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You are here: Home / BITES / BEEF / How to Hand Test Steak for Doneness

How to Hand Test Steak for Doneness

February 17, 2018 By Steven Leave a Comment

The Steak Hand Test, it’s not that difficult to learn the difference between a rare, medium, and well-done piece of meat simply by touch. When raw, meat is very soft, as it cooks it becomes firmer, and luckily, you have a built-in gauge on the palm of your hand.

Have you ever wondered how cooks working the grill at your favorite steakhouse are able to keep track of the steaks when they have 15 to 20 steaks going at one time? Different cuts of beef, chicken, and pork, different thicknesses, different start times, some orders are for rare, some medium, some well, some medium rare, on and on non-stop for hours on end? It’s the hand test for steak, it’s easy to do and easy to learn.

Here’s how to test a steak for doneness using touch…

The soft fleshy part of your palm between the thumb and wrist, when relaxed is a perfect example of what a raw steak feels like.

Steak Hand Test

When you gently touch the thumb and forefinger together, this is what a rare steak feels like.

steak hand test

Gently touch the thumb and middle finger together, this is what medium-rare feels like.

steak hand test

Again, gently touch the thumb and ring finger together, this is what medium-well feels like.

steak hand test

Gently touch the thumb and pinky together, this is what well done feels like.

steak hand test

Alright, you know the secret, time to work that grill, and cook some perfect steaks! Thanks for visiting my Food Blog, please come back again soon! Cheers and bon appetit, Steven

How to grill the perfect steak

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Filed Under: BEEF, BITES Tagged With: cooking temperature steak, hand test steak, How to cook steak, medium rare steak, medium steak, perfect steaks, rare steak, steak hand test, testing steak for doneness

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Hi, my name is Steven Thompson welcome to my Food Blog. I am a graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York City where I studied Pastry Arts. Throughout the years, I've worked in some of the best restaurants and hotels in the world. Although I have moved on from the world of the professional kitchen, I still have a great love and passion for cooking and food photography, which is why I've become a food blogger. I hope you enjoy reading and making some of these recipes as much as I do. Cheers and bon appetit! Read More…

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