It is difficult to tell when a steak is done simply by looking at it unless you like your meat very, very rare or very, very well-done. The cooking times given in recipes, if given at all, tend to be vague because the temperatures that our grills and stoves work at can vary so widely. For example, a dial set to "medium heat" on one stove might actually produce as large a flame as "high heat" in another kitchen. Cutting meat open once at the end of cooking isn't a big deal, but if you need to keep checking the interior of the meat, you can lose a lot of the cooking juices. The best way to check if the meat is done is by using a meat thermometer (125F for rare, 135F for medium, and 155F for well-done, according to Real Simple), but you can also use your hand as a reference and determine the doneness from the firmness of the meat.
I labeled a diagram of a hand, above, to identify the reference points. Simply press the labeled spots on your hand. They correspond with the following levels of doneness:
-
Rare meat should feel soft and offer little resistance to pressure.
-
Medium meat should feel firm, but with a little bit of give to it. The less give, the more well-done the piece will be.
-
Well done meat should also feel firm, but will have only minimal give to it.
May is National BBQ Month and National Hamburger Month
Cupcakes, not for dessert (unless beef is your idea of a treat)
Because eating French Fries in the car is so tough
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-30-2006 @ 8:17AM
Bob Sassone said...
Great post Nicole. I don't know if I'd go by what that CBS story says though. The way I was taught years ago was to take your thumb and touch your middle finger. Then feel the fleshy part of your palm below the thumb. That's rare. For medium, touch your ring finger. For well done, touch your pinky.
Reply
5-30-2006 @ 8:34AM
Nicole Weston said...
Thanks, Bob. The reason I decided to go with palm is that I spent a lot of time comparing advice on where on your hand to press. Maybe I just have muscular fingers (is that possible?), but I found there to be a much more noticeable difference in my palms, and more consistency across other people's palms, too. Once you've got the feel, I think it's all good. I can image someone pressing their wrist for medium and their knee for well-done!
Reply
5-30-2006 @ 11:20AM
Punisher2k said...
The webbing of your hand word the same way (between thumb and pointer finger).
Loose fist - rare
Closed fist - Med
Tight fist - Well
Reply