How done is my steak? Some of us love grilling, roasting, pan searing and broiling meats. Also we like them done to our very own level of doneness. It’s just how we love the taste of and enjoy our meats. There are several levels of doneness we like for our meats: Blue (which I don’t really classify as cooked but warmed up meat), rare, medium rare, medium, medium well and well done.
The Canada food inspection agency gives cooking temperatures for beef and veal steaks and roasts of 63°C (145°F) medium-rare, 71°C (160°F) medium and 77°C (170°F) well done. For hamburger and ground pork they say cook to 71°C (160°F) and for chicken pieces and ground poultry products they recommend 74°C (165°F). You can review the complete list of cooking temperatures at Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
So how do I tell when my steak on the Barbie, in the frying pan or under the broiler is done? Well the best and most accurate way is with a thermometer. But how do I know when to jab my steak with the thermometer with out puncturing it with a thousand holes and letting all those beautiful juices to escape before it is close to being done?
What you can do is use the touch method. It really is simple. If you think of a steak you will remember it is a muscle. Following the series of photographs, find your most relaxed state. Breathe in, then out and relax your hand holding it flat out in front of you. Gently push on the soft fleshy web muscle area between your thumb and pointer finger. It will be nice and soft and feels like a rare steak when you touch it. Folding one finger in at a time starting at you thumb, work your way through the colours of doneness feeling the web area between each fold is what it roughly will feel like when you touch your steak during cooking. When you feel your steak is close to the level of doneness you like, then you can poke it with a thermometer. Push the tip of the thermometer into the centre of the meat and check that it has reached the level of doneness for the colour you like according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's cooking food guide.
So practice by following the pictures and you can enjoy your steak knowing that you haven’t poked a thousand holes into it. It will be tender and juicy and you did it all by the touch of your hand. But remember to check with the thermometer to be on the safe side!
Yours in food
James
