, rice, pasta, veggies, a few health food items here & there). 

I seared the steak today to about a medium doneness and didn't die. But, I could die at any moment. Who knows? I have one piece left which I'll be eating for dinner. Might go a little more rare!

I think I will be trying out TJ's and Costco brand steaks as well. Harris Teeter will probably also receive another visit in the near future =]

Thanks for all the input, all.


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## BreezyCooking

Wow - sorry to hear about the fly incident.  Maybe you should log onto the Harris Teeter website & mention this, along with the store location.

The two Harris Teeters we have nearby have always been uber clean, & the customer service has been excellent.  If you're standing in an aisle too long, someone always walks up & asks if you need help finding something.  And when I was buying 5 pounds of clams once, the seafood guy made a point of finding a box to put the bags in.  Plus, when I made my above-mentioned tuna purchase, the seafood guy made a point of asking me to wait a moment while he brought out a fresh tray of steaks.  And I'll never forget the time they accidentally ran up a duck I bought at full price rather than the sale price.  When I went back the following week with my receipt, simply looking for the dollar difference in price, they absolutely INSISTED that I accept the ENTIRE price of the duck, since it was their error that I was charged more.  Unbelievable customer service - always more than accommodating at both stores.  Supermarket competition is really REALLY high these days, so I'm sure HT headquarters would want to hear about the flies.

But it is true that individual stores do differ, & ours are fairly new.  One is, I think, maybe 2-3 years old; the other, just a few weeks.  Not that that should excuse poor sanitation.  But heck - do give your HT another chance & report back.


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## Turkeyman

Will do! I think there's another HT downtown, closer to work/school as well. I should probably check that one out instead.

Thanks again for the help, tuna is the best eva.


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## Claire

Well, I buy ahi at my local piggly-wiggly, don't remember what it costs, but sear it and eat it rare and no problems so far.  

Yes, there are many kinds of tuna, ahi just being one of them.  And there are different parts of a tuna's body.  I go by what I was used to seeing in Hawaii.  If it looks good and smells good, I -- so far -- haven't had a problem.


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## babetoo

i just threw away the last i bought from von's which is safeway. cooked first piece about a month ago. tasted just awful, couldn't even eat it. tasted off. i froze the rest, keep telling myself i would eat it . two months and i didn't so tossed it. kills me to throw away food. but if it tastes off it probably is. my son gets his at a local market privately owned and is never disappointed. but man is it pricy.


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## Toots

I have bought the frozen Trader Joe's tuna several times.  I usually buy the tuna steaks that are already vacuum sealed in a marinade.  They are pretty good grilled.   I believe this tuna is flash frozen right on the boat so this might explain why it isn't a vibrant red color - ?  Not sure.  I'm sure Whole Food tuna is leaps and bounds better but I won't be paying $20/lb for it to find out.


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## Turkeyman

Looking back on the Safeway tuna, it wasn't too great. It had a slightly mealy consistency and was definitely nowhere near the quality of Whole Foods. I won't be buying it again.

I'll keep trying different places. TJ's and HT's next (I found out my Costco doesn't have the frozen vacuum sealed ones, only fresh ones very rarely and usually only one or two packages of it). If nothing fits the bill, back to Whole Foods I go, haha.

Check out this article on tuna, kinda sucks they have to resort to this:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor.../Japanese-scientists-to-breed-super-tuna.html


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## MultiThom

I tried the frozen Safeway Ahi.  Horrible.  Stringy flesh and absence of flavor.  There were two in the package.  Second one will be fully cooked and turned into tuna salad for sandwiches.


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## CraigC

MultiThom said:


> I tried the frozen Safeway Ahi.  Horrible.  Stringy flesh and absence of flavor.  There were two in the package.  Second one will be fully cooked and turned into tuna salad for sandwiches.



Did you happen to notice what country/region the tuna was a "Product of"?
I've seen some sneaky labeling that had the name of a city in the US known for a product on the package, only to find that the actual origin of the product was China. The product was shipped in bulk to that city and packaged there, thus the labeling. Unless it is fresh, from a well respected fish monger or frozen by friends that caught it, finned fish has to be whole for my inspection before I will buy it.


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## MultiThom

*Product source-Indonesia*

That is what the packaging says.  

You are fortunate to have a source of fish locally.  Only fish mongers "close" to me are 30 miles away and 4 oz of ahi is not enough incentive to drive that far.  It's just one more thing that gets removed out of my diet except when at a decent restaurant that has it.

Only reason I bought it was I wanted to try a sous vide treatment.  Fish quality itself was poor so I still don't know whether or not sous vide is a good way to go with this.

They have decent looking ahi at Costco, but you have to buy so much of it.


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## Mad Cook

Does it matter what type it is as long as it isn't an endangered variety and is sourced & fished responsibly.


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## MultiThom

*Speaking of what to do with substandard Ahi*

Any ideas other than making an expensive tuna salad?  It wouldn't work as anything raw, but maybe a poke if I cut the tuna into small enough bites?


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## medtran49

MultiThom said:


> Any ideas other than making an expensive tuna salad?  It wouldn't work as anything raw, but maybe a poke if I cut the tuna into small enough bites?



Poke usually uses raw fish, especially when it's tuna.  I would go with your fully cooked idea and try to break it up and get the stringy parts out if you feel you absolutely must eat it.


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## Mad Cook

JohnL said:


> Breeze I am sooo jealous!
> $4.99 a lb? The best that I've seen at my local grocery stores has been $6.99 a lb. and that's not even sushi grade......
> I've been buying the vacume sealed frozen tuna from Costco which I cook rare. I've never had any problems.


Crikey! You're lucky with both prices. I passed the fishmonger's in the village yesterday and the sign said the price of fresh tuna was the equivalent of about $17!!


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## Sir_Loin_of_Beef

I am lucky enough to be able to buy all my fish FOB, from local fishermen. The only way they get frozen is if I freeze them, which I very seldom do because the fish market is only about 4 blocks from my house, so I buy just enough for the dish I am making at the time. Of course, if they have a really good price on something I will stock up and freeze it, but I still know exactly what it looked like, what it smelled like, and how old it was before it was frozen. The only drawback is they fish early in the morning so the market only sells fish from around 11:15 am until 7:45 pm.


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## buckytom

One problem might be that you could be buying lower grade fish that is marketed as Ahi.

Ahi should be from tunas such as Yellowfin, Bigeye, or even (incorrectly)Bluefin. Several other fish are cut and sold as Ahi, but are just as described: either flavorless or fishy, and often strinhy.

Although, fish that have been frozen and defrosted a few times can also get stringy and funky as well.


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## JustJoel

*Tuna quality*

I'm no expert in this, and I'm not a food scientist, but it's my understanding that 
"Sushi grade" isnt regulated
All fish meant to be served raw must be frozen at sub zero temperature for at least 48 hours to kill parasites
The color of ahi tuna is indicative of which part of the tuna the meat is from; redder is considered more desireable because of its richer taste.
So your frozen supermarket ahi should be just fine! I've never seen a "not to be eaten raw or rare" warning. I've used the same from Albertson's for poke, with no incident. If you're worried about surface bacteria, a quick sear should put your fears to rest. But if you want that unctuous, creamy mouth feel you get from the ahi at Japanese restaurants, you'll have to pop for that $20 per lb stuff. Or catch your own!


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