The Hand Test

I'm a big meat eater, I love going out to restaurant's and ordering up a nice steak and usually I lean towards the filet mignon. However, there are some times when I want to change up the way in which I like my meats cooked. I often order my steaks as medium rare now, however I used to just simply ask for medium because, well, I didn't understand the difference until I did some research on my own. Sounds silly, but I like knowing what the best cooked steak is, and of course this is up for debate because it is simply based on opinion.

When I was younger I used to order my steaks as medium because I felt that medium well was just too cooked and medium rare was snobbish. I felt that all the rich snobs ordered medium rare because it was classy, and by me protesting silently against my imagined bourgeoisie, I would order medium. However, now that I am older and have experienced all five types, rare, medium rare, medium, medium well, and well done, I have come to understand that medium rare is ordered most often because it simply tastes the best.

When you go out to restaurant's and order a steak, when it is brought out you are usually asked by the waiter or waitress to cut open the middle of the steak to check to see if it is of your liking. Other places however do not ask you this and you are left up to your own faculties to make sure the steak is cooked the way you like. There is a simple way of knowing whether your steak is cooked to your liking without cutting open, or if you can not tell by the amount of pink inside. It's called the hand test.

The hand test uses the palm of your hand to test the steak. First you want to gently touch the steak with your clean finger and feel the steak and understand how firm or not firm it is. Rare steaks are more squishy and well done steaks are very firm. After you have felt the steak, you can compare that feel to the feel of the pad of meat right below your thumb. Here is the simple guide:

Touching your thumb to your pointer finger and feeling right below the thumb is the feel of a rare steak.
Touching your thumb to your middle finger and feeling right below the thumb is the feel of a medium rare steak.
Touching your thumb to your ring finger and feeling right below the thumb is the feel of a medium steak.
Touching your thumb to your pinky finger and feeling right below the thumb is the feel of a medium well steak.