Jean O’Toole of the New York Beef Council shows how to grill a perfect steak, with assistance from Community Ambassador Daniel B of Yelp.
The other day I had a tour of Trowbridge Farm, a cow-calf operation in the Hudson Valley, courtesy of Yelp and the New York Beef Council. At the end of the tour Beef Council President Jean O’Toole gave us a steak grilling lesson. Answering the eternal question, how do I know when my steak is done? she produced a meat thermometer! And jammed that bad boy into the New York strip sideways from the edge to get a good center reading.
I know what you are thinking: if I tried that stunt at my own cookout, I’d have my grill chef’s license taken away. But it does give you an accurate measure, as long as you’re careful to stick the probe in the center of the meat and away from any bone.
However, knowing the steak’s current temperature does not necessarily translate into knowing its degree of doneness. You’ll find a variety of different temperature recommendations if you google how do I know when my steak is done, including two different sets on the canonical Beef What’s for Dinner site.
The temperature chart I like best is from Certified Angus Beef: 125 degrees Fahrenheit for rare, 135 medium rare, 145 medium, 150 medium well, 160 well; these are finished temps so remove from heat when 5 degrees below desired serving temp (10 degrees if it’s a really thick steak) and let it rest 5 minutes or more.
You could also use the fingertip feel method: touch your index finger to your thumb, use the index finger of the other hand to gauge the firmness of the muscle on the outside edge of your palm that joins the two digits, then compare it to the surface of your steak on the grill. If they feel the same, that steak is rare. Move the thumb to the middle finger for medium rare, ring finger for medium, little finger for well-done. This sort of works but it’s subjective, and I will contend that different hands feel different: a cowpoke’s callused mitt is going to be inherently firmer than that of a callow teenage dishwasher.
Or you could test your steak for doneness like we do at Burnt My Fingers. Start by searing one side of the steak to a nice crust, moving it once if you want an attractive cross hatched grill mark. This will take perhaps 3 minutes on a good hot grill (or a hot cast iron pan). Now, flip it over. Poke that seared surface and you will find it hard and crisp on the outside but the flesh beneath is soft and yielding with very little resistance.
Cook for 2 more minutes and press again. The steak should now push back at you a bit. When you feel that resistance, TAKE IT OFF THE GRILL and you will have a beautiful rare to medium rare steak after resting. I would never cook my steak past this point but if you want medium give it another minute; the interior will feel quite firm and solid. And well-done? There is really no way to please the well-done diner* who, I think, really wants meat that doesn’t look like meat. It will still be edible, vs shoe leather, if you leave it on a further minute or two but immediately take it off if the surface starts to lose its moisture.
Is this method perfect? No, but there can be no such thing as perfection when degrees of doneness are subjective even on official industry websites. The best thing about our method is that you are unlikely to end up with an overdone steak; if it is too rare the worst that can happen is you’ll have to throw it back on the grill for a little longer.
*One of the longest shifts I ever worked as a grill cook was a New Years day, when I got multiple orders for well-done steaks. The steaks kept coming back as not done enough, and I’d grill them some more until finally the diner sent the steak back as inedible. One wonders why people so hung over they could not stand the sight of red meat would come to a steak and prime rib place to begin with.
I like your method of determining when a steak is ready to eat. I don’t eat steak much anymore, it is too boring. However, if I were to cook steaks on a regular basis I like your method of searing one side then playing with the other side. Each grill is going to have a different heat index and then there is the distance the steak is away from the heat. I would experiment with a grill that I use all of the time and practice cooking steaks for different time spans until I consistently get the “doneness” that I want. Is doneness a word, I don’t know. Anyway, by practice I mean cook three or four dozen steaks over a two week period until you get the feel of what to do. That way you can cook without a timer. If you practice you get a second sense of what is the appropriate time.
I used to order steak and I used to cook steaks, but most of the time I prefer different cuts of beef that I can cook with vegetables. I love to cook ox tail stew. Thirty years ago ox tails were the least costly cut, today in Orange County, California they can cost $10.00 a pound and upwards.
I eat more vegetables today because I enjoy the flavors of the different items available in the market. Yesterday, I placed some smoked turkey wings in homemade chicken broth to simmer for a couple of hours. When the turkey wings began to dismember (awful word) I added 20 large Brussels Sprouts, two onions cut into one half inch portions, four garlic cloves (pressed), and about a pound and a half of fresh green beans. The only seasoning I added was a teaspoon of hot peppers. I let that simmer for an hour and boy oh boy that was rich, better than a perfectly cooked steak. Steaks are good but a bit over used for me. Maybe two or three times a year at a barbeque but never in a fine restaurant. Heck, that’s just me.
Your turkey stew sounds delicious. I was reading an article about cooking for long flights on Singapore Airlines. They make a short rib stew where they get flavor using turmeric and reducing salt since salt makes people dehydrated at altitude. Planning to try that myself.
What does Mr. Fussy have to say about this
If you look down from Fussy’s pensive visage in the feature photo, you will see there’s an actual steak cooking on that portable grill. Following her instructions he cooked a perfect steak. Having an analytic bent, I am sure he likes the precision of doing it by temperature and sticking that big probe in the side of his steak.
I purchased a Weber gas grill some time ago which came with a booklet containing cooking times for various meats/fish of various thicknesses and degrees of doneness. I’ve used it hundreds of times and never had anything turn out over or under done. I am truly amazed at its precision. I know, I know – it’s a booklet, not the tuft of s finger, but it sure works.
Do you get the same results cooking with other equipment vs the Weber grill?
They make wonderful products for sure. I have a Genesis grill, a bullet smoker and multiple Smoky Joe patio cookers. Very consistent results. If Dacor or Bosch/Thermador hires away their engineers, then we will be in business.