Gordon Ramsay Tells Us The Red Flags To Look For Before Cutting Into A Steak - Exclusive

You've probably seen Gordon Ramsay turn back steaks at the expo more times than you care to remember. It's a story as old as televised culinary competition history. On "Hell's Kitchen," an undercooked steak gets you an "It's so raw it could walk back into the field!" — which is amusing when Ramsay tweets it, but probably not as giggle-worthy in the middle of high-pressure dinner service. An overcooked steak, on the other hand, merits food slinging and a series of expletives too long and grotesque for this article. Gordon Ramsay's name may be synonymous with Beef Wellingtons, but no contestant leaves "Hell's Kitchen" alive if they can't cook a filet mignon.

Call him the Socrates of steak wisdom if you will; the Michelin-starred chef doesn't need to cut into a cut of meat to know whether or not it's fit for his customers. Actually, as he told Tasting Table in a recent exclusive interview, he doesn't even need to touch it. Ramsay explained the visual cues that he uses to determine whether a steak is perfectly prepped for consumption, or better for, say, flinging against the wall in a flurry of despair fit only for FOX.

Gordon Ramsay's steak red flags, explained

If you dish out for a prime piece of meat at a restaurant, you don't need to take a bite to determine its quality. The first thing you'll want to do when the waiter brings your New York strip to the table is examine the sear. A less-than-perfect sear is your biggest red flag that the kitchen didn't cook your steak properly, Gordon Ramsay told Tasting Table. "Walk into the steakhouse and look at the steak immediately. I can tell by the way it sits and how long it's been cooked for," the culinary star explained. "The most important thing is the sear: A great steak with the right kind of marbling needs to be seared beautifully. I can tell you from a mile away whether or not that's been seared properly. "

Here are two additional visual cues which indicate that your steak should never have made it past the expo: You don't want to see "exposed" white fat on it, says Ramsay. That's a sign the meat hasn't been rendered properly. Gray meat on the bottom of your steak is also a major red flag, Ramsay indicated. Gray coloring means your steak has "been over-seared underneath" and is "overcooked."

Gordon Ramsay recently teamed up with Triscuit. His "Unapologetically Wholesome" content will air nationally across TV and will continue to roll out across digital and paid social channels. Additionally, the content will be amplified through various activations on Ramsay's TikTok, including him reviewing interesting recipes involving Triscuit in the duet style that he's known for — follow @GordonGram for campaign content. For more information, visit Triscuit.com and follow Triscuit on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.