How to know when red meat is perfectly done

In a few of my posts, my instruction was to cook a steak or roast to a specific temperature.  Here is a little better explanation of how.

Roast should be checked while cooking, with an instant thermometer.  You can buy one at any major grocery or department store for under $5.00.  Open the oven door and insert the thermometer in the middle of the meat, only pressing until you have reached the thickest part (not all the way through to the bottom of the pan).  You will know when you have reached the true temperature when the needle stops moving ,  less than 10 seconds. 

For Rare (crusty on outside, red in the middle)  I pull the meat  out of the oven at 100 degrees to rest (sit on the counter with a tent of foil) for 5 – 10 min before slicing.  While resting it will continue to cook and the juices will set-up in the meat for better flavor.

For Med-Rare (crusty on outside, pink in the middle) I pull the meat out of the oven at 120 degrees to rest (sit on the counter with a tent of foil) for 5 – 10 min before slicing.  While resting it will continue to cook and the juices will set-up in the meat for better flavor.

For Medium (crusty on outside, grayish brown in the middle) I pull the meat out of the oven at 130 degrees to rest (sit on the counter with a tent of foil) for 5 – 10 min before slicing.  While resting it will continue to cook and the juices will  set-up in the meat for better flavor.

For Well-Done (crusty on outside, pink in the middle) I pull the meat out of the oven at 150 degrees to rest (sit on the counter with a tent of foil) for 5 – 10 min before slicing.  While resting it will continue to cook and the juices will  set-up in the meat for better flavor.

 If you don’t have an instant thermometer, you can use a meat thermometer on a roast, leaving it in the middle of the thickest part of the meat while cooking in the oven.  The downside to this type is the hole it leaves, which  allows cooking juices to escape.  A good rule of thumb, or should I say fist is, …. clinch your hand into a fist as hard as you can squeeze.  The pad of flesh between your pointer finger knuckle and your thumb knuckle should be hard.  That is the same way a well-done piece of meat feels when you poke it.  Loosen your squeeze a little, that is the feeling of medium cooked meat, a little less squeeze is the feeling of medium-rare and no squeeze is the feeling of a rare cooked piece of meat.