Burnt My Fingers

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.